Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/189

MASSACHUSETTS. movements, however, have wrought a vast change with respect to race. The first of these was the migration westward of the native population. The other was the great influx of foreigners, largely from Ireland and Canada, those from the latter country being mainly of French descent. The foreign born in 1900 numbered 840,000, or 30 per cent. of the total population, while 897,000 were native born children of foreign parents, thus making the present population of the State predominantly of a non-English type. The influence of the westward emigration from the State and the increased opportunity for females to find employment in the mills and at domestic service has resulted in a preponderance of this sex, the percentage of females being 51.3—greater than in any other State. The decided growth of the manufacturing industry has resulted furthermore in placing the State second in the percentage of its urban population. There are 50 towns having over 8000 inhabitants, which is a larger number than in any other State. In 1900 the population of Boston was 560,892; Worcester, 118,421; Fall River, 104,863; Lowell, 94,969; Cambridge, 91,886: Lynn, 68,513; Lawrence, 62,559; New Bedford. 62,442; Springfield, 62,059; Somerville, 61,643; Holyoke, 45,712; Brockton, 40,063; Haverhill, 37,175; Salem, 35,956; Chelsea, 34,072; Malden, 33,664; Newton, 33,587; Fitchburg, 31,531; Taunton, 31,036; Gloucester, 26,121.

. In the colonial period the population belonged mainly to the Congregational Church. Before the end of the eighteenth century the Baptists and Methodists had become prominent and are now leading denominations. In the early part of the nineteenth century Massachusetts became the centre of Unitarianism in the United States. The Episcopalians have a considerable following. With the coming of large numbers of Irish about the middle of the nineteenth century the Catholic Church for the first time became prominent, and it is now much stronger than any one of the Protestant denominations.

. The establishment of public schools was regarded as an important matter from the first settlement. The first free school was organized in 1635, and Harvard College was founded in 1636. In 1647 a statute was enacted that each town having 50 families should maintain a school to teach the children to read and write, and each town having 100 families a grammar school to fit youths for college. This statute was amplified and amended, until the system has become one of the best in the world. The State Board of Education was created in 1837. Horace Mann was its first secretary, and his reports and labors gave impulse and vigor to the schools of the entire Union. The educational system of the State holds its high rank by virtue of its superior organization and supervision, its adequate financial support, and its admirable adaptability to the needs of all. The local unit of organization is the town (township), each town having a school committee appointed by the people and a skilled superintendent appointed by the committee. The State Board is the central coördinating and supervisory body and between it and the local organizations stand the agents of the State Board, each of whom has his particular district or his special phase of educational work to oversee. Thus uniformity and efficiency in supervision are secured. Financial support is secured by taxation and by the income from the State

school fund. This fund was established in 1834 from proceeds derived from the sale of lands in the State of Maine, and from the claims of Massachusetts upon the United States for military services, and it has been greatly augmented from numerous sources, the total on December 31, 1900, amounting to $4,370,000. The fund has derived its great efficiency from the admirable manner in which its income has been distributed, having been used from the beginning so as to stimulate the towns to greater exertion for educational purposes. It has lifted the standard in the poorer localities by increasing their allowances at the expense of the more wealthy municipalities. At present towns with a taxable valuation of over $3,000,000 derive no benefits from the fund, while the poorer localities, in addition to lump sum allotments, which vary inversely to the property valuation, receive also assistance for superintendents' and teachers' salaries and certain other purposes. With this financial backing, every town is enabled to maintain a long school term. The minimum established by law is eight months. In 1900 only 14 towns out of 339 fell under this limit, while the average for all exceeded nine months from 1890 to 1900. The system also enables fair wages to be paid the teachers, the men (constituting one-tenth of the total number) receiving an average of $136 per month, and the women an average of $52 per month. The scope and completeness of the school system of Massachusetts are realized when it is seen that, in addition to the grammar schools, there are 261 high schools, every child having the advantage of free high-school tuition; that 49 towns and cities maintain night schools; that 36 towns and cities maintain a kindergarten system; that every town with a population above 20,000 affords manual training in its high schools; and that the training of teachers is provided for by the maintenance of ten normal schools. All this is supplemented by private schools. The proportion of pupils in the private schools to those in public schools is as 1 to 7. While there was a reduction from 1890 to 1900 in the number attending private schools of academic rank, there has been a decided increase in the number attending other private schools. If one applies the test of enrollment and attendance he finds that out of a total of 630,000 children between the ages of five and eighteen years, 474,891 are enrolled in the public schools, and 73,205 in the private schools, making a total enrollment of 548,096. The attendance at the public schools for the last decade has averaged over 90 per cent. of the enrollment. The average taxation cost for all school purposes per each child in the average membership of the public schools is $33.92.

While the State system of education does not include higher institutions of learning excepting normal colleges, these have been amply provided by private enterprise. Detailed information concerning these institutions will be found under their separate headings. The oldest collegiate institution is Harvard University, Cambridge (non-sectarian). The others (exclusive of those for women), in the order of their founding, are: Williams College (Congregational), Williamstown; Amherst College (Congregational), Amherst; College of the Holy Cross (Roman Catholic), Worcester; Tufts College (Universalist), Tufts College Station; Boston College (Roman Catholic); Boston University