Endowments; Civics--Study and teaching; Americanization; United States; Pilgrim Memorial Institute
Format
correspondence
Genre
Business correspondence
Date
[between 1886 and 1919?]
Physical Description
microfilm, 16 mm, b&w
Note (Reel no.)
Reel 81
Note
PDF may contain multiple grant documents.
What I needed was further education - or rather, expert and unprejudiced advice such as will be furnished on all political questions if Mr. Ziegler's proposed Pilgrim Memorial Institute is founded as a fitting celebration of the three hundredth annive rsary of the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. I gladly raise my voice in hearty approval of every effort to train our people to be better citizens. But such efforts lose much of their value if they are spent upon a people whose mental and moral calibre is slowly being undermined by the action of heredity and physical environment. Are we not like architects who carve a beautiful frieze unmindful of the fact that it rests on pillars that are misshapen out of plumb and set on an uneven foundation?" [SOURCE: Huntington, Ellsworth. "The Science of Citizenship." The Yale Review, vol. 7, 1918, pp. 347. Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=vDE1AQAAMAAJ. Accessed 10 Oct. 2018.] "Series IV. Subject File Box 45, Folder 502 - Pilgrim Memorial Institute letter, undated." [SOURCE: Staff of Manuscripts and Archives. "Guide to the Ellsworth Huntington Papers, MS1." Yale University Library, Sterling Memorial Library, Manuscripts and Archives, 1970, http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.0001. Accessed 10 Oct. 2018.] "One form of a memorial that I should like to speak of at length, had I the time, is the Pilgrim Memorial Institute. This very interesting proposal is to establish an institute, along the lines of many similar foundations, to carry out investigations in democracy. To use the words of the proposer of the plan, it is to establish 'a laboratory of democracy founded for the purpose of discovering the whole truth concerning ourselves as citizens and the laws under which we live, and dedicated to the task of preserving and perfecting our free institutions.' This truly would be worthy of the men who signed the 'Compact' in the cabin of the Mayflower. A foundation freed from partisan control to study democracy is being worked out in town, city, state and nation. What finer memorial for those who planted democracy?" [SOURCE: Marshall, Rev Charles P. "How about the Pilgrim Celebration?" The Advance, vol. 68, no. 2631, 13 Apr. 1916, pp. 903. ProQuest, http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/754099986?accountid=10226. Accessed 9. Oct. 2018.] "CIVICS IN THE CLASSROOM In a social system such as that which prevails in America, the welfare of the community depends upon the co-operation of the citizens as a whole. It is therefore becoming more and more evident each year that special training is demanded of those who wish to share intelligently in the conduct of affairs. Accordingly, we find everywhere a growing interest in the content and method of the course in Civics. Formerly, a teacher of Civics was satisfied to explain the details of governmental organization. The facts to be studied could be recorded in a book and taught by anybody who could read the book. The real reason for including Civics in a course of study—the improvement of the quality of citizenship—was either lost sight of entirely, or was only incidentally inferred. It is the purpose of the authors of this text to present the subject with two questions constantly in mind: 1. What is the community doing for the citizen? 2. What does the citizen owe the community? These two ideas must be kept steadily in view by the teacher in this Community Civics work. A mere formal study of the text will not accomplish the desired result-—the text is not intended to cover the field. The questions at the end of each chapter suggest the line of investigation to be pursued; yet it may even be found impossible to answer all these questions. But if investigation and discussion have been stimulated, they will have achieved their purpose." [SOURCE: Ziegler, Samuel Horning, 1880- and Jaquette, Helen. Our Community: Good Citizenship in Towns and Cities. The John C. Winston Co, 1918, pp. XI. HathiTrust, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061706846. Accessed 10 Oct. 2018.]