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The Curriculum
Foundations
Reader
Ann Marie Ryan · Charles Tocci ·
Seungho Moon
The Curriculum Foundations Reader
 Ann Marie Ryan · Charles Tocci ·
Seungho Moon

The Curriculum
Foundations Reader
Ann Marie Ryan Charles Tocci
Department of Interdisciplinary School of Education
Learning and Teaching Loyola University
The University of Texas Chicago, IL, USA
at San Antonio
San Antonio, TX, USA

Seungho Moon
School of Education
Loyola University
Chicago, IL, USA

ISBN 978-3-030-34427-6 ISBN 978-3-030-34428-3 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34428-3

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction
on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and
information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication.
Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied,
with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have
been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published
maps and institutional affiliations.

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
To all educators and their students past, present, and future engaged
in making and (re)interpreting curriculum.
 Acknowledgements

This book focuses on the broad history of curriculum in the United

States in the twentieth century. The authors of the work along with
our lead coauthor of Chapter 3, Michael Hines, are responsible for
the content of the book, but we had a great deal of support in bring-
ing it together. First and foremost, almost every chapter of this text
relies on key sources to illuminate the critical questions about the cur-
riculum that we pose. In order to share those sources, we relied on the
expertise of many a knowledgeable archivist. We would especially like
to thank Ryan Masaki Yokota of Chicago’s Japanese American Service
Committee Legacy Center, Kimberly Springle of the Charles Sumner
School Museum and Archives, Janet Ness of the Seattle Public Schools,
Lesley Martin at Chicago History Museum, Joyce Duriga of The Chicago
Catholic published by New World Publications of the Archdiocese
of Chicago, and Lukasz Dudka at Polish Daily News. We also thank
the ­ following individuals for their assistance in securing permission
to use archival materials: Kathy Hayes at Los Angeles Unified School
District, Katy Wogec of the Association of Supervision and Curriculum
Development, Lindsay Stevens at Rethinking Schools, and Anthony
Sampas at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
We are indebted to several of our colleagues who generously offered
to read sections of this book and offer constructive feedback to us as
we worked on this project. These scholars included Yoon Pak, Christine
Woyshner, Yvonne El Ashmawi, Anna Lees, and Samantha Benn-Duke.
We also thank graduate students at Loyola University Chicago who

vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

shared their feedback on earlier drafts on this book while they took CIEP
440: Curriculum and Instruction course. In particular, we appreciate
Chand Abdus-Salam for bringing the source, Little Man’s Family, to
our attention. We are indebted to Tracy Ruppman at Loyola University
Chicago who helped us explore primary sources throughout this project.
We benefited from a research grant from the Office of Research
Services (ORS) at Loyola University Chicago to assist with publication
costs. We appreciate the support of the ORS team in assisting us with
many details along the way involved with securing permissions. This
book would not have been possible without the efforts of graduate assis-
tant, Sammie Burton. She has been indispensable in assisting us with our
editorial responsibilities. We were assisted by other graduate assistants
as well. We wish to thank each of them for their support: Wenjin Guo,
Elissa West-Frazier, Jenna Nelson, and Eleni Giatsou.
We want to thank the editorial team at Palgrave Macmillan, Mara
Berkoff, Milana Vernikova, and Linda Braus. They provided this oppor-
tunity to share our work with a broader audience of educational and
curriculum historians, their students, and other educational stakeholders
interested in the history we inherit and that which we choose to make
each day.
Finally, we have to thank our families for their enduring support and
continual understanding. Ann Marie thanks Pat, Anna, Michael, Nathan,
Wenchi, Chase, Charlie, Roy, Erin, and Julia; Seungho thanks Jinyoung,
and Celine; Charlie thanks Linda, Oliver, Theodore, Arthur, and Maya.
We all thank our parents, siblings, teachers, colleagues, and so many
­others who we consider educators. We have been shaped as teachers and
researchers through our experiences with them.
 Contents

1 Introduction: Exploring the Enduring Questions of

Curriculum in Context 1
1.1 Why We Need This Book 3
1.2 Historical Inquiry 7
1.3 Searching for and Selecting Sources 9
1.4 Organization of This Book and How Educators Might
Use This Reader 11
References 13

2 Where Do Teaching and Learning Happen? 15

2.1 The Schoolhouse in the Early Twentieth Century 17
2.2 Extending the Reach of the Schoolhouse at Mid-Century
and Beyond 18
2.3 Introduction to the Sources 20
2.4 Associated Sources 21
2.4.1 Source II.A: Open Air Schools 21
2.4.2 Source II.B: Expanding the Classroom 25
2.4.3 Source II.C: Open Education 28
References 31

ix
x CONTENTS

3 Who Is Excluded? Who Is Empowered? Marginalization

and Resistance in the Curriculum 33
Michael Hines
3.1 African Americans 34
3.2 Mexicans and Mexican Americans 36
3.3 Indigenous Peoples 37
3.4 Conclusion 38
3.5 Introduction to the Sources 39
3.6 Associated Sources 39
3.6.1 Source III.A: A School History of the Negro
Race in America, from 1619 to 1890 39
3.6.2 Source III.B: Latin American Manifesto
of Harrison High School Presented by the Students 42
3.6.3 Source III.C: Culturally Relevant Early Education
Programs: Hearing Before the Senate Committee
on Indian Affairs 45
References 52

4 What Is at the Center of the Curriculum? 55

4.1 Tradition or Progress? 55
4.2 Culture and the Curriculum 57
4.3 Introduction to the Sources 63
4.4 Associated Sources 64
4.4.1 Source IV.A: Why and How We Teach
the Negro About Himself in the Washington
Public Schools 64
4.4.2 Source IV.B: My Experiences in School 69
4.4.3 Source IV.C: A Handbook for Workshops
on Sex Equality in Education 72
References 78

5 Who Chooses What Is Taught? 81

5.1 Whose Choice? From Some to Many 83
5.2 What to Learn? Curriculum Recommendations
and Revisions 84
5.3 A Turning Point for Choice 85
5.4 At Mid-Century: Choice in the Wake of Brown v. Board,
1954 86
 CONTENTS xi

5.5 The Curriculum Pendulum 87

5.6 Modern Choices 89
5.7 Introduction to the Sources 90
5.8 Associated Sources 91
5.8.1 Source V.A: The New World 91
5.8.2 Source V.B: Los Angeles Unified School District
Documents 93
5.8.3 Source V.C: Rethinking Schools 100
References 106

6 Which Language(s)? 109

6.1 Histories of Taming a Wild Tongue: English-Only
Movement 110
6.2 Ongoing Political Struggle to Speak in One’s
Own Tongue 113
6.3 Then and Now: The Nexus of Language/Culture/Identity
and Power 117
6.4 Introduction to the Sources 118
6.5 Associated Sources 119
6.5.1 Source VI.A: Little Man’s Family: Diné Yázhí
Ba’átchíní 119
6.5.2 Source VI.B: Proyecto Saber, 1974–1975 123
6.5.3 Source VI.C: An Oral History with Dr. Phala
Chea/Interviewer: Christopher Strobel 134
References 140

7 How Do We Know What Students Have Learned? 143

7.1 Early History of Grades in American Schools 144
7.2 Standardization of Grading Practices 146
7.3 The Move to Data 148
7.4 Introduction to the Sources 149
7.5 Associated Sources 150
7.5.1 Source VII.A: The Ranking System of Grading 150
7.5.2 Source VII.B: In Evaluation of Work 154
7.5.3 Source VII.C: Standards-Based Grading 158
References 161
xii CONTENTS

8 Ongoing Curriculum Lessons 163

8.1 Historically Conscious Educational Spaces 163
8.2 Rethinking Assumptions 165
8.3 Into the Classroom 166
8.4 A Call to Archive 168
8.5 Concluding Thoughts 169
References 169

Index 171
 List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Child’s painting from Granada [Amache] Relocation

Center, ca. 1943 11
Fig. 2.1 Rest period, Elizabeth McCormick Open Air School
No. 2, on roof of Hull House boys club 25
Fig. 5.1 The problem of the day 92
Fig. 5.2 Higher education 93
Fig. 6.1 Hazba watches the baby 120
Fig. 6.2 Hazba watches the baby in Navajo Language 120
Fig. 6.3 Proyecto Saber 124
Fig. 6.4 Appendix. The counselor position description 129

xiii
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction: Exploring the Enduring

Questions of Curriculum in Context

In the late 1940s, Beatrice Doonan of the Groveland School in Wayzata,

Minnesota faced a problem that is still familiar to teachers in today’s
classrooms. Ms. Doonan had a difficult time getting her fifth grade
classroom of 18 boys and 11 girls to feel a sense of “unity” needed to
facilitate a cooperative planning approach. Indeed, Ms. Doonan was tired
of “hav[ing] to assume the role of a policeman” and felt she needed to
make significant changes in order for the class to embrace “the freedom
to experiment, and to make mistakes if necessary, and the opportunity to
solve their problems, as they saw them” (Doonan, c.1947).
When we came across this document, an eight-page report about
one teacher’s attempt to remake her classroom in a rural school in the
upper-Midwest just after World War II, we were immediately struck by
how contemporary the challenges expressed by this educator seemed. As
former teachers and current educational researchers, we have seen count-
less educators try to shift their classrooms from teacher-centered, “sage on
the stage” setups to student-centered, cooperative learning spaces. And
while the teachers engaging in this work tend to point out many similar
challenges and impediments, the problems always seem contemporary, as
if we educators are perpetually trying to figure out how to meet the same
challenges within our classrooms.
Yet, over the past 100-plus years, there have been countless
Ms. Doonans working in American schools: in big cities and small towns
found in every corner of the country; in pre-schools, elementary schools,
and high schools; and in communities that reflect the full range of the

© The Author(s) 2020 1

A. M. Ryan et al., The Curriculum Foundations Reader,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34428-3_1
2 A. M. RYAN ET AL.

United States’ demographic diversity. The work of these educators is part

of a history of teaching that has played out in the daily experiences of
students, teachers, and administrators. It is a past usually considered so
mundane that it is not often archived, written about, or presented as rel-
evant to our current efforts to improve education. We argue that the Ms.
Doonans of the past are, in fact, vital to our future, perhaps more so than
the major figures of traditional and typical educational and curriculum
history.
Educators have long been wrestling with how to best harness the
dynamics within the classroom. Philip Jackson’s (1968) book, Life in
Classrooms, directs educators to the importance of “the daily grind” of
schooling: the routines, roles, and repetitions of classroom experience for
teachers and students. For Jackson, the habitual features of teaching and
learning could lull an observer into believing that education is a rather
simple, unchanging endeavor. He wrote,

Classroom life…is too complex an affair to be viewed or talked about from

any single perspective…This means we must read, and look, and listen, and
count things, and talk to people, and even muse introspectively over the
memories of our own childhood. (Jackson, 1968, pp. vii–viii)

Simultaneously, as educators we know that the classroom is a space

where many issues are wrestled with and lived out in messy and indeter-
minate ways. Maxine Greene (1988), drawing from her passion for arts
and imagination, encouraged teachers and students to release their imag-
ination and to look at lived experiences from as-ifs rather than from fixed
realities. She states, “There are always vacancies: there are always roads
not taken, vistas not acknowledged. The search must be ongoing; the
end can never be quite known” (Greene, 1988, p. 15).
This leads us to one of the central paradoxes of the profession: teach-
ing is full of both constants and changes. Becoming an insightful, inci-
sive educator means understanding the dynamics between the persistent
features of the classroom and the rapid developments within and beyond
the school’s walls. Put another way, a keen knowledge of how the educa-
tional environment in classrooms has developed and changed over time
empowers educators to critically view current classroom life and informs
efforts to support current and future students.
Decades before Jackson and Greene articulated these notions,
Ms. Doonan and her fifth graders embraced a classroom life that was
 1 INTRODUCTION: EXPLORING THE ENDURING QUESTIONS … 3

complex, incomplete, and brimming with perspectives. Ms. Doonan

described her effort to remake her classroom into a cooperative space as
follows:

This I did by continually setting up situations in which the whole class par-
ticipated. The problems we discussed were real problems from the play-
ground, the hallways, the lunchroom, and the classroom…. Through this
continual process of sharing, the boys and girls gradually accepted more
responsibility in carrying out their plans. I allowed them freedom to exper-
iment and the opportunity to solve their own problems, as they saw them
and to make mistakes if necessary.
When we had a common problem to solve, we moved our seats into
a circle. I also found a spot in the circle. It seemed that through chang-
ing the physical setup of our room, it fostered group participation. There
seemed to be better participation. There seemed to be better interaction,
or give and take among the members. Finally, when we arrived at a solu-
tion to our problem, it was the result of many ideas. (Doonan, c.1947)

Beatrice Doonan’s life in her classroom became richer when she

reflected on her subjectivities, her memories of teaching and learning,
and her students’ learning and teaching. Her reflections were part of
an informal network organized by Neva L. Boyd, a pioneering, if often
overlooked, educator who helped develop and promote play-based edu-
cational and therapeutic practices through her work at Hull House,
Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and finally the
Illinois Department of Public Welfare (Simon, 2011). During the post-
war period, Boyd provided training for teachers and schools, such as
Ms. Doonan at the Groveland School, who wanted to incorporate more
cooperative and recreational learning experiences into their classrooms.
Boyd collected reports from these schools as part of her own research,
creating a record of these pedagogical experiments as well as spaces for
educators to describe and reflect on the process.

1.1  Why We Need This Book

We teach curriculum foundation courses for general teacher education
and graduate programs. In these courses, we introduce theoretical and
historical analyzes of curriculum and education with the goal that teacher
candidates and in-service teachers might explore curriculum from histor-
ical perspectives. We encourage students to use these broader historical
4 A. M. RYAN ET AL.

and theoretical contexts to inform their teaching and learning. When

our students are provided opportunities to reflect the histories of teach-
ing and learning within a historical context, most students find direct
connections between curricular issues of the past and the present. This
investigation promotes an in-depth, historical analysis of contemporary
curriculum issues to reflect on their practice and thus to rethink their
assumptions about teaching: that the ways they experience schooling
is universal; that the way schools work today are how they have always
worked; and, that teachers and students have limited influence on how
schools function.
Our initial thought for writing this book originated from our expe-
riences with and reflections on historicizing curriculum and reconnect-
ing it with the present. Practitioners tend to consider theory-practice
as a dichotomy, not as a coherent, interwoven curriculum inquiry.
Consequently, many teacher education programs have eliminated foun-
dations courses, as these classes do not provide practical knowledge for
teacher candidates to readily implement in their classrooms. We argue
that the history of education, but even more poignantly the history of
curriculum, should be maintained as a crucial component of teacher edu-
cation. By thinking about practice theoretically and considering theories
practically, this book attempts to develop theory-practice as a coherent,
interwoven framework for educational practitioners. In this manner,
theory-practice is bound to teachers’ and students’ lived, educational
experiences and involves making space to decipher and theorize our
lived experiences. In the case of this book, we hope teachers and their
students will theorize from the experiences of past educators and make
connections to their own current realities. This Reader delves into the
past, present, and future continuum of historical inquiry with the aim
of developing historically conscious educational spaces. While engag-
ing with this Reader, teachers examine unique experiences of individ-
uals, groups, and institutions from the past through archival sources.
Furthermore, they advance historical consciousness by making connec-
tions to similar issues over time through secondary source-based syn-
thesis essays and related primary sources in this Reader. According to
Rüsen (1993), historical consciousness entails learning “from the actions,
ideas and mores of the past, recognizing how much things [change], yet
still taking the past into account in facing the future” (Rüsen, 1993, as
cited in Seixas, 2017, p. 596). This form of historical consciousness is
genetic historical consciousness, that which requires historiographical
 1 INTRODUCTION: EXPLORING THE ENDURING QUESTIONS … 5

knowledge—reading multiple historical perspectives and interpreta-

tions—in order to come to one’s own understanding. In this case, teach-
ers review and rethink their experience today with the use of historical
consciousness and thus take actions on our contemporary challenges
with the assistance of these multiple understandings of the past.
This Reader provides comprehensive, inquiry-based analysis of cur-
riculum issues by challenging the compartmentalized understanding of
theory and curriculum foundations through multiple perspectives. A cat-
egorical division of curriculum foundations perpetuates the misconcep-
tion that the theories and movements in curriculum history are clear,
distinct, and almost partisan. This presentation provides the impression
that one major movement controls people’s ways of thinking rather than
considering such movements as part of a larger zeitgeist. Furthermore,
by representing one school of thought that is heavily reliant on a major
thinker, problems can be generated as students may not only come to
overly trust a prominent thinker, but they may also normalize the prac-
tices followed by that theorist. For example, progressive education is
oftentimes conceived as a clear set of practices invented by Dewey. If a
teacher cannot accomplish these practices, then the teacher cannot be
progressive.
This book examines curriculum and teaching-learning drawn from
historical documents and regards curriculum history as “in progress”
rather than a ready-made, retrievable archive. As individual educational
researchers with our own perspectives, we analyze educational, lived
experiences of teachers and students by historicizing curriculum prac-
tices. The hallmark, curriculum question posed by Herbert Spencer,
“What knowledge is of most worth?” is an epistemological question in
curriculum studies. In addition to this inquiry, this book includes other
critical curriculum questions: “What knowledge is most often taught?”
and “What is actually learned or experienced in the classroom?”
The main focus of the curricular inquiry in this book encompasses the
question of what curriculum looks like from the classroom perspective.
Through historical artifacts we examine the lived experiences of teachers,
students, parents, communities, and others across time and space. These
artifacts offer multiple perspectives on key aspects of what classrooms
look like from the experiences of a diverse range of youth and adults.
Our central goal is to use these artifacts to craft a framework of curricu-
lum inquiry that examines the relationships between the specific curric-
ulum, teacher materials, and broader educational issues. This framework
 2 WHERE DO TEACHING AND LEARNING HAPPEN? 17

2.1  The Schoolhouse in the Early

Twentieth Century
The increase in the school-age population at the turn of the twentieth
century meant an increase in the number of school buildings, especially
in urban areas (Tyack, 1974). For example, Chicago saw its school pop-
ulation grow from 27,000 to 250,000 between 1870 and 1900 (Rury,
2005). The rise in the number of school-age children was driven by child
labor laws, compulsory school attendance laws, and increases in immi-
gration to the United States. The increase in the number of students in
schools also gave rise to the fear of the spread of disease, especially in
large urban areas with burgeoning numbers of rural migrants and new
immigrants entering cities.
One of the more creative solutions to this dilemma was the open air
school movement that was originally popularized in Europe and found
its way over to the United States in the early twentieth century (see
Associated Sources A1 and A2). Designed to give “vulnerable” chil-
dren, particularly those susceptible to tuberculosis or similar ailments,
classrooms with adequate ventilation, the open air school movement
also supported students educationally. However, the curriculum offered
in these programs offered academic programs complemented by man-
ual training. Manual training consisted of a set of nonspecific skills that
did not prepare a student for a particular vocation, but rather focused
on enhancing basic skills that made one “ready” for the industrial econ-
omy. Manual training was usually a part of open air schools since it was
believed that the students placed in these programs were generally below
grade level and had hope for little else.
Many school-age children, especially those considered White at
the time, went to public or Catholic schools where the curriculum
they encountered was largely academic in focus. This was not the case
for African American or Indigenous students. Many African American
school-age children in the South had limited access to schooling, but
oftentimes were steered toward or forced to attend schools with facili-
ties and curriculum that ill-prepared them for the changing economy of
the early twentieth century. This was similar to the circumstances of chil-
dren of Indigenous People who were forced at times to attend board-
ing schools run by White sponsors, largely in the Midwest and West.
Both types of schools were known for their focus on manual training,
which aimed to keep these groups of people in subservient roles so as to
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 He was soon at the head of a large and powerful army. With this
he marched forward, defeated the English troops that advanced to
meet him, and, in three months after his arrival, he took Edinburgh,
the capital of Scotland.—​France now sent him aid, and, with a force
of 7000 men, he marched southward into England, and took the
town of Carlisle. At Preston Pans, he defeated an English army of
4000 strong; and such was his success, that the English
government, under King William, of Orange, trembled for their safety.
They therefore made great efforts, and in April, 1746, they sent a
large army against him, under the Duke of Cumberland. At Culloden,
the two armies met, and a terrible battle followed; Prince Edward
was defeated, and his army entirely dispersed. He was scarce able
to save his life by flight; and, indeed, he wandered about, from place
to place, among the wilds of Scotland, being every day in danger of
being seized and given up to the English government, who offered
$150,000 to anybody who would bring him to them. It seems strange
that so large a bribe could be resisted; but, such was the love that
the Scottish people bore him, and such their fidelity, that no one was
found to betray him, though many people were entrusted with the
secret of his being among them. Even the poor mountaineers
refused to give him up, though offered a sum of money that would
have made them very rich.
At last, a faithful Scottish nobleman, by the name of O’Neil, took
him in charge, and after wandering along the sea-shore in a skiff,
flying from island to island, and experiencing the greatest sufferings
and dangers, he was put on board a French frigate, that had been
sent for his rescue. He was now taken to France, and soon after,
giving up all hopes of seeing his family restored to the throne, he
settled in Italy, where he died in 1788, in the 68th year of his age. He
was the last of the Stuart line, and was called the Pretender, on
account of his pretending to set up claims to the throne of England.
 Winter.

December has come! Winter is here! These are common-place

words, but they mean more, perhaps, than we are apt to consider.
Winter, then, means that the myriad leaves of the forest are
shrivelled and torn from the trees, and scattered in the valley: it
means that the sap of the trees has ceased to flow, and that these
giants of the vegetable world have passed into a state of stupor, in
which they must remain till spring again returns.
Winter means that the myriad races of annual weeds and plants
are dead, to revive again no more; that myriads of blossoms have
faded forever from the view; that the verdure of the forest has
passed away; that the gemmed garment of the meadow is
exchanged for the thin, brown mantle of leanness and poverty; that
the velvet of the lawn has given place to the scanty covering of dried
and faded grass.
Winter means that the minstrelsy of the birds is gone, and that the
field and forest, so lately cheered by a thousand forms and sounds
of happy existence are now silent, or rendered more dreary and
desolate by the moaning winds. It means that the birds are gone to
their southern retreats; that the myriad races of insects are dead;
that the whole generation of butterflies has perished; that the
grasshoppers have sung their last song; that even the pensive
cricket has gone to his long home. It means that death has breathed
on our portion of the world, and that nature herself, as if weary of her
efforts, has fallen into a cold and fearful slumber.
Winter means all these melancholy things; but it also means
something more. It means that the granary of the farmer is full; that
his barn is supplied; that there is good and ample store for the
beasts that look to man for support, and for man himself. It means,
too, that the comfortable fire will be kindled, around which the family
will assemble, and where, secure from the bitter blast without, there
will still be peace, comfort, and content. It means, too, that there is
such a thing as poverty, shivering, without fire, without food—
perhaps, without sufficient shelter; and it means that charity should
seek and save those who are suffering in such a condition.
And winter means something more than all this: it means, by its
examples of decay and death, to teach us that we, too, must pass
away; and that it is well for us to make preparation for the great
event. Winter also brings us to the end of the year, and suggests a
serious self-inquiry, and self-examination. It would ask us if the last
year has been one of profit or loss? Are we better, and wiser, than
when it began? Are we more kind, more just, more patient, more
faithful, more fond of truth?—Summer is the season for the harvest
of the field; winter is the season for the moral harvest of the heart.
Let it not pass with any of us as a barren and unproductive season,
in which we neither sow nor reap the fruits of wisdom and peace.
 The Hand.

Every limb and member of the body is made for some good
purpose.
The eye is made to see with; the ear is made to hear with; the
nose is made to smell with; the mouth is made to eat and speak with.
The feet are made to run and walk with; the hands are made to
work with, to write with, and to do many other things.
But do you think children’s hands were ever made to strike their
brothers, or sisters, or playmates? Were your little hands ever made
to snatch away things from each other?
Who gave you hands? God gave them. Did he give you hands to
steal with? Did God give you hands that you might throw stones at
geese, or dogs, or hens, or cows, or any other innocent animals?
Did God give you hands to injure or wound any of the creatures
he has made?
Take care of your little hands, then, my children! Take care that
the hands God has given, do nothing that God disapproves.
 Nuts to Crack.

The Word “Fast.”—This is as great a contradiction as we have in

the language. The river is fast, because the ice is immoveable; and
then the ice disappears fast for the contrary reason—it is loose. A
clock is called fast when it goes quicker than time; but a man is told
to stand fast, when he is desired to remain stationary. People fast
when they have nothing to eat, and eat fast when opportunity offers.

Military Courtesy.—Gen. Meadows, equally renowned for his

wit and bravery, being on a reconnoitring party, in the Mysore
country, a twenty-four pound shot struck the ground at some
distance from the General, and was passing in such a direction as
would have exposed him to danger had he continued on his route;
quick as lightning he stopped his horse, and, pulling off his hat very
gracefully, as the shot rolled on, good-humoredly said: “I beg you to
proceed, sir; I never dispute precedence with any gentleman of your
family.”

A doctor, in Scotland, was employed by a poor man to attend

his wife, who was dangerously ill. The doctor gave a hint, amounting
to the suspicion that he would not be paid. “I have,” says the man,
“five pounds; and if you kill, or cure her, you shall have it.” The
woman died, under the hands of the doctor, and, after a reasonable
time, he called for his five pounds. The man then said: “Did you kill
my wife?—did you cure her?” “No.” “Then,” said the poor man, “you
have no legal demand,” and turned upon his heel.
 How to shake off Trouble.—Set about doing good to
somebody: put on your hat, and go and visit the sick and poor—
inquire into their wants, and minister to them; seek out the desolate
and oppressed, and tell them of the consolations of religion. I have
often tried this method, and have always found it the best medicine
for a heavy heart.

A Father’s Impulse.—When Lord Erskine made his debut at the

bar, his agitation almost overpowered him, and he was just going to
sit down: “At that moment,” said he, “I thought I felt my little children
tugging at my gown, and the idea roused me to an exertion, of which
I did not think myself capable.”

The Sublime.—Over the stall of a public writer, in Rue de Bac, at

Paris, is the following inscription: “M. Renard, public writer and
compiler—translates the tongues, explains the language of flowers,
and sells fried potatoes.”

Feeling for Another.—A Quaker, once hearing a person tell

how much he felt for a friend who needed his assistance, dryly
observed: “Friend, hast thou ever felt in thy pocket for him?”

“What are you writing such a thundering big hand for, Patrick?”
“Why, do you see, my grandmother is deaf, and I am writing a loud
lether to her.”

A Knotty Case.—Not many years ago, a man appeared in court,

whether as plaintiff, defendant, or witness, tradition does not inform
us. Be this as it may, the following dialogue ensued:—Court—“What
is your name, sir?” “My name is Knott Martin, your honor.” “Well,
what is it?” “It is Knott Martin.” “Not Martin, again! We do not ask you
what your name is not, but what it is. No contempt of court, sir.” “If
your honor will give me leave, I will spell my name.” “Well, spell it.”
“K-n-o-tt, Knott, M-a-r, Mar, t-i-n, tin—Knott Martin.” “O, well, Mr.
Martin, we see through it now; but it is one of the most knotty cases
we have had before us for some time.”

Good.—It was a judicious resolution of a father, as well as a most

pleasing compliment to his wife, when, on being asked by a friend
what he intended to do with his daughters, he replied: “I intend to
apprentice them to their mother, that they may become like her—
good wives, mothers, heads of families, and useful members of
society.”

A Learned Character.—“Give me ‘Venice Preserved,’” said a

gentleman, last week, on going to a celebrated bookseller’s at the
West-end. “We don’t sell preserves,” said an apprentice, newly-
imported from the country; “but you will get them next door, at Mr.
Brown’s, the confectioner.”

Ten To One.—Strict attention to office hours is a duty incumbent

upon every public officer. We heard of a case of an American consul,
in a foreign country, who was not remarkable for his attention to duty.
A gentleman, calling one day, found his office shut, and a label
sticking upon the door, with these words: “In from ten to one.” Having
called again several times within those hours, without finding him, he
wrote at the bottom of the label—“Ten to one he’s not in.”
 To the Black-ey’d and Blue-ey’d Friends of
Robert Merry.

It is now about a twelvemonth since our acquaintance

commenced; and I hope the feeling is such between us, that there is
a mutual desire to continue it. I know that the young, the happy, and
the gay-hearted, are apt to think that we old fellows are sour and sad
—disposed to look with an evil eye upon childhood and its sports;
and more ready to preach than practise charity.
I will not pretend to deny that, now and then, a person gets cross
and crabbed as he grows old, and like cider too long kept, turns to
vinegar: but this is not my case, or, if it be, my ill-humor never
displays itself toward the young. They are to me the buds and
blossoms of life, and their presence ever brings the welcome
feelings that belong to sunshine and summer.
Old age has been often compared to winter—the close of the
year; the season of desolation; the period of storms and tempests;
the funeral-time of the vegetable world; the time when the leaves,
the fruits, and the flowers are laid in their tomb, and covered over
with a winding-sheet of snow. This is a sad picture at first view; and I
believe many a child is led to avoid old people from the habit of
regarding them in this light—from the idea that they are shrivelled,
frost-bitten, bitter, and disagreeable.
Now, I will not deny that there is some resemblance between
winter and old age: an old man has not the warm blood of youth; his
pulses are, perhaps, like the river, chilled and obstructed by ice; his
temper is sometimes capricious and gusty, like the winds of
December; and his head, bald, or covered with a few silvery hairs, is
like the oak, stripped of its covering, and having its boughs
powdered with snow.
 All this may be true enough; but it is not good reason why the old
should be deserted by the young. I remember very well, that, when I
was a boy, there was a fine old walnut-tree, upon a hillside, not far
from where I lived. Now, I never thought or cared about this tree, till
the time when winter approached. Then, when the leaves were
scattered, the nuts were all ripe, then it was that the tree became an
object of interest to me. Then it was that I loved to visit it; to climb its
limbs and give it a shake, and hear the fruit rattle down like hail.
Never, in all my boyhood days, did I meet with anything more
delightful than this!
And let me tell you, my black-ey’d and blue-ey’d friends, that this
old walnut-tree was like many an old person you may meet with. You
will remark that, in this case, it was when winter had come, or was
near at hand, that the fruit was ripe, and ready for those who would
climb up for it and gather it. And let me tell you, that old people, like
this tree, have many a good nut to crack, many a good story to tell,
to those who will climb up in the lap and ask for it.
This is my view of the matter; and I hope that young people,
instead of running away from me, as a crusty, crabbed, one-legged
old chap, will treat me as I did the old walnut-tree—give it a shake,
and see if the nuts don’t rattle down!
I am not fond of making great promises; but, as I am anxious to
have my readers, who have set out on a journey with me, still keep
me company—at least for one year more—I am ready to engage to
do my best to please them. I shall, if I live, tell the rest of my own
story, and bring the history of Brusque to a close. The tale of the
Sable-Hunters, the travels of Thomas Trotter, the stories of the
Indians, will be continued and completed; and a variety of other
things are in store.
I can promise one thing more—and that is, some tales from the
pen of Peter Parley. That pleasant, kind-hearted old man is no more;
but I knew him better than anybody else, and all his papers are in my
hands. Among them are several tales, and I intend to publish them in
my magazine. My young readers, perhaps, do not know how
shabbily poor old Peter was treated. The fact was, that several
people in this country, as well as in others, wrote stories, and put his
name to them; thus pretending that they were actually his! Some of
these were very silly, and some were very improper. This cut Peter to
the heart, and it served greatly to shorten his days. I am sorry that,
even now, people are palming off trumpery works of their own as
Peter Parley’s.
But the tales that I propose to give, are genuine; there is no
mistake. They are by the same hand that wrote the tales about
Europe, Asia, Africa, and America; and I hope they may be as
acceptable as those were.
I return a thousand thanks to my many young friends, who have
written me letters, whether of criticism, advice, or commendation. I
am glad to know that so many of them like Bill Keeler: let them be
assured his whole story will come out in due time. I shall be very
glad to get the bear story, which L. S., of Vermont, offers to tell. The
Indiana legend of the Wolf and the Wild-cat, is received, and will
appear soon. Jane R—— will accept my thanks for—she knows
what! If she were not so many hundred miles off, I should ask her to
let me see whether she is a blue-eyed or black-eyed friend. The
basket of chestnuts were duly received from Alice D——, and were
very welcome. Ralph H—— will see that I have done as he
requested; I have given a portrait of the fine gray squirrel he sent
me, in this number. He is well, and as lively as ever.
Robert Merry.
 WINTER—A SONG.
the words and music composed for
merry’s museum.

“Tell me what does winter mean!”

’Tis a drea-ry change of scene—
When the meadow yields its bloom,
And the blo-soms seek their tomb.
Winter is the time of storms,
When the cloud in angry forms,
O’er the land in terror sweeps,
And the sighing forest weeps.
’Tis the funeral time of flowers,
Withered in their lovely bowers;
While the zephyr sings in grief,
O’er each shrivelled stem and leaf.
’Tis the dreary time of snow,
Falling chill on all below,
As a winding-sheet it weaves
O’er the graves of myriad leaves.

Winter is a time of tears,

For the poor, in youth or years,—
Where the storm drives keenly in,
And the blanket’s brief and thin.
Winter is the time of wreck,
When the billow cleaves the deck,
And the mariners go down
Where the battling surges frown.
 Transcriber’s Note:
This book was written in a period when many words had not
become standardized in their spelling. Words may have multiple
spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in the text. These
have been left unchanged unless indicated below. Obsolete and
alternative spellings were left unchanged. Misspelled words were not
corrected.
One Footnote was moved to the end of the chapter. Obvious
printing errors, such as backwards, upside down, or partially printed
letters and punctuation, were corrected. Final stops missing at the
end of sentences and abbreviations were added. Duplicate letters at
line endings or page breaks were removed. Quotation marks were
adjusted to common usage. Page numbers in the Table of Contents
were corrected to match book pages.
Links to audio files were added for music. The music files are the
music transcriber’s interpretation of the printed notation and are
placed in the public domain. At the time of this writing, music file
links will not work in mobile e-book formats like epub or Kindle/mobi.
Users who are reading the e-book in one of these formats can listen
to the music or download music files in the HTML version. Lyrics to
musical scores are presented as poetry following the illustration of
the music.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROBERT
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