The Story of the Liberty Bell, a book published in 1910, is much more than the story of the celebrated Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Rather, it is a short, historical narrative of the struggle for liberty in many eras and countries. It begins with the Biblical story of the Jewish people's flight from Egypt and continues with the Irish, Swiss, and other popular uprisings in European history. It devotes many pages to the search for religious liberty by focusing on the efforts of the Puritans, Martin Luther, and Joan of Arc, among others. The last half of the book describes the discovery, colonization and growth of America from the Puritans through the American Revolutionary War. The final chapter is devoted to the popular history of the Liberty Bell itself. The author's tone is very optimistic, and somewhat naive, about the heroic march toward freedom in the Western world. In keeping with the socio-political norms of the pre-World War I era, European colonization of and treatment of Third World countries in not mentioned.
There are many black and white illustrations and one in color of celebrated historical events and figures. The front cover features a colorful illustrations of Americans celebrating in front of Independence Hall. The appendix contains ads for similar works by the author. It is 124 pages in length.
Primary author and editor Wayne Wipple (1856-1942) specialized in popular books and articles on historical American figures, such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln. His other publications include The Story of the American Flag and The Story of the White House.
Henry Altemus Company (1842-1936) was a popular and prolific Philadelphia, Pennsylvania publisher which started as a bookbinder and evolved into a publisher of juvenile series books, religious and moralistic books, bibles, fairy tales, and photo albums. After the death of his father Joseph in 1853, Henry took over the business. By the 1860s, it was one of the largest bookbinders in the United States. In 1889, Altemus began publishing non-religious, inspirational books. Altemus thrived by publishing an increasing number of inexpensive reprints of leading American and British authors. In 1909, the juvenile series for both boys and girls was introduced. These extremely popular books were published into the 1930s.
The Illustrated Treasury of Children’s Literature is designed “for family use and for reading aloud with children, every selection has already earned the approval of real live boys and girls.” Many of this anthology’s entries are of complete stories, while others are excerpts. In addition to traditional nursery rhymes and fairytales, it includes great authors in the English language such as: Beatrix Potter, Lewis Carroll, Robert Louis Stevenson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Louisa May Alcott. Most of the stories are illustrated, many in color. The front and back covers, as well as the inside cover pages, depict beloved characters, such as Alice in Wonderland and Humpty-Dumpty.
Editor Margaret Martignoni (1908-1974) graduated from Western Maryland College and Columbia University’s School of Library Science. She was an Assistant Professor of Library Science at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C. She later became the Superintendent of Works for Children in the Brooklyn Public Library. Martignoni was also the Executive Secretary of the New York Library Association. In addition to editing The Illustrated Treasury of Children’s Literature (1955), she edited the 10-volume set of Collier’s Junior Classics (1962) and similar Collier’s series.
In addition to being the compiler of illustrations for the Illustrated Treasury of Children’s Literature, P. Edward Ernest edited The Family Album of Favorite Poems (1956). Both of these popular titles were reprinted in new editions over the succeeding decades.
Grosset and Dunlap was founded in 1898 by Alexander Grosset and George T. Dunlap. Their partnership changed the focus of the publishing industry from expensive books for the few to cheaper books for the masses. It was primarily a hardcover reprint house. After Dunlap retired in 1944, Grosset & Dunlap was sold to a consortium that included Random House; Little, Brown; and Harper and Brothers. Grosset & Dunlap is historically known for its juvenile series books such as the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Bobbsey Twins. In 1982, Grosset & Dunlap was acquired by G. P. Putnam's Sons. Putnam subsequently merged with Penguin Group in 1996. In 2013, Penguin merged with Bertelsmann's Random House, forming Penguin Random House.
This 19th Century textbook was designed to teach the effects of alcohol and other narcotics on the human body, in connection with other facts of physiology and hygiene. Pathfinder Physiology No. 1. Child’s Health Primer for Primary Classes with Special Reference to Effects of Alcohol Drinks Stimulants, and Narcotics Upon the Human System is the first of a three book health series that was endorsed by The Department of the National Women’s Christian Temperance Union. It contains 127 pages and numerous black and white illustrations. The front cover design is an intricate floral pattern along a grid, with a shield. The back cover is imprinted with the publisher’s insignia of a lit torch, an open book, and eagle’s wings. The front inside cover page contains handwritten names of previous owners: “Gladys Sechrist, West Salem, Ohio” and “Homer Sechrist, West Salem, Ohio.”
While no author is listed, there is an endorsement by American activist Mary Hunt (1830-1906), nee Mary Hannah Hanchett, National and International Superintendent of the Scientific Department of the Women's Christian Temperance Union and Life Director of the National Education Association and a list of four others on an advisory board. This book was one that Mary Hunt used to influence her national campaign on mandatory instruction of morality and temperance in the public school system.
The copywrite was assigned to A. S. Barnes & Co. in 1884.
The American Book Company was an educational book publisher formed in 1890 and based in New York City that specialized in elementary school, secondary school, and collegiate-level textbooks. The company was absorbed into D. C. Heath in 1981. Any remaining K-12 assets of the American Book Company were acquired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 1995.
American History for Schools is a condensed history of the United States, encompassing the age of exploration in the 15th Century to the 1870s. The great majority of the text is devoted to analyzing events from the discovery of the New World to the War of 1812. There are numerous colored maps and detailed black and white prints of seminal events. Inside front and back cover pages contain lists of recommended “Educational Works.” An eagle image is impressed on the book cover. This text was known to have been used in segregated schools for black students.
Author George Payn Quackenbos (1826-1881) graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. (1843), an M.A. (1846). and a law degree in 1849. He also received an LL.D. in 1863 from Wesleyan. He became principal of the Henry Street Grammar School in 1847. He was editor of the Literary American from 1848-1850; Spier’s French Dictionary (1850), and several other foreign language dictionaries. Quackenbos authored many other children’s school books, including: First Lessons in Compositions (1851); Advanced Course of Rhetoric and Composition (1854); A School History of the United States (1857); American History for Schools (1878), First Lessons in Composition (1851), Natural Philosophy (1859); an English grammars series (1862-1864) and a mathematics series (1863-1874), which includes this book, and Language Lessons (1876). His son, John Duncan Quackenbos was also a graduate of Columbia, teacher and author of school texts.
D. Appleton & Company was an early American printer and publisher founded in New York City by Daniel Appleton (1785-1849). The firm’s publications gradually extended over a broad field of literature. The company grew to become one of the world's most important publishing houses. Appleton bought into American Book Company when it was formed but continued to publish under its name including Appleton’s Magazine and Appleton’s Booklovers and through reorganizing and a bankruptcy filing. In 1933, Appleton merged with Century to create a new company, D. Appleton-Century Co. Then in 1948, D. Appleton-Century Co. merged with F.S. Crofts, Inc. The new company was sold to Prentice-Hall in the 1960s.
A School History of the United States is a thoughtful, chronological account of America from the age of European discovery and settlement, to the wars and disputes of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Later chapters are organized by themes (e.g., Growth of the Northwest, Mechanical and Industrial Progress), rather than by a list of Presidential administrations. There are many illustrations and maps, mostly in black and white.
The brown front cover has a red border at the spine and a floral pattern with early American symbols of an eagle, flag-shield, and laurel wreathes. The back cover is illustrated with a floral design in a shield pattern, crowned by an American eagle; while inside it is the publisher’s insignia of a lit torch, an open book, and eagle’s wings.
John Bach McMaster was a prominent historian and professor of early American history. He was born on June 29, 1852. McMaster attended public schools and graduated from the College of the City of New York with both a B.A. (1872) and an M.A. (1875), as well as a degree in Civil Engineering. He taught engineering at Princeton from 1877-1883.
In 1883, McMaster became a Professor of American History at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his PhD. Besides authoring A School History of the United States (1898), he wrote a five-volume History of the People of the United States from the Revolution to the Civil War (1883-1890), as well as biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Daniel Webster. His historical work differed from standard practice in that it departed from an exclusively political focus to delve into social history and the lives of ordinary people, as well as in its use of newspapers as sources.
The American Book Company (ABC) was an educational book publisher based in New York City. In 1890, it bought out the historically important branch of Harpers known for publishing school textbooks and library materials for schools. The ABC was later absorbed into D.C. Heath in 1981. Any remaining K-12 assets of the American Book Company were acquired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 1995.
School Reading By Grades: Baldwin Readers Fourth and Fifth Year by James Baldwin is a literary anthology designed to teach proper grammar and vocabulary, as well as to cultivate a taste for literature and appeal to the student’s sense of duty and patriotism. A further goal with this text was to expand knowledge of history, science, and art. Authors include William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Daniel Webster, and Charles Dickens. One story is titled “The English Slave Boys in Rome” and describes how St. Augustine supposedly converted the 6th Century English to Christianity. The Biblical parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son are also included. It makes an interesting comparison to 20th and 21st Century literary textbooks for this age group.
The 4th and 5th year texts are separated from each other, but bound together in one book. The 4th reader includes a story on the Declaration of Independence and features a black and white engraving of the 1817 John Trumbull painting of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence that was done by engraver E. Heineman and graphic artist E. H. Sison.
The book contains 208 pages and many black and white illustrations. The front cover features an elaborate floral border. The back cover is imprinted with the printer’s insignia of a lit torch, an open book, and eagle’s wings. The inside front cover page is stamped “Property of East Hempfield School District No. 3.” The reference could be to the town of the same name in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Student Mazie K. Baker inscribed on the front page of the book.
James Baldwin (1841-1925) was a leading educator, editor, and author of children’s textbooks on reading. After teaching in the local schools, he established one of the first graded school systems in Indiana in 1870. He also established a library for the use of his pupils that became a model for the state. Baldwin served as the Superintendent of Schools for Huntington, Indiana from 1873-1883. He became an assistant editor of Harper’s periodicals and later joined the editorial department of the American Book Company in New York. Besides compiling several series of standard readers, he authored over 50 books on a variety of subjects.
The American Book Company was an educational book publisher formed in 1890 and based in New York City that specialized in elementary school, secondary school, and collegiate-level textbooks. The company was absorbed into D. C. Heath in 1981. Any remaining K-12 assets of the American Book Company were acquired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 1995.
Martin Luther King and The Montgomery Story (By Martin Luther King Jr. in collaboration with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1957), 16 pgs.
In 1960, one of four college students who participated in the first sit-in at the segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, credited his strength of resolve to this difficult find and dangerous to possess comic book, which taught methods of nonviolence. The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), sold over 250,000 copies of the comic book. FOR was founded in 1914 at an ecumenical conference in Switzerland of Christians seeking to prevent the outbreak of war in Europe. Following the famed Montgomery bus boycott, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. collaborated frequently with the organization in pursuit of racial equity and desegregation in the United States. Today, this interfaith organization has membership in 40 countries representing Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Moslems, and individuals of no formal religious affiliation devoted to peaceful reconciliation worldwide. This comic book was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 1991 by Reverend Edwin King, who was also an activist in the Civil Rights Movement.
Story Hour Readings Sixth Year by Ernest Clark Hartwell is an anthology of short stories, poems, and essays on a variety of topics dealing with history, civics, and geography. In addition to drills in reading and vocabulary, the selections were chosen to promote high standards of character and citizenship for a sixth grade student. Selections come from literary authors, statesmen, and distinguished citizens; and range from Oliver Wendell Holmes to William Shakespeare. It contains a poem about the Civil War, the Gettysburg Address, the Concord Hymn by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and a story about Valley Forge. The brown cover depicts a schoolboy in short pants reading outside in a garden. The inside front and back cover sheets are stamped: “Property of Vocational School, Conneautville, PA.” The date 1927 is handwritten.
Ernest Clark Hartwell (1883-1965) was a progressive school administrator, author, and editor of history textbooks. He graduated from Albion College with a B.A. in education in 1905 and earned an M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1910. He served as the Superintendent of Schools in St. Paul, Minnesota and in Buffalo, New York. Hartwell’s efforts raised compensation for teachers and increased public funding for school construction. Before editing Story Hour Readings – Sixth Year in 1921, he authored a popular monograph to guide teachers entitled The Teaching of History (1913) which is still in print.
This well-illustrated 399 page reader benefits from the contributions of several accomplished illustrators. George Varian (1865-1923) studied art at the Brooklyn Art Guild and Art Student’s League in New York. In addition to illustrating for various magazines and books, he exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1907.
Bernard Westmacott (1887- 1940) illustrated children’s readers, as well as other books and periodicals. He was also a painter and graphic designer of posters.
Enos Benjamin Comstock (1879-1945) specialized in illustrations depicting the old American West. He was also an author and painter.
Artist Joseph Franke (1893-1933) graduated from Brooklyn Commercial High School in 1911, studied at the Art Students League of New York and graduated from the Pratt Institute of Brooklyn School of Art in 1923. By 1915, he was working as a free-lance commercial artist, illustrating primary school textbooks, and advertisements for newspapers and magazines. During the 1920s, his illustrations appeared in nationwide magazines, such as Red Book, Woman's World, Boy's Life and The American Boy.
The American Book Company was an educational book publisher formed in 1890 and based in New York City that specialized in elementary school, secondary school, and collegiate-level textbooks. The company was absorbed into D. C. Heath in 1981. Any remaining K-12 assets of the American Book Company were acquired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 1995.
The New Grammar School History of the United States by John J. Anderson examines American history from the age of exploration through the colonial, revolutionary, and constitutional periods (organized by terms of presidents.) The book is replete with colored maps, black and white illustrations, topical questions, and a comprehensive index. Several engravings are by J.S. Stearns. The dark green front cover is illustrated with the shield of the United States. The inside front cover pages contain the handwritten entries in pencil of former owner “Lilly De Lair, Oketo, Kansas” and “Lillie De Lair, M. H. College, age 16, 1898.” The reference is likely to Mount Holyoke College, which was founded in Massachusetts in 1837. John J. Anderson (1821-1906) was an innovative educator and historian who introduced modern techniques of pedagogy into the U.S. public schools. He was educated in the New York City school system, where he served as a principal beginning in 1845. Anderson wrote an important series of school histories, which evolved out of his own experience as a teacher. In addition to New Grammar School History of the United States (1892), he wrote histories of education in England, France, and Greece. Anderson is credited with integrating narrative into the geographical sections of his histories. He was the first history textbook author to incorporate sectional maps in his text and recommend that these be reproduced by pupils. He was awarded a medal for his exhibition of books at the International Exposition in Paris in 1875. The University of the City of New York conferred a PhD upon him in 1876.
Effingham Maynard & Co. was a New York-based publishing house that specialized in elementary school textbooks on history, vocabulary, and physics. In 1893, it was consolidated with Charles E. Merrill & Co., under the corporate name of Maynard, Merrill & Company.
J.J. Little & Co. was an early American printer based in New York City. Founder Joseph J. Little was born in Bristol, England, June 5, 1841. He immigrated to the United States in 1846 with his parents. Little established a printing business in 1867 in New York City called Little, Rennie & Co. The business was highly successful in the printing of books and magazines, employing about 500 persons. The title of J. J. Little & Co. was adopted in 1876. Little was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Congress and served one term from November 1891 to March 1893. He also served as the Commissioner of Education and President of the Board of Education of New York City. Little continued in the printing business until his death in New York City on February 11, 1913.
The McGuffey Readers were a series of language arts textbooks that included a primer, a speller, and readers for grade levels 1-6, each successively building on the student's skills. They were widely used as textbooks in American schools from the mid-19th Century to the early to mid-20th Century, extremely popular in multi-age rural schools. While they reached their peak about 1925 with more than 122 million copies, they are still used today in some private schools and in homeschooling. William Holmes McGuffey(1800-1873), the trailblazing American educator, was the author/editor of the first 5 books of the series beginning with the primer, and the 1st and 2nd readers in 1836, and the 3rd and 4th reader in 1837 all published originally by Truman and Smith publishers along with the original speller. His brother Alexander Hamilton McGuffey (1816-1896) created the speller in 1846, the 5th reader in 1844, and the 6th reader in 1857. The series was revised in 1857 and later in 1879.
McGuffey's Second Eclectic Reader - Revised Edition (1920) is a secularized continuation and extension of the First Reader, published in 1879. New words are introduced at the beginning of each lesson. There are 71 lessons, each of which contains a short selection in prose or poetry. Lessons are generally moral in tone and feature an artistic black and white illustration designed to explain and embellish the text. The multi-colored front cover includes a foliage design within a rectangle. There is also a depiction of an ancient sailing vessel. The back cover repeats the foliage design and includes an image of a cat. This reader is 160 pages in length.
William Holmes McGuffey was an American educator and clergyman known for his series of elementary school readers, known as the “McGuffey Readers.” He was taught in an Ohio country school and began teaching in rural Ohio schools and tutoring at the age of 14. His family encouraged a love of learning, so he expanded in own education at church schools, Greersburg Academy in Darlington, Pa and eventually graduating Washington College, Pa in 1826. While on the faculty of Miami University, Ohio, as a teacher of philosophy and classical languages, he assisted teachers at local elementary schools and established a small school for neighborhood children. He was encouraged by his friends Harriet Beecher Stowe and her husband Calvin Ellis Stowe, and developed the curriculum for the “McGuffey Readers.” He became an ordained Presbyterian minister in 1829, and the original versions of the readers incorporated Calvinist values and principles, morality driven tales, excerpts from great books, phonics, controlled vocabularies, woodcut illustrations, and exercises. He also became involved in the common school movement. In his later years he taught at the University of Virginia. While William Holmes McGuffey is identified most frequently as the creator of the Eclectic McGuffey Readers, he worked closely with his brother on the series, and Alexander Hamilton McGuffey created the final three books in the series.
In May 1890, the American Book Company purchased all the copyrights and plates formerly owned by Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co. including those for the McGuffey Reader Series. ABC was based in New York City and specialized in elementary school, secondary school and collegiate-level textbooks. The company was absorbed into D. C. Heath in 1981. Any remaining K-12 assets of the American Book Company were acquired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 1995.
This book is a reproduction of the 1920 revised edition that was published by Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, Inc. In 196, Litton Industries purchased Van Nostrand Company and merged the company with Chapman-Reinhold, Inc to form Van Nostrand-Reinhold Company, Inc.
This dictionary was the primary reference for Helen Janc Malone while she was learning English as a new immigrant. It was a gift from her father, Dr. Mirko Janc, who had owned two earlier versions of the dictionary and left behind an extensive library when their family emigrated in February 1993 to escape war torn Yugoslavia. When she came to the US, Helen was enrolled in a class of English for Speakers of Other Languages or ESOL, but she was the only one in her school to speak Serbo-Croatian. Her dictionary was her main tool for communicating both in and out of the classroom. While she was permitted to use her dictionary for exams, it would sometimes take her an entire class period to translate the problems or questions, leaving little or no time for the answers. Helen faced numerous challenges due to the language barrier but with perseverance and the help of the dictionary her English improved. She continued her education and at the time of her gift she was a doctoral candidate in education policy at Harvard University.
The last desk form to be developed during the Progressive Period in education was the moveable chair desk which was first created in 1905 by Samuel Parker Moulthrop (1848-1932). Moulthrop was a progressive educator who studied various learning environments as a teacher, a principal, and then a superintendent in Rochester, NY. Fascinated with the work of Maria Montessori, he introduced kindergarten classes and the use of manipulatives to the lower grades and mechanical drawing and choral clubs to older children. He worked with the immigrant community to promote English and Americanization through evening classes, and promoted an early version of scouting involving “knife work’ and wood carving along with nature walks to deter delinquency in young males. He later became very involved with scouting and the Playground league. Girls received sewing and cooking classes. He was passionate about the need for exercise and promoted calisthenics and swimming for mental as well as physical health and in this context, he recognized the need for an easily movable chair desk combination that could be used in a variety of seating arrangements to accommodate the classroom activities such as pageants, plays and marching promoting patriotism, as well as small group activities. By the turn of the century he had already submitted patents for a ventilated school wardrobe and an educational apparatus that seems similar to an easel with a scroll, like found in the Chautauqua desk. During this period he also began to design a new form of desk which he called a chair desk. It featured a scooped seat with a curved back support, a cut out handle on the back, a good sized drawer under the seat for school supplies and an attached moveable desk top that could be angled to take advantage of the light but also positioned for better posture and support in penmanship.
Samuel Moulthrop worked with a local company to produce and promote his desk. Langslow Fowler was a Rochester furniture company founded by carpenter Purdy Fowler, Henry A. Langslow, and Stratton C. Langslow. With a varied immigrant workforce, the company specialized in the manufacturing of chairs, particularly rockers, until Moulthrop came along with his design. By 1905, Langslow Fowler was producing these chair desks using the Moulthrop name. Samuel Moulthrop does not appear to have applied for a patent; however in 1912, Langslow Fowler applied for one which was granted in 1917.
Langslow Fowler promoted the desk at fairs and expositions. They also produced several extensive catalogs featuring the chair desk. The 1909 catalog touted the soundless ease of moving these desks within the classroom due to glides on the back legs and rubber tips on the front. By 1913, the chair desk was becoming the preferred new desk form for purchase because it was sturdy and self-contained, even though the older combination desk models were also in large supply. The chair desk was winning numerous national and international design awards: from being the preferred desk for preventing vision problems to obviating defective discipline.
Langslow Fowler developed modifications such as adding a side book rack. They also worked on providing greater adjustability on the desk top so by the time they applied for the patent they were promoting a couple of models of the “original Moulthrop style moveable chair desk.” They also provided an optional larger surface for drawing. In the 1920s the American Seating Company contracted with Langslow Fowler to sell the Moulthrop chair desk. Within 10 years they were manufacturing and selling them under the American seating name. In 1950, American seating applied for their own patent of a modified chair desk, one that has an open shelf below the seat instead of a more costly drawer.
Description
Samuel Moulthrop does not appear to have applied for a patent for the desk. However, in 1912, Langslow Fowler applied for one which was granted in 1917. Langslow Fowler promoted the desk at numerous fairs and expositions and produced several extensive catalogs featuring the chair desk. The 1909 catalog touted the soundless ease of moving these desks within the classroom due to glides on the back legs and rubber tips on the front. By 1913, the chair desk was becoming the preferred new desk form, particularly in urban schools because it was sturdy, self-contained, adjustable and easy to move about in the classroom, even though older combination desk models were also in large supply.
The chair desk won national and international design awards for being the preferred desk for preventing vision problems and obviating defective discipline. Langslow Fowler developed modifications such as adding a side book rack. They also worked on providing greater adjustability on the desk top so by the time they applied for the patent, they were promoting a couple of models of the “original Moulthrop style moveable chair desk.” They also provided an optional larger surface for drawing. In the 1920s, the American Seating Company contracted with Langslow Fowler to sell the Moulthrop chair desk. Within 10 years, the desks were manufactured and sold under the American seating name. In 1950, American seating applied for their own patent of a modified chair desk, one that had an open shelf below the seat instead of a more costly drawer.
This high school yearbook depicts numerous photographs of African American and Caucasian students, the school faculty, various clubs, music, and sports programs. Cleveland schools were desegregated in the early 20th Century. The back of the yearbook includes advertisements from school yearbook sponsors. The yearbook has a brown leather binding with the depiction of the school symbol: the scarab. It is 122 pages, and is signed by various people throughout. The back of the yearbook contains three candid photos. Inside is the handwritten name of the original owner, Madie U. Crew and her address, plus and indication theat she took a commercial course.
John Upham and William Kline from Easton, Ohio, received a U.S. patent for an improved school desk and seat. Patent no. 127940 was issued on June 11, 1872.
This desk has a wooden seat and legs with a cast iron frame with brass pieces at the joint and wooden slatted seat. The seat in the front of the desk folds up and the desk top behind the seat folds up. The desktop slides down behind the backrest. The desktop does not lift open, and it has no storage but folds compactly. These were created to be lined up in rows in the classroom with the desk at the end of each row using a freestanding chair.
John Upham was born in Easton, Ohio, in 1834. He worked as a carpenter and filed numerous patents. He died in 1911.
William H. Kline was born in Easton, Ohio, in 1824. He worked as a wagon maker and filed numerous patents. He died in 1901.
Public schools encouraged the Americanization of newcomers with programs and images intended to inspire patriotism. In most classrooms, American flags hung alongside images of the American eagle and George Washington. This metal flagpole finial is in the shape of an American bald eagle. Combined with the United States flag, incoming students saw two symbols of patriotism every school day. It was made in the second half of the 20th Century.
This lithograph, copied from a Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, was commercially sold in school catalogs and for homes, libraries, and public buildings across America. Images of “the father of our country” became familiar instructional tools as well as a school decoration and patriotic imagery. The print was mass produced in 1901 by Taber Prang Art Company, founded by Louis Prang. Louis Prang also founded the Prang Educational Company to develop artistic abilities in school age children. The print continued to be reproduced by Prang until 1938.
