Meeting minutes of the education committee of the Trustees of the New Castle Common

This manuscript volume contains the meeting minutes for the New Castle Common Trustees’ education committee from 1851-1853 and 1868-1875. The minutes focus on the establishment and maintenance of the New Castle Institute.

The education committee held semi-regular meetings on the administration of the New Castle Institute, during which it established school rules and teachers’ duties, set salaries, and paid bills accrued by the school. The committee allotted the most authority to the school principal, who could appoint teachers, make necessary rules, and adopt textbooks. In general, the male principal and teachers earned much higher salaries then female teachers, although salaries were renegotiated on a regular basis. Most teachers and principals only spent a few years at the school before moving on to other opportunities. Amendments to the rules suggest that there were issues with absent and tardy teachers. In 1869, the principal examined the current teachers to ensure they were fit for their posts.

Students paid anywhere from a few cents to several dollars a quarter to attend the New Castle Institute, although the committee made allowances for impoverished children. Students were subject to rules regarding attendance, cleanliness, and abstention from tobacco products. Students exhibiting improper behavior were threatened with suspension or expulsion. When the committee updated school rules in 1875, they specified that pupils were not allowed to “throw stones or other missiles,” or climb trees or school buildings, suggesting problems with other disorderly behavior.

In September 1875, the students were given examinations in spelling, geography, history, and written arithmetic. The results indicate that few students were ready for promotion to the next class. An inscription near the results table reads “these persons seem to have no idea of exactness in work.” At the end of the volume, there is a grammar school attendance roster from Fall 1875.

This volume is bound in marbled paper over boards with a tan leather spine. The marbled paper is missing in places and the spine is badly rubbed. The volume has light blue wove paper pastedowns and flyleaves and twenty-five leaves of faintly-lined, blue wove paper. Several leaves have been removed from the back. The volume contains handwritten text in black ink and pencil.