At the Philadelphia meeting in 1891, Dr. W. T. Harris, United States Commissioner of Edu cation, presented a noteworthy paper on the organization and functions of the association, in which he reviewed its purpose, to °concentrate the wisdom and power of numerous minds, and distribute among all the experiences of all,)) out lined its progress and growth from a few hun dred to as many thousand, mentioned the great °advantage of personal contact of. mind .with mind,') and pointed out the salutary influence of the departments provided for, the needed specialization of work with the suggestion that others should be added.
Since 1898 there has been a permanent paid secretary who gives his entire time to the serv ice of the association, and since 1917 the sec retary's office and the headquarters of the asso ciation have been located at Washington, D. C. It has always been the policy of the organiza tion to support broad national policies. To formulate a program of education during and after. the war, the association designated a Com mission on the Emergency in Education. This commission contemplates no• less a program than a national department of education, with a secretary who shall sit in the President's cab inet, and the transfer of all bureaus or agencies relating to educational affairs to the new de partment.
There have been organized in recent years several societies interested in the scientific study of education. The National Herbertian Society for the Scientific Study of Teaching was organ ized in 1895, and in 1902 it was reorganized and the title changed to the National Society for the Scientific Study of Education. The National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Educa tion, organized in 1906, has also made large con tribution to educational thought and progress.
Local teachers' associations had become gen eral before the organization. of the National Teachers' Association in 1857. A teachers' association was organized in New York city as early as 1798. An association of teachers known as the School Association of Middlesex County was formed at Middletown, Conn., in 1799. The earliest record of a State gathering of teachers is that a °State Convention of Teachers and Friends of Education') was held at Utica, N. Y., in January 1831. It was not until 1845, however, that there was a formal organization. Actively interested in the work of the State associations were many educational leaders. These men gave strength to the or ganizations, and every effort was made to secure a large attendance on the part of practical teachers. In Rhode Island, Massachusetts and
New York State associations were organized in 1845. The Ohio association was organized in 1847; Connecticut, in 1848; Vermont, in 1850; Michigan and Pennsylvania, in 1852; Wisconsin, Illinois and New Jersey, in 1853; Iowa, New Hampshire and Indiana, in 1854; Missouri, in 1856. The meetings' of some of the State asso ciations soon became large and enthusiastic. Dr. Hagar of the State Normal School at Salem, Mass., stated that the attendance at the meetings of their association in the late 60's was from 2,500 to 3,500. He attributed this in terest to the reorganization of the meetings into special sections. There is now a State teachers' association in every State except Delaware. The meetings are usually held annually. In the larger organizations the program generally cov ers several days. At the general sessions the topics are of broad interest, while the sectional meetings are given over to the discussion of spe cial activities. In New York the State associa tion is very strongly organized. Every effort is made to enroll a large membership. The cities, villages and the supervisory districts are the separate units of the State organization and are represented by delegates who control the poli cies of the State organization. Previous to the reorganization of the New York State Teachers' Association in 1913, the meetings were largely representative of the locality where the annual meeting happened to be held. The renewed inter est and enlarged activities of the new organiza tion have fully justified the change made in 1913. The association is now representative of the entire State and every supervisory unit, city village or rural community, has a representative voice in its annual meeting.
In some States the interest in the State asso ciation is much greater than in others. This is indicated in part by attendance and membership, which varies from nearly zero to 90 per cent of the teaching body of the State. Most of the associations are growing much stronger and teachers are becoming alive to the opportunities of an active professional organization. The economic conditions are rapidly becoming better for the teacher in those States in which the as sociation is supported by a loyal membership. The indifference so often found is due in part at least to the short professional life of the teacher.