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Celebrations฀and฀Civic Consciousness:฀The฀Role฀of Special฀Observances฀in฀Alabama’s Educational฀Modernization, 1900–1915 IN฀ THE฀ EARLY฀ YEARS฀ OF฀ THE฀ TWENTIETH฀ CENTURY,฀ the฀ period฀ generally฀ designated฀as฀the฀Progressive฀Era,฀when฀educational฀officeholders,฀ teacher฀representatives,฀civic฀activists,฀concerned฀legislators,฀philanthropists ,฀and฀others—collectively฀“educational฀modernizers”—considered ฀Alabama’s฀mostly฀rural฀public฀schools,฀they฀were฀dismayed.฀ They฀believed฀these฀schools,฀which฀were฀largely฀controlled฀by฀parents฀ and฀ local฀ communities,฀ did฀ not฀ meet฀ contemporary฀ standards฀ for฀ educational฀efficiency฀and฀were฀inadequate฀to฀the฀task฀of฀preparing฀ students฀for฀a฀diversifying฀economy฀of฀industrial฀and฀commercial฀enterprise ฀and฀an฀agricultural฀sector฀revolutionized฀by฀scientific฀farming ฀and฀technology—in฀other฀words,฀an฀economy฀encapsulated฀in฀ the฀term฀“New฀South.”1 ฀At฀the฀same฀time,฀these฀Progressive฀reformers฀ sought฀to฀inculcate฀in฀students฀a฀broad฀sense฀of฀southern฀identity,฀believing ฀that฀it฀would฀provide฀them฀with฀the฀fundamental฀civic฀values฀ needed฀to฀address฀the฀challenges฀of฀the฀new฀century. ฀ The฀ election฀ of฀ John฀ William฀ Abercrombie฀ in฀ 1898฀ as฀ State฀ Superintendent฀of฀Education฀marked฀the฀beginning฀of฀a฀new฀sense฀ EDITH฀M.฀ZIEGLER Dr.฀ Edith฀ M.฀ Ziegler฀ is฀ an฀ Honorary฀ Associate฀ of฀ the฀ University฀ of฀ New฀ England฀ in฀ Armidale฀NSW฀(Australia).฀Her฀book,฀Schools฀in฀the฀Landscape:฀Localism,฀Cultural฀Tradition฀ and฀the฀Development฀of฀Alabama’s฀Public฀Schooling฀System,฀1865–1915,฀is฀being฀published฀by฀the฀ University฀of฀Alabama฀Press฀in฀October฀2010.฀She฀thanks฀warmly฀the฀staff฀of฀the฀Alabama฀ Department฀of฀Archives฀and฀History฀for฀the฀tireless฀assistance฀they฀afforded฀her฀when฀she฀ was฀conducting฀the฀research฀on฀which฀this฀article฀is฀based.฀She฀also฀thanks฀the฀editors฀and฀ reviewers฀of฀the฀Alabama฀Review฀for฀their฀patient฀and฀constructive฀suggestions฀for฀ways฀of฀ improving฀the฀content฀and฀for฀seeking฀out฀the฀illustrations. 1฀ The฀term฀“New฀South”฀was฀popularized฀by฀Henry฀W.฀Grady฀in฀a฀speech฀in฀December฀1886.฀ It฀soon฀became฀a฀slogan฀connoting฀a฀belief฀in฀progress,฀a฀hopeful฀nationalism,฀and฀the฀ abandonment฀of฀the฀ideals฀of฀a฀traditional฀rural฀society. J U L Y ฀ 2 0 1 0 193 of฀urgency฀regarding฀educational฀reform.฀Abercrombie฀and฀his฀successors ฀were฀educational฀professionals,฀and฀some฀had฀been฀legislators฀ themselves.฀All฀were฀directly฀involved฀with฀the฀Alabama฀Educational฀ Association฀(AEA)฀which,฀since฀1897,฀had฀been฀lobbying฀for฀reform.฀ Abercrombie’s฀initiatives฀and฀achievements฀led฀to฀greater฀centralization ฀and฀standardization฀of฀educational฀policy-making฀by฀the฀state฀ (embodied฀in฀the฀office฀of฀state฀superintendent).฀Many฀of฀the฀publications ฀that฀explained฀or฀supported฀state฀policy฀were฀issued฀by฀the฀ Department฀of฀Education,฀though฀this฀was฀not฀yet฀a฀large฀regulatory฀ bureaucracy฀and฀as฀late฀as฀1914฀comprised฀just฀seven฀people.2 ฀ ฀ Among฀the฀reforms฀achieved฀by฀Abercrombie฀and฀his฀supporters฀ and฀successors฀were฀a฀state฀teacher’s฀examination,฀summer฀institutes฀ for฀teacher฀training,฀extended฀sessions,฀school฀redistricting,฀consolidation ,฀ uniform฀ textbooks,฀ a฀ standard฀ curriculum,฀ quality฀ schoolhouses ,฀compulsory฀attendance,฀and฀local฀educational฀taxation.฀The฀ cumulative฀effect฀and฀centralizing฀trend฀of฀many฀of฀these฀changes฀ meant฀ an฀ overall฀ lessening฀ of฀ community฀ and฀ parental฀ control฀ of฀ schooling.3 ฀ All฀accounts฀of฀Alabama’s฀educational฀development฀list฀these฀legislatively ฀ achieved฀ reforms.฀ Invariably฀ overlooked฀ is฀ the฀ extent฀ to฀ which,฀in฀approximately฀the฀same฀period,฀the฀modernizers฀helped฀to฀ dilute฀the฀localism฀that฀hindered฀reform฀by฀deliberately฀heightening฀ and฀broadening฀the฀civic฀consciousness฀of฀students.฀This฀was฀accomplished ฀in฀part฀by฀means฀of฀school฀celebrations฀such฀as฀holidays฀and฀ special฀days,฀revived฀festivals,฀invented฀ceremonies,฀and฀newly฀devised฀ rituals.฀For฀each฀occasion฀there฀was฀a฀specially฀prepared฀observance฀ program฀in฀which฀students฀took฀an฀active฀part฀and฀were฀encouraged฀ variously฀to฀take฀pride฀in฀their฀state฀and฀their฀southern฀identity,฀to฀ develop฀ a฀ national฀ patriotism,฀ and฀ to฀ learn฀ how฀ they฀ could฀ make฀ their฀schools฀into฀vehicles฀for฀Progressive฀improvement.฀The฀involve2 ฀ Austin฀Ruel฀Meadows,฀History฀of฀the฀State฀Department฀of฀Education฀of฀Alabama,฀1854–1966฀ (Montgomery,฀1968),฀7,฀34. 3฀ The฀modernizing฀ethos฀of฀professional฀educators฀and฀their฀campaigns฀to฀wrest฀control฀ of฀schools฀from฀parents฀and฀rural฀communities฀in฀other฀places฀in฀the฀South฀has฀been฀ examined฀by฀William฀A.฀Link,฀A฀Hard฀Country฀and฀a฀Lonely฀Place:฀Schooling,฀Society,฀and฀Reform฀ in฀Rural฀Virginia,฀1870–1920฀(Chapel฀Hill,฀N.C.,฀1986),฀and฀James฀L.฀Leloudis...

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