overall: 7 1/2 in x 5 in x 1 in; 19.05 cm x 12.7 cm x 2.54 cm
Object Name:
book
Object Type:
instructional materials
Place made:
United States: New York, New York City
Date made:
1921
Description:
<i>Story Hour Readings Sixth Year</i> 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 <i>Red Book, Woman's World, Boy's Life</i> and <i>The American Boy.</i>
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.
Credit Line:
Gift of Dr. Richard Lodish American School Collection
