Part 5

One noteworthy fact is the relations that existed between the Pilgrims and the Indians. At this first Thanksgiving feast King Massasoit and ninety of his warriors were present. They entered heartily into the preparations of thanksgiving. What a cheerful spectacle it must have been to see the Indian guests appearing, carrying a many branched buck or a pretty doe, possibly hung across the stalwart shoulders of some giant red man? Shall one doubt that the Pilgrim gravity was for a moment dispelled, when the Indians approached with their delicious contribution to the feast? Can't we hear the welcoming cheer that arose from the throats of those Englishmen, or the clapping of the hands of the younger women as those Indian athletes entered the camp? It is also recorded that from their Indian guests the Pilgrims received clams, oysters, fish and vegetables. What a feast this must have been!

The warriors remained with the Pilgrims for several days, and contended with them in various games or feats of strength and agility. Perhaps Massasoit unbent from his kingly dignity to show how straight he could send an arrow at some improvised target. Maybe some Puritan maiden laughingly tried her hand on an Indian bow. Possibly, too, in the military drill which Miles Standish with his famous regiment of twenty gave, there was intention on the part of the stout little warrior to show the Indian what a formidable foe the white man might be if provoked. At any rate, the friendship, hallowed by thanksgiving hospitality, continued unbroken for nearly half a century.

What a noble, inspiring picture is the history of this first Thanksgiving Day--a picture of piety, of human brotherhood, and of poetry, for which the universal heart of man, when realizing its profound significance, must gladly and proudly give thanks.

For many years this autumnal "feast of ingathering" was merely an occasional festival, as unexpected prosperity or hoped for aid in adversity moved our Pilgrim fathers to a special act of praise. It was not until after the Revolutionary War that this day took on a national significance. George Washington issued the first proclamation in 1795. This will be read by many with deep interest, especially in view of the fact that some persons believe that a national Thanksgiving proclamation is a recent invention in our country. After this date it was only occasionally observed until 1863. It was our Civil War which awakened our national conscience, and since that time every President of the United States has issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation, which has in turn been issued to the different states by their respective governors.

Thanksgiving is a universal holiday; it is for all the people. As heretofore, each year brings new households, enlarged families, increased affections, comfortable homes, plentiful tables, abundant harvests, a beneficent government, free schools, and religious liberty. There is much to be grateful for in our national history. Whatever may have been our sense of past duty, it is the privilege of all to thank God that He has given us the unexpected and unsought for opportunity to relieve much oppression and to extend the blessings of good government and fair freedom to many millions of people.

It is a wonderful opportunity, and no people on the face of the globe have a stricter sense of duty than our great country. We may be far from perfect if tried by the highest standards, but where shall we find a nation which less desires to rule, and desires to rule more justly, giving liberty to all? We as a generation have lived to see what may be the greatest epoch in the world's history. Truly the seeds of this harvest were sown years ago by our Pilgrim fathers. For such mercies what soul will not raise its thanksgiving to God? Let us as teachers of the state of New Jersey teach our children these great truths, and enter with an open mind and a willing heart into each Thanksgiving festival, and let us all try to inculcate in the hearts of our pupils this significant brotherhood.

THE FESTIVAL COMMITTEE

Let the history of this great Thanksgiving Feast be the background and setting for your play-festival. Let it be the duty of teachers to see that the program for this celebration is inspired by patriotism, by a reverence for God, who has been most gracious to us as a people. For social reasons, it will be well to let some particular grade prepare the program for the festival. The other grades of the school will be in the audience, and thus the whole school will be united into one large social group. Before it is decided which grade shall be selected to prepare the program the principal and teachers should meet and, after talking over the preliminary plans, appoint the festival committee. It is important that the proper kind of machinery for this festival work be constructed. It will be the duty of this special committee to keep in mind such objects of the play-festival as the promotion of a keener appreciation and a more reverent remembrance of great events and great men and women of our history; the promotion of a deep national patriotism; the promotion of a sense of deep gratitude that we live in such a bountiful and beautiful earth. The play-festival should be looked upon as a means of moral, social, cultural and esthetic education.

Keeping these things in mind, the play-festival should be invented almost entirely by the children, who will present the program. Of course this will require the watchful guidance of teachers and committee. A play or program that has been already planned for the occasion may be taken, but even in such a program the scenes should be planned by the class. If this plan is followed almost any of the ready-made plays may be adapted for any grade from the kindergarten to the high school. The wealth of historic material which readily conforms to the Thanksgiving program is abundant. There is no school that cannot act some scene, pantomime, tableau or the like, with but little thought and drill. The results obtained by bringing any class in touch with some of our masterpieces of history, literature, art, music, or sculpture, cannot be easily estimated.

PREPARING THE PROGRAM

A good method of preparing the program is to bring before the class who has been decided upon to render the festival the fact that this grade has been appointed to do this bit of patriotic service. Tell them about the festival, its simple aims; about the historic material on which the day is founded. Have the pupils write their ideas about developing the program. These may be discussed, and the best suggestions can be used about which to form an outline. This is admirable training for the pupils. Not infrequently surprises occur; unsuspected talents are discovered; and often the children who have appeared as dullards in them regular school subjects will take an interest which will lead to salutary results. Many times children will enjoy working on such plans and develop a new interest in their studies. The children should also be asked for suggestions as to developing the stage scenery, costumes, etc. Frequently their suggestions, with slight modifications, have an effectiveness beyond the reach of the teacher. Of course we as teachers must be satisfied with rather crude suggestions, and work up to a satisfactory result.

The stage setting should always be simple, but suggestive. Often a play-festival may be rendered with little or no scenery. In fact, most of our present school programs are given without even a semblance of scenery or decorations. Some simple stage setting, scenery, or decorations will add wonderfully to the effect of your program, and this will be found easy to accomplish. This is particularly true of the Thanksgiving Day program. In the rural districts, especially, can be found the proper materials for this day. Such things as cornstalks, pumpkins, apples, fruits, cereals, and vegetables of many kinds will meet your needs. Whatever is good for a harvest home celebration may be used to celebrate Thanksgiving.

It is desirable, also, to have simple costumes. The teacher should not be burdened with the making of the costumes. Arouse the interest of your class, and they will take home this interest. The result will be that the teacher will get more than he had hoped or suggested.

The work of preparing the music should be done during the period of the day when singing is usually done. The music is very valuable. The whole school appreciates music and singing. It is the one unifying influence within the reach of the school. If all the various classes are used to promote the play-festival a practical correlation of the work of the school may be profitably accomplished.

THE PROGRAM

Below is submitted a type program for the Thanksgiving Day Festival. This is suitable for fifth and sixth grade pupils. This type of program may be easily changed so that it may be rendered by pupils of the first grade or by students of the high school. Care should always be exercised that the plan of the program is easily understood by the class who renders it. Scenes should be molded to meet the needs and capacities of the grade that is to perform. The dialog or monolog should also be adapted to the ages of the pupils who are to do the acting. Below will be found a list of scenes which by thoughtful manipulation may be made to fall within the command of pupils from the kindergarten to the high school. The bibliography given will furnish much information.

THANKSGIVING EXERCISES

_In Charge of Grade VI_

Theme: The Harvest

=Song=--"America," by the school =Prayer= =Reading=--"George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1795" =Song=--"Harvest Home," by the school

=Act I.= Getting ready for seed time _Scene I._ Indians showing the Pilgrims how to plant corn _Scene II._ Resting (a camp scene)

Song--"Thanksgiving Day," by the school Recitation--"Thanksgiving," by a pupil

=Act II.= A corn husking bee (place, a New England barn) _Scene I._ Husking corn _Scene II._ The frolic _Scene III._ Going home

Song--"Star Spangled Banner," by the school

The following scenes may be made appropriate for the different grades by changing the quality and quantity of the scenery. Pantomimes are especially to be recommended for use in our school programs. Many of these scenes will lend themselves to this purpose. Hints for the preparation of these scenes may be gained from the great paintings or their reproductions.

Autumn Memories The Pilgrims An Indian Camp An Indian Village Miles Standish and his Warriors The Pilgrim's Town Meeting The Pilgrims going to Church The Pilgrims Hunting The Pilgrims Fishing The Husking Bee The Dying Year Thanksgiving at Home The Harvest Home (Old English) The Country Dance The Love Scene of Priscilla and John Alden Miles Standish's Home Many Indian Scenes from Hiawatha Many Harvest Home Scenes

BIBLIOGRAPHY

See Bibliography at end of monograph.

LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY

February 12

Again thy birthday dawns, O man beloved, Dawns on the land thy blood was shed to save, And hearts of millions, by one impulse moved, Bow and fresh laurels lay upon thy grave.

_Ida Vose Woodbury_

LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY

CHARLES A. PHILHOWER, SUPERVISING PRINCIPAL, WESTFIELD

The observance of Lincoln's birthday as a national holiday has grown steadily until twenty-four states have designated it by statute as a holiday. The great emancipator is today our foremost national hero. His most unusual career from the log cabin to the White House sets ambition and hope of attainment before the most lowly and the most favorably environed alike.

There are many salient reasons why the boys and girls of our schools should study the life of this great hero. He established once and for all time the now inalienable right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to all mankind. Early in life he was dubbed by his friends and neighbors with the enviable title of "Honest Abe." On the frontier we find him inuring himself to toil. He was thoroughly acquainted with that slogan always necessary to success, "hard work." His life was pure, untainted with the vices which spring from luxury, the lust for gain, the greed for fame. Simple in living, steadfast in purpose, kindly in spirit, he towered among his fellows, exemplary of that manhood toward which all boys who would be of worth to mankind should aspire.

At the present time it is especially opportune that Lincoln's birthday be celebrated most impressively. The freedom for which we have just been fighting is a greater freedom than that of '61. That was for the freedom of the slave, this for a greater freedom of men already free; that was freedom for a part of mankind, this a freedom for all, for the democracy of the world. The principles for which he stood are the principles for which we must ever stand, but the application of those principles is limitless in its scope. It is for us to see that those who have sacrificed their lives in this great cause shall not have died in vain. It is for the boys and girls in our schools today to carry to a successful issue this great project of making the world safe for democracy and democracy safe for the world, and no small part of this work lies on our shoulders as teachers of boys and girls who will be citizens tomorrow.

The law requires that on the last school day preceding Lincoln's birthday appropriate exercises be held for the development of a high spirit of patriotism. The whole day should center around the life of Lincoln. For the afternoon a special program should be prepared and the parents of the school children invited by special letters written by the pupils of the school. The pupils of each school should assist in working out the program. In some schools, in the upper grades the pupils should be held responsible for much of the work in program making. Each teacher and principal should arrange the work of the day and the special program to one end, that of utilizing the great spirit and profound wisdom of a wonderful man to the establishment of a greater patriotism and the working out of the national problems before us.

The following general suggestions indicate the important factors to be considered in making a Lincoln program.

Point out the significance of the flag salute

Analyze the pledge

Sing patriotic songs

The songs of today The songs of the past

Study Lincoln's boyhood. His career from the log cabin to the White House is phenomenal

Lincoln the lawyer and politician

Emphasize the work and honesty in the life of Abraham Lincoln

President of the United States and statesman. His great speeches

Read, study and memorize the Gettysburg speech. Each child should have a copy

Learn quotations, and know their meaning and application

Collect a number of pictures of Lincoln

Call special attention to the best statuary

Gutzon Borglum's Lincoln before the Court House in Newark, New Jersey, and the statue by Saint Gaudens in Lincoln Park, Chicago, are the most worthy and should be particularly noted

"O Captain, My Captain," by Whitman, and "The Perfect Tribute," by Mary Shipman Andrews, should be read by the teacher

Do not neglect the great humor in his life; children enjoy a joke

Pupils will enjoy writing acrostics on the name of Lincoln

The Lincoln Highway and the National Lincoln Memorial are recent monuments to the honor of this great man

Let the decorations of the room be in keeping with the celebration

Lincoln posters may be made in the drawing class

The younger pupils will be interested in collecting the stamps with Lincoln's picture

Civil War veterans, Civil War pictures, Civil War newspapers, Civil War correspondence, will make vital contributions in vivifying the life of Lincoln, incidents of the War, and this special observance. Invite veterans to come in and make brief speeches. Request pupils to bring old newspapers, old correspondence, war relics and the like with the assurance that they will be cared for and safely returned

Read letters from boys who were at the front. Collect war pictures from the Sunday newspapers. Remember the boys from your community who went to war. Contrast the present war situation and practices with those of the Civil War. Classroom activity of this kind may continue for the whole week.

SUGGESTIONS FOR USE OF THE MATERIAL WHICH FOLLOWS

Preparatory to the observance of Lincoln's birthday teach carefully and thoroughly the Gettysburg Speech. Each pupil from the fifth grade through the high school ought to know this great masterpiece. Teach the occasion on which it was given, which brought forth this great production, the significance of the speech then and now, and finally have each child give it from memory. A contest in the delivery of Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech would interest the school and the public. The winner should appear on the holiday program.

The placing in schools of Lincoln Memorial Bronze Tablets containing the Gettysburg Speech will give special significance to the observance. This practice should be promoted. Every new school should have its Lincoln Memorial Tablet.

The most interesting persons in the eyes of children are children. They are most concerned with what kind of a boy Lincoln was. Books such as "Life of Abraham Lincoln for Boys and Girls," by C. W. Moores, and "The Boy's Life of Abraham Lincoln," by J. G. Nicolay, should be made available. Pupils should be encouraged to tell to the class what they have found of interest in the accounts of his boyhood. Incidents of his honesty, his desire for learning, and habit of hard work, will be brought forth and no effort should be spared to emphasize these most important characteristics. Strive for enthusiastic admiration, and the imitation of these most desirable qualities will follow.

Stories from his life, incidents in his experience, and periods in his career, such as the twenty-two years on the farm, the twenty-seven years in intellectual pursuits, and the seven years in national service, will give profitable material for work in English. Oral and written reproductions should be taught for some time before the holiday observance and the best of these used on this occasion. Mr. Judd Stewart's suggestions (given on another page) respecting the study of Lincoln's English are very valuable.

Give an exercise or two in acrostic writing with the aim of setting forth in a succinct way his admirable character and laudable accomplishments. A problem of this type appeals to children and has value in it.

The humorous stories of Lincoln should not be neglected. There is great need for high standards of humor, jokes and jests with boys and girls. Every one should be able to tell a good story well. The humor in Lincoln's life presents good material for such teaching.

A study and memorizing of quotations may be begun early in the fall; in fact, such study should be pursued throughout the whole school course. If this is done many pupils will be able to give on February twelfth their choice from among Lincoln's sayings with reasons for their selections and with statements respecting the source of their admiration. Every pupil should have a stock of Lincoln sayings at his command. These selected thoughts should be a part of the thinking of boys and girls.

Readings for the week preceding the holiday observance can be made from the following brief publications:

"Lincoln Centenary Ode," Percy MacKaye "Commemorative Ode," James Russell Lowell "Abraham Lincoln," Carl Schurz "Abraham Lincoln," George Bancroft "The Perfect Tribute," Mary Shipman Andrews

The selections should be read in their entirety, in most cases by the teacher to the class. If there is a pupil who is a very good reader, such a pupil may do it effectively. Each school library ought to have a good selection of Lincolnia from which the pupils could draw books for outside reading. Books such as these should be read by the class supplemental to the study of the Civil War period.

A good teacher is able to read well "O Captain, My Captain," and she reads it often to her pupils. Ultimately the children will get the spirit of the poem and some will be able to read it well or give it from memory. The various poems herein mentioned are worthy of similar treatment.

As the Gettysburg Speech is studied, so should the Civil War songs be studied. The "Battle Hymn of the Republic" should be sung with all the feeling which its meaning is capable of conveying. As much should be done with "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground." The allusion here is very impressive. The sentiment is the song, the tune is a mode of expression.

Each school in the state should have a picture of Lincoln. It should be hung by the pupils where it can be seen by the youngest as well as the oldest. A child does well in having a definite acquaintance with the rugged, kindly face of Lincoln. A look at this picture should give renewed emphasis to his standards of living and the great principles which he established. Not long since a teacher said to me, "When I have a case of discipline where the pupil has difficulty in getting the right point of view I often say to the boy, especially if he be of the upper grades, 'Go out into the hall and look for a few minutes at the fatherly face of the great Lincoln and then come back to me and tell me what you think he would say in this case.'" Such procedure is extremely effective, particularly when the pupil is acquainted with Lincoln's sayings and the great principles for which he stood. Marshall's "Lincoln" is a fine portrait for schools.

The decoration of the classroom will present demands for drawing and handwork activities such as picture frames, draperies, red, white and blue chains, and flag decorations. Much can be done in the making of posters with water colors and crayons, in the artistic ornamentation of Lincoln picture mounts on drawing paper, and in the lettering and decoration of Lincoln acrostics. The use of Lincoln picture cutouts; the drawing or painting of flags, the state seal and shields, the American eagle; perspective drawings of the log cabin, the White House and the Capitol are suggested activities. Postage stamps containing Lincoln's picture may be used in connection with handwork and drawing activities. Booklets for acrostics, anecdotes, quotations, brief biography or history incidents, with appropriate cover design, initial letters and simple illustrations will afford attractive and profitable projects.

Many other ways and means of presenting the life of Lincoln will suggest themselves to the active, thinking teacher. The whole object is to help boys and girls to know Lincoln as he lived, to make his life function in making their lives better and more worth while through his great thoughts, high ideals and indefatigable spirit of work.

The following programs, selections, suggestions and bibliography are intended to make available some selected material which in many cases may not be accessible.

ASSEMBLY PROGRAM

=Organization of School for exercises=

1. School orchestra 2. Two color bearers at each entrance to auditorium 3. One color bearer with honorary guard of two at each side of platform 4. Color bearer for flag salute--center of platform

=Program=

Salute flag draped over Lincoln portrait Song, "America" Story of Lincoln's life told by pupil[D] Reading "Gettysburg Address" by teacher Solo "When The Boys Come Home" Reading Civil War letter Solo, "Star Spangled Banner," school joining in chorus Talk by Civil War veteran Chorus sung by school, "Keep the Home Fires Burning" Salute Formal dismissal in keeping with assembly

[D] It would be well to have several pupils take part in this, each presenting a period in Lincoln's life.