Name/Title
The Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb for the Year 1917-1918Entry/Object ID
2017.9.294.4Description
Annual report: on front cover and title page is "The Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb for the Year 1917-1918." Mount Airy, Philadelphia. Printed by Order of the Board of Directors, Institution Printing Office, 1919. Dimensions: 6 x 9", 96 pp.
A copy of an engraving of the school building as it appeared in 1831 then follows. Opposite this is the title page, which repeats the same information found on the front cover.
The officers for the year 1917-1918 are then listed. These included Emlen Hutchinson [President]; A. R. Montgomery, J. Andrews Harris. T. DeWitt Cuyler, and Joseph H. Burroughs [Vice Presidents], John F. Lewis [Secretary], William White [Assistant Secretary], John Lewis Evans [Treasurer], and Leonard T. Beale [Treasurer pro tem].
The Board of Directors is then listed, organized by class:
The class of 1919 includes: Emlen Hutchinson, A. R. Montgomery, Henry La Barre Jayne, J. Andrews Harris, Joseph H. Burroughs, William Potter, Charles A. Brinley, George V. Massey, and Robert Glendinning.
The class of 1920 includes: T. DeWitt Cuyler, C. Hartman Kuhn, R. L. Montgomery, John F. Lewis, Henry H. Kingston, T. Williams Roberts, Walton Clark, Caspar W. Morris, and Marshall S. Morgan.
The class of 1921 includes: Edward S. Buckley, Jr.; J. Randall Williams, Charles Biddle, Andrew Alexander Blair, Henry E. Drayton, Leonard T. Beale; George W. Elkins, Jr.; Frank T. Patterson, and Bayard Henry.
The standing committees included the following, with names listed after each committee:
Committee on Instruction: A. R. Montgomery, T. DeWitt Cuyler, Andrew Alexander Blair, William Potter, Charles Biddle, Charles A. Brinley, John F. Lewis, Leonard T. Beale, Caspar W. Morris; R. L. Montgomery; George W. Elkins, Jr.; Bayard Henry.
Committee on Household: J. Andrews Harris, Joseph H. Burroughs, C. Hartman Kuhn, J. Randall Williams, Henry H. Kingston, Henry E. Drayton, T. Williams Roberts, Walton Clark, George V. Massey, Robert Glendinning; Frank T. Patterson, Marshall S. Morgan.
Committee on Grounds: J. Andrews Harris, A. R. Montgomery, and Henry H. Kingston.
Committee on Finance: H. La Barre Jayne, C. Hartman Kuhn, and Edward S. Buckley, Jr.
Committee on Athletics: T. DeWitt Cuyler, A. R. Montgomery, and Leonard T. Beale.
Ladies' Committee: Miss Mary E. Weld [Honorary Member], Mrs. John H. Brinton [Chair], Miss Laura C. Outerbridge [Secretary pro tem], and Mrs. Arthur Henry Lea [Treasurer]. Also includes Miss Annie Bradford, Mrs. James B. Young, Miss Nina Lea, Miss Margaret F. Dale, Mrs. Charles W. Henry, Miss Ellen Gowen Hood, Miss Pauline D. Bowie, and Mrs. Algernon B. Roberts.
Auxiliary Committee: Mrs. John Lyman Cox, Mrs. John Leisenring Wentz, Muss Essyllt Evans, Mrs. F. Rosengarten, Mrs. John W. Muir.
Staff members are also listed: Russell H. Johnson, MD [Physician], Alvah M. Davis, MD [Laryngologist and Otologist], Albert C. Sautter, MD [Oculist]. Consulting professionals include Radcliffe Cheston, H. R. Wharton, and Edward Martin, MDs [physicians and surgeons], Ralph W. Seiss and S. MacCuen Smith, MDs [Laryngologists], William T. Shoemaker and William C. Posey, MDs [Ophthalmologists], B. Alexander Randall and Francis R. Packard [Otologists], Henry W. Stelwagon, MD [Dermatologist], William Diehl [Dentist].
Page 5 includes a list of Officers and Teachers. These include: A. L. E. Crouter [superintendant], Ruth M. Godwin [Clerk]. Faculty listed in the Academic Department include: Lyman Steed [Principal], teachers Barton Sensenig, James A. Weaver; John A. McIlvaine, Jr.; Frances Lucas, Mary Mays Beatty, Caroline R. Smith, Eva I. Gustin, Mabel P. Whitman, Julia A. Foley, Annie McD. Ervin, Mary H. Broadbent, Grace M. McGlone, Edith W. Ball, Marion F. Greene, June Yale Crouter, George B. Lloyd, Emma A. Dobbins, and E. May Trend.
Intermediate faculty members include: Susan E. Bliss [Principal], Jeannette J. Christmas [Supervising Teacher], teachers Lillian B. Lackey, M. Ethel Bruce, Alice May Plouer, Rachel E. Dawes, Catherine Carpenter, Mabel G. Pollard, Kathalena W. Gordon, Ellen S. Werner, Mildred Evans, Elizabeth A. Stone, Elizabeth A. Perrott, Elizabeth R. Lyle, Annetta L. McGrath, Florence A. Warner, and Mary E. Leake.
Primary faculty members include: Louise Upham [Principal], Charlotte S. Haeseler, [Supervising Teacher], teachers Frances R. Rees, Beatrice S. Bockius, Elizabeth J. Daniel, Reba H. Stout, Harriet M. Thompson, Gertrude N. Kling, M. Alice Bartholomew, Lily A. Arnold, Jessie P. Ervin, Edith M. Lincoln, Isabel Bedford, Kate Alcorn, Evelyn Roberts, Henrietta C. Ruthven, Ann M. Gibson, Harriet B. Smith.
Teachers of Physical Training include Marion O. Perkins and Corbett T. Arnold.
Caroline R. Smith is the Institute's Librarian.
Staff of the Industrial Department include: Joseph W. Baily [Principal], with instructors Arthur J. Godwin, James M. Babinec, John Thiry, Louis P. Nickel, George A. Levan, Jennie G. Diehl, Jennie Clark, Clara H. Raschke, Kathryn Burgin, Elizabeth Peiffer, and Frances Stuckert.
James A. Weaver is listed as Editor of Mount Airy World.
The Household Department includes: A. L. E. Crouter [Principal], A. H. Bodenhorn [Steward], Evalyn C. Vanderslice [Clerk], Elwood Millman [Assistant], Robert M. Ziegler [Clerk], and Carrie M. Hess [Matron].
Staff at Wissinoming Hall include: Margaret E. Paul [Assistant Matron], Samuel H. Chambers [Supervisor of Boys], and Della M. Adams [Supervisor of Girls].
Staff at Wingohocking Hall include: Ethel Maguire [Assistant Matron], Harry Suckle [Supervisor of Boys], and Stella Shay [Supervisor of Girls].
Staff at Cresheim Hall include: Susan Miller [Assistant Matron], Bessie Eckerd [Supervisor of Boys], Albert M. Darlington [Assistant Supervisor of Boys] and Blanche Cartey [Supervisor of Girls].
Chief Nurse: Stella J. Allen. Assistant: Elizabeth F. Evans.
Staff of the Heating and Lighting Department include: Joseph J. Fowden [Chief Engineer], Robert Henderson [First Assistant], Edward Cummings [Second Assistant], John Thompson [Night Engineer and Watchman], and Harry Scheetz [Assistant].
Firemen include: William Wilson, Howard Wolfe, Frank Altaffer.
William Lee is the Institution's Laundryman and Hannah Dewees, the forewoman.
Gardeners include: Daniel K. Mankin and Daniel Lisznyay; William Livezey [Teamster].
The report then follows. It begins with a discussion of the school's attendance, which consisted of 524 students for 1918, and 601 for 1917. As the war [World War I] was well underway by the time the annual report was published, a focus of the report was on the war effort, with fundraising being done for Liberty loans, war saving stamps, and the Red Cross. a 50th-anniversary dinner was given for Dr. Crouter, at the Rittenhouse Club.
Income and expense statements then follow on pages 10-11, with the total of both statements balancing out at $241,733.86.
Financial reports then continue, with receipts associated with various scholarships listed. This is followed by the annual statement of the capital cash account for the year ending May 31, 1918.
The report of the Ladies' Committee then follows, beginning on page 15. The report of the Ladies' Committee pays tribute to Gertrude McCloskey, who had recently passed away from pneumonia. The Chair of the Ladies' Committee noted that the cost of goods had increased significantly over the course of the past year, increasing about 30% from their cost a year ago. Much of the students' attention was devoted to canning vegetables, preserves, condiments, etc.
An image of the main entrance to the Institution Grounds then follows. The current [2021] address of the campus is 7500 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119. A photograph of Wissinoming Hall then follows.
The Superintendent's Report then follows, on page 17. It provides data associated with the 1917-1918 student population, with those in attendance being 277 boys, 245 girls, for a total of 522 students. A series of data tables then follows. Almost all of the students are from the State of Pennsylvania. A second table itemizes the causes of the students' deafness, and a table showing the students' counties of origin.
The 1918 influenza pandemic was of central concern in the Superintendent's report. In it, he notes "Most happily the recent serious visitation of Spanish influenza which laid such heavy toll upon the lives of our citizens of Philadelphia and other large cities and towns, failed to make any serious inroads upon the health of our Institution family. During the period covered by this report but two or three cases of a mild character occurred owing to the early quarantine that was established by the Board of Directors and cheerfully acquiesced in by the whole school. For this happy dispensation we feel deeply grateful."
A photograph of Wingohocking Hall is included in the Superintendent's report, on page 25.
A table of the Trades Teaching Department is included on page 27, with classes listed and the associated number of students attending each class. Similar tables are also included for the Primary, Intermediate, and Advanced departments. A list of the members of the graduating class of 1918 then follows, followed by a list of awards given to students for various achievements.
This is followed by the report of the Advanced Department, with student statistics provide. In the Advanced school, 10 students were graduated and eight were "honorably discharged." The Institution was beginning to struggle with keeping its faculty and staff positions filled, due to the arrival of the war [World War I].
A report of the Industrial Department then follows, on page 38. This is opposite a photograph of the Morris Industrial Hall. In the school year 1917-1918, there were 377 students in the Industrial Department. These consisted of 189 girls and 188 boys. After discussing several resignation, the Industrial Department's report then discussed its classes. Classes held in the Industrial Department included baking, bricklaying, carpentry etc., chair caning, drafting, grounds maintenance, ironing, painting and glazing, printing, Linotype instruction, millinery, shoemaking, boys and girls sewing, tailoring, and weaving. Lists of articles made then follow.
The report of the Physical Department then follows, on page 43. A description of the students' exercises is included. No statistics about students in the Physical Department was included in this section of the report.
The report of the physician then follows, beginning on page 45. It should be noted that the associated Infirmary Report includes information for the year ending June 30, 1918. This means that no information is included in associated with the major spike in influenza cases which occurred the following October. The physician noted that "While [there is] a slight increase in numbers as compared with the preceding year, it is much less than our average in past years and speaks definitely for favorable health conditions." He continues with "The only practical preventative measure is to limit as much as circumstances permit the visits of pupils to their homes and their intercourse with the outside community. The prevalence, at the present writing, of the Spanish influenza, gives point to this suggestion." A summary of cases then follows.
The Dentist's Report then follows, on page 48. Opposite this page is a photograph of the infirmary.
No reports of the layngologist, or oculist were included this year.
The report of the steward then begins, on page 49. In it, A. H. Bodenhorn lists supplies provided and clothing issued during the year ending August 31, 1918.
The report of the Chief Engineer then follows, beginning on page 57. In it, coal consumption was discussed. A central focus of the report was again the Institution's HVAC system, with the school's boilers being overhauled.
A list of acknowledgements then follows, for various monetary and in kind donations.
Details of the conditions for terms of admission to the Institution are then provided, beginning on page 62.
A list of all of the students is then provided, beginning on page 65, with students lists by their location of origin [listed by post office]. These are organized by Department- i.e. Academic, Intermediate, Primary.
A list of life members of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb is provided, beginning on page 80.
An appendix then follows. This consists of a list of Institution presidents, vice presidents, directors, etc. from the school's founding in 1820 to the then-present day. This also includes a list of those members of the Ladies' Committee, from the school's founding to the then-present day. This listing of the Ladies' Committee members appears to be a new feature of the Institution's annual report.Collection
Pamphlet Box CollectionMade/Created
Date made
1917 - 1918Notes
Creation Date: 1919