Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/189657
FOUNDING the moment he took office, and was won – with the help of the forbear of the California Teachers Association (CTA) – in 1867. Swett was also an early proponent of the belief that teachers should be the agents for everything that happens in a classroom – and that they should work together to elevate their status and ensure the success of their students. But Swett's role in establishing the California Educational Society on May 9, 1863 – the event to which CTA now traces its origins – is less obvious. According to the account given by Roy W. Cloud, a former CTA state executive secretary, in his CTA-sponsored book Education in California: Leaders, Organizations and Accomplishments of the First Hundred Years, Swett himself, in the first issue of The California Teacher, attributed the California Educational Society's launch to several other people. The 1863 state conference over which Swett presided as superintendent, the third State Teachers Institute, had officially concluded when the California Educational Society was founded; attendees voted for its establishment in a follow-up session, suggested and chaired by Mr. Theodore Bradley, principal of San Francisco's Denman Grammar School. During this meeting, a committee was appointed to draw up the new Society's constitution. In addition to Bradley, this committee included: • Samuel I.C. Swezey, a professor and former trustee of the State Normal School (California's first state teaching college) in San Jose • George Tait, superintendent of San Francisco City Public Schools and former principal of Denman Grammar School • Ahira Holmes, the State Normal School's first principal • John C. Pelton, a veteran teacher who established the first free city school on the Pacific Coast, and who also served as San Francisco's first Superintendent of Public Instruction • Bernhard Marks, a Polish-born miner, teacher, and principal of San Francisco's Lincoln Grammar School The committee also laid out the conditions they believed necessary for a person to be a professional teacher. Unfortunately, despite the generous legacy of each, none " Swett deserves credit as one of CTA's most influential founders – a passionate, eloquent, and visionary advocate for California students and teachers. " of these committee members was forward-thinking when it came to the role of women in shaping the teaching profession; the society was, until 1867, explicitly limited to "male members only." It was only after the California Educational Society had been established that Swett – who apparently had little to do with its formation – was elected its first president. In 1875, after the Society's influence had declined steadily, it became the State Teachers Association – a largely regional association of Northern California educators. It's worth noting that among the leaders who helped author this organization's resurgence – and its rebirth, in 1907, as the statewide CTA – John Swett played a prominent role. He was appointed to revise the association's constitution, and was also a member of the committee that issued the landmark recommendation for its incorporation as the California Teachers Association. Today it's easier, of course, to simply remember one name than to learn the intricate history of a 150-year-old organization – but it's no more accurate to call John Swett the sole "Father of CTA" than it is to claim George Washington singlehandedly created the United States of America. Still, Swett deserves credit as one of CTA's most influential founders – a passionate, eloquent, and visionary advocate for California students and teachers. On Aug. 25, 1913, the day of Swett's funeral, nearly every school in the state closed for the day, in honor of his contributions. John Swett – the man who came to California in 1852 seeking gold, and who found something much more valuable and enduring – probably would have urged those schools to remain in session. OCTOBER 201 3 Educator 10 Oct 2013 v2.1 int.indd 59 www.cta.org 59 10/7/13 9:39 PM