The stereotype is that our ancestors were not as intelligent as we are, but the opposite is true judging from tests students completed while obtaining an education in the 1910s. They were highly educated and at a young age.
If you were a boy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, you would have been given a classical education. Students of a classic education studied numerous subjects and often went on to a college or university where they studied medicine or law. The subjects were: reading, writing, classic literature, Latin, Greek, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, music, astronomy, architecture and history.
Girls were taught more feminine subjects such as music, needlework and home management, but increasingly they, too, were becoming educated.
Starting around the turn of the 20th century, a progressive education replaced a classical education. It differed in that the goal was not to prepare wealthy students for university, but to level the playing field for all students.
Other differences included:
- School was thought of as a form of community, preparing children to take their place in society
- The belief that children learned by identifying and solving problems
- Learning was more hands-on
- Students could work to attain individual goals
- Teachers instructed not just concepts but world experiences
Education Requirements in 1910
In 1900, the U.S. high school graduation rate was 6 percent. During the 1910s in Canada, the highest level of education the average person completed was grade six.
The majority of teachers were women. While this is probably still the case today, women were expected to quit working once they married. In some districts, teachers had to abide by curfews and rules about who they could and, more importantly, could not associate. There were other rules as well, including dress codes. School did not have custodial staffs, and teachers cleaned their classrooms according to a set schedule.
Eighth graders needed a minimum score of 80 percent in both math and grammar to pass the exit exam and move onto high school. The minimum for other subjects was 60 percent. Penmanship also was graded.
The number of hours a student must attend class in order to receive credit was established in 1905. The system is still in use today. Then it was called “seat time”.
A few years later, the first junior high school opened. It was intended to increase graduation rates by better preparing students for high school.
The forerunner of the standard test was established in 1918. It was created as a way to determine intelligence among U.S. Army soldiers enlisting for World War I.
Could You Pass the Test?
These are examples of questions eighth grade students were asked in 1910 in an Olympia, Washington, school district. Keep in mind, they needed to pass this exam to move on to high school.
- Name three different ways in which a noun may be used in the nominative case, and three ways in which a noun may be used in the objective case.
- Mark diacritically the vowels in the following: banana, admire, golden, ticket, lunch.
- Spell 30 words including emblematic, declension, pernicious, laudanum and soliloquy.
- What has made the names of each of the following historical? Alexander Hamilton, U.S. Grant, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Cyrus W. Field, Clara Barton.
- How do you distinguish between the terms Puritans, Pilgrims, and Separatists?
- (a) State briefly the causes of the War of 1812. (b) Name two engagements. (c) Two prominent American Commanders.
- Name five important cities and five products of Canada.
- What and where are the following? Liverpool, Panama, Suez, Ural, Liberia, Quebec, Pikes Peak, Yosemite, Danube, San Diego.
- Divide 304,487 by 931.
- Find the square root of 95.6484.
- Find the sum of 5/9, 5/6, 3/4, 11/36.
- What number diminished by 33 1/3 percent of itself equals 38?
- Quote two stanzas of “America.”
- Name five American poets, and give a quotation from each.
- Trace a drop of blood from the time it enters the left ventricle, until it returns to its starting point, and name the different valves and principal arteries and veins through which it passes.
- Explain why health depends largely upon habit.
- Locate the thoracic duct.
- Give some good reasons why boys should not smoke cigarettes.
- What do you understand about the germ theory of disease?
Victorian and Edwardian Penmanship
Instruction books were written on proper penmanship. The two most popular ones were the Spencerian Method and the Palmer Method.
The Spencerian Method was taught beginning in the mid-19th century. It was characterized by a fancy script that resembled calligraphy. Words were written rhythmically. The Coca-Cola logo is an example of Spencerian script.
The Palmer Method used a simpler, faster script. The method was used from the late 19th century until well into the 20th century. It was intended to make writing automatic. It also was intended to masculinize handwriting, even if the writer was a woman.
Other methods also were devised. The goal was to ensure handwriting was clear and could easily been read by others.
Letter Writing
During the Victorian era, letter writing became commonplace. More people could read, mail delivery had become more reliable.
“While most [letter] examples are terribly verbose or overly effusive by today’s standards one should always take such things in the context of the time,” blogger Dons says on The Lothians. “It was a source of great pride to be able to write a good letter and indeed such was expected of all well educated people.”
Written communication came with its own set of long, complicated rules. Here are some examples:
- Men used plain paper.
- Women spritzed their paper with perfume.
- The type and color of paper used depended on the fashion of the day. Sometimes the paper was intricately decorated, but it should never be lined. Those in mourning used paper bordered with black lines.
- In the days before lick-and-stick envelopes, correspondence had to be sealed with wax. Men used red wax, but women could use any color. Black wax was used while in mourning.
- No colors other than black and blue ink were to be used. Some letter-writing guides even claimed blue was unacceptable.
- People were cautioned to be honest without giving away too much of their true feelings. Love letters were rarely signed “love,” but instead with “ever your friend”.
- Postcards were considered lowly compared to letters.
- Nothing could be crossed out. The writer had to start over when a mistake was made.
- Letter writing was considered a talent and a sign of good breeding.
The letter was an extension of polite society; therefore, if one wanted to express certain feelings, such as love, symbolism and figures of speech were used. Sometimes the opposite of what was meant was said.
In informal letters, people were told to write in the same manner they spoke. Here is an example of an informal letter written on Dec. 30, 1897. It is part of a collection that appears on Victorian Love Letters and originally appeared on a BBC radio program about the history of the post office.
My dear Jinnie,
Many thanks for your dear letter. I hope you are keeping well and enjoying yourself, no doubt you are though. I have nothing much to do here and no where to go to so shall be very pleased when they come home. I don’t quite see what you have done to our Nance. I hear they went to Lees for Xmas day. I am glad he is better though. Mother was not very well the last time I heard from her; I hope she is better now.
That letter you forwarded to me was from Poll. She must have forgotten I have left Cowpers.
Our People don’t come back here until next Saturday. Please tell Ted that I shan’t want him on the 10th – not so many coming. They are hunting from Brocklesby this year again, so perhaps I may get a few days off then.
So my own, I must wish you a very happy new year. With fondest love from your own Bob.
If all the rules and symbolism aren’t foreign enough to modern writers, there were other social aspects related to letter writing that seem odd today.
- The placement of a stamp as well as whether it was right-side-up, upside-down or sideways gave clues to a person’s true feelings and could even answer a yes-no question.
- A shy man could propose to his beloved via letter.
- Books were written on the art of letter writing. Two popular ones were The Lover’s Casket and The Lovers Letter Writer.
- Abbreviations and underlining were considered in bad taste.
- Typewritten letters were considered in bad taste as well.
Victorian Swimming Lessons
During the Victorian era, people were taught how to swim on land. They believed those who learned swimming techniques before hitting the water would be better prepared. This method was thought to instill confidence in individuals who were frightened of the water. Convenience was another reason for the popularity of this method, as few schools had pools. The dry method could be taught anywhere, and the lessons were an ideal form of exercise during the winter.
Students were suspended by wires, laid stomach down on stools, or used swimming machines for their lessons.
Lessons also included how to rescue a drowning person.
Competitive swimming began in the 19th century, but the sport was male dominated. There were female swimming championships in the 1800s, but when the modern Olympics began in 1896, all the competitors were men. Women weren’t allowed to compete until the 1912 games.
The first swimsuits were wool and mimicked everyday clothing. They were dangerous, as they often became waterlogged. Suits remained this way for decades.
“Pants and shorts were worked into bulky one-pieces, which allowed women a modicum of function in the water, but the outfits were still absurdly layered,” The Week explains. “Knee-length bloomers were worn under one-pieces that were covered by an apron-like piece of fabric wrapped around the waist. The more prudent women added black tights to the ensemble.”
It wasn’t until 1905 that competitive swimmer Annette Kellerman simplified women’s suits to match men’s. The style was commonplace by the 1920s.
The Toronto Normal School
Hettie Steward, from Angel of Mercy, is not the only woman in her family to have a profession. Her mother, Lucretia, blazed the trail, becoming a professional teacher after attending the Toronto Normal School in the 1880s.
What is a “normal school”? It is what today we call a teaching college. The purpose of these schools was to teach norms, standardized teaching practices.
Several normal schools were established in Canada and the United States in the 19th century and continued to operate until the mid-20th century. In Canada, teaching colleges were absorbed into universities while in the United States they became independent universities. Many state universities have their roots as normal schools.
When Lucretia attended the Toronto Normal School, it was about 35 years old. Its campus, St. James Square, was its second location, and occupied eight acres bordered by Gerrard, Church, Gould and Victoria Streets. The school went through several name changes, before becoming the Toronto Normal School in 1875. It was the oldest school in the province of Ontario.
By the 1880s, the campus had others purposes as well. The property held a natural history and art museum, a botanical garden, the headquarters for the Ontario Department of Education and an art school. By 1900, the museum contained collections from the Canadian Institute. The building grew and changed with each addition.
Ontario established kindergartens in 1882, and the Toronto Normal School was known for its excellent kindergarten program.
To be accepted into the school, students needed one year of teaching experience, a session at a model school and an academic second-class certificate. Entrance requirements changed over time, and in the 20th century, students could be admitted who had completed high school or had attended university.
The school year ran from September to June. Students were sent to schools throughout the city and surrounding areas for practice. This was especially important since the school increasingly admitted students with no prior teaching experience. Students were expected to be disciplined and kept busy in order to stay out of mischief.
Initially, lectures were held in front of large classes. By World War I, students attended classes based on their year of study. The emphasis changed from teaching procedures to teaching principles and how to apply them.
The teaching program was moved to a university in the mid-20th century, and the campus at St. James Square was razed.

Toronto Normal School
Visit Hettie’s World
This blog is a companion piece to Melina Druga’s WWI Trilogy, available in eBook, paperback and hardcover.
Book 1: Angel of Mercy
The first installment in a spellbinding trilogy centered around Canada’s involvement in World War I follows a privileged young newlywed to the fraught medical encampments of the Western Front. Buy now.
Book 2: Those Left Behind
Told through a series of epistolary vignettes, the second novel in Melina Druga’s World War I trilogy traces the lives of the Steward and Bartlette families as they contend with their children’s and siblings’ wartime absences. Buy now.
Book 3: Adjustment Year
The stunning conclusion to Melina Druga’s World War I trilogy traces Hettie’s attempts to reacclimate to civilian life in the aftermath of the conflict. Buy now.
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