Calvin Milton Woodward (August 25, 1837 – January 12, 1914) was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

educator and professor. As dean of the school of engineering at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

, he developed a manual training programme (a system of general, non-vocational tools training). He opened the St. Louis Manual Training School.

Biography

Woodward was born at Fitchburg,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

to Isaac Burnap Woodward and Eliza W. (Wetherbee) Woodward. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

with an A.B. in 1860. His first job was to serve as principal of Brown High School in

Newburyport, Massachusetts Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mo ...

. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

he enlisted and was promoted to captain of the 48th Massachusetts Infantry. He was stationed during his year of duty (1862–1863) in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. He took part in the siege and capture of Port Hudson under General

Nathaniel P. Banks Nathaniel Prentice (or Prentiss) Banks (January 30, 1816 – September 1, 1894) was an American politician from Massachusetts and a Union general during the Civil War. A millworker by background, Banks was prominent in local debating societies, ...

. Following his year of service he returned to being principal of Brown High School. He married Fanny Stone Balch on September 30, 1863. They had nine children, five of whom died before reaching the age of ten. At the close of the Civil War, Woodward accepted a position as vice principal of Smith Academy in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

(part of Washington University). In 1868, he was appointed assistant professor of mathematics in Washington University. In 1870, he became a professor of mathematics and applied mechanics. That year he also became dean of the polytechnic school. As dean, Woodward began experimenting with manual skills education. Following an influential demonstration of the Della Vos, or Russian, method of tools instruction at the 1876

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

in Philadelphia, Woodward began making plans and gathering support for a similar initiative in the U.S. This culminated in the opening, in 1879, of the St. Louis Manual Training School as a subordinate department of Washington University. Without resigning his other duties, he filled the directorship of the school. The school was a pioneer of its kind in the United States, and served as the model in organizing other similar schools, in consequence of which Woodward's expositions of the aims and value of manual training have had much influence in shaping the new education both inside and outside the United States. During the 1880s, the Manual Training School was the largest and most well-attended public high school in St. Louis. The manual training system that Woodward introduced was akin to tools training. Students learned how to use tools by shaping wood or metal, but the products they produced had no commercial value. The worth of the instruction lay mostly in mind-hand coordination. Woodward lectured extensively on manual training and his high school. Yet by the late 1890s, manual training was under greater criticism because of its apparent disconnection to workplace skills. Critics (such as the

National Association of Manufacturers The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is an advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C., with additional offices across the United States. It is the nation's largest manufacturing industrial trade association, representing 14,000 s ...

) began advocating a system of

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...

that trained students for specific jobs instead of giving students general tools training. He was a member of the school board of St. Louis 1878-80, and president of the St. Louis Engineer Club in 1883/4. Woodward was president of the industrial department of the National Educational Association 1882-84, and vice president of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

in 1888, presiding over the section on mechanical science. In 1885 he was invited to present a paper on "Manual Training" before the educational conference in

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, and afterward he visited the educational institutions of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. In 1882, Woodward was granted an honorary doctoral degree in Laws from Washington University. Calvin M. Woodward died in St. Louis on January 12, 1914.

Works

* ''History of St. Louis Bridge'' (1881) * ''The Manual Training School'' (1887) * ''Manual Training in Education'' (1890) * ''Rational and Applied Mechanics'' (1912) He wrote a large number of papers on mathematical subjects and manual training, which he contributed to scientific journals and other periodicals.

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* Attribution: *

Biography

Works

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Further reading