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Democracy and the manual arts [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-07-04
Back with the Philadelphia exposition in 1876, two rival systems of manual arts training were introduced in the great hall of industry. Eleven acres of machinery driven by the largest Corliss steam engine ever built highlighted the Russian System of Victor Della Vos at which young men were operating machines. That was system one and inspired Calvin Woodward of Washington University, and John Runkle from MIT going home and becoming the “fathers” of manual and industrial education. Both were math teachers looking for means to raise the general level of classroom intellect. A rival system, Educational Sloyd, was more quietly introduced through a set of student made models in the Swedish School House (since moved to Central Park as the marrionette theater) .
The two systems were different and brought some controversy to the North Benett St. School in Boston where the two systems were introduced at the same time. The Russian System was intended to bring workers into the industrial sphere. The system known as Swedish Sloyd had somewhat deeper planned effects. As described by Otto Salomon, founder of the system, it had two goals. One goal shared by the Russian system was economic in that it would make better workers and therefore benefit the captains of industry. The second was “formative” in that it would make better citizens and would be taught not only to the working class but to all students of all educational objectives, and life destinations, A stated goal was to develop a widely shared sense of the dignity of all labor.
"Let the youth once learn to take a straight shaving off a plank, or draw a fine curve without faltering, or lay a brick level in its mortar, and he has learned a multitude of other matters which no lips of man could ever teach him." --John Ruskin, "Time and Tide", 1883
But our educational system went blindly forth ignoring the advice of John Dewey who said:
A democracy cannot endure if a large segment of its population is denied access to education which has relevance and meaning to its life. . . . This is one of the reasons why we must provide vocational education. What is more important, it is one of the reasons why we must have a valid conception of what vocational education is and what it isn’t.— John Dewey, 1919
I was introduced to Educational Sloyd in 2001 and have written extensively on the subject including articles in Woodwork Magazine that re-introduced Sloyd and the wikipedia article.
Perhaps if folks had greater respect for the working classes we’d not be in such a crisis in our democracy.
I have written about Sloyd and how the use of the hands affects intelligence in my blog Wisdom of the Hands since 2006. My book describing how the intelligent use of the hands bring essential qualities to family, community, self and culture, Wisdom of our Hands: Crafting, A Life can be found here.
Happy 4th of July
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