Today's blog post is brought to you by the Moses Myers Archives. We were transcribing some letters and came across a rather entertaining set of exchanges between Samuel Myers and his son's teacher, which today could be the equivalent to a parent-teacher conference. Through these letters we see that the dynamic between parents and teachers has not changed much since 1825. Consider this glance into the past of a tense moment between a parent and a teacher...
Here is the context:
Samuel Myers, son of Moses Myers, lived in Richmond, VA with his wife and his son named Moses II. When Moses turned eight-years old they sent him to the other side of town to be taught by a teacher named Jeremiah Osbourn. Mr. Osbourn's letters provide some fascinating insight into the teacher/parent dynamic of that time period.
The first letter:
In the first letter Mr. Osbourn confirms that Samuel's tuition payment has been recieved and he expresses his thanks for doing so. He writes: "Sir, I have received thirty dollars which you, this day sent me, in full compensation for the tuition of your son, Moses." Wait. Thirty bucks for a years worth of tuition!? I'll take that. But then again, this was the 1800s and thirty-dollars back then was about 600-and-something-dollars today. Jeremiah seems exceedingly grateful for the paymen: "Permit me, sir, to express my sincere thanks for this advance. It relieves me from the serious apprehension of being unable to clothe myself decently."
The second letter:
In the second letter, things start heating up. Eight months after Moses started school, Jeremiah writes Samuel expressing his anxiety that Moses is not living up to the expecations of the school. He writes, "He was more successful in grammar than either of us had anticipated but, like the other children, his learning has sensibly evaporated in the long vacation. The peculiar difficulty attending Moses is his disinclination to study." I suppose that's a nice way of saying, "your kid finds everything else under the sun way more interesting than my grammar book." Jeremiah then offers some suggestions that might help Moses improve his education.
The third letter:
The third letter is, in my opinion, the most engaging part of the exchange, which was written five days after this previous letter. Jeremiah writes, "We agree that he has not applied himself to study as he might; but we may not perfectly agree that he has been properly instructed." Did Samuel Myers insult Jeremiah's capabilities as a teacher in his earlier reply? This part also brings up that timeless debate between parents and teachers: whoes fault is it if the child isn't learning? But, Jeremiah clearly see's the potential in Moses and knows what it would take to bring out the scholar: "If a radical change is to be effected in the distinction of a student, it can only be affected by prudent means applied for some considerable time. This is the case of your son Moses. This genius is equal to that of a good scholar, but not to that of the first order, whose orbit is very eccentric."
-Library Assistant Rebecca Wilkinson
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