General Beadle
12/01/16 05:15
There is an elementary school on the north side of our community that has been developed into a community center. General Beadle Elementary School is a public school with over 500 students. The building, however, isn’t just a place for classrooms and other school activities. It is home to a community health center, a branch of the public library, and has developed into a gathering place for community events and activities. Unlike some other school buildings that are used during the school year and sit idle during the summer, General Beadle school is a year-round neighborhood resource center.
I’m guessing, however, that if you were to visit the building today you wouldn’t find many people who could tell you very much about the person for whom the school is named.
William Henry Harrison Beadle was born in a frontier log cabin in 1838. The story is that his father offered him the choice of the family farm or $1,000 for an education. The son chose the cash for an education and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in civil engineering. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War and rose to the rank of brigadier general. After being discharged from the Army he returned to the University of Michigan where he earned a law degree.
In 1869 President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him surveyor-general of Dakota Territory. He drafted the school lands provision for the South Dakota constitutional convention of 1885, which was accepted by the United States Congress in 1889. His efforts led to the establishment and sustaining of school lands as a trust for future generations. School lands could be sold, but at their appraised value and never for less than $10 per acre. The basic concept established in South Dakota was replicated in the constitutions of North Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming.
Beadle went on to serve as superintendent of public instruction in South Dakota and as president of Madison Normal School, the first school dedicated to training teachers in Dakota Territory. He continued to serve the college as professor of history until his retirement in 1912. For a few years the college was named General Beadle State College, but now is known as Dakota State University.
There is a bronze statue of General Beadle in the South Dakota State Capital. Actually the statue is a replica of an original statue which was donated by the State of South Dakota to the National Statuary Hall Collection at the United States Capitol. We also have a county in South Dakota named for him.
Maybe it is just a matter of history and of people who lived long ago who are seldom remembered, but the story of General Beadle is one that ought to be remembered. In a time when education wasn’t valued by many of the settlers of our territory he stood up for the concept of public education. He not only learned from his personal experience the value of education, he saw a connection between the trust of public lands and the obligation to educate all of the children of the state. His ideas weren’t always accepted by the general public. He had to fight political battles in order to establish the principles that have supported public education.
Public education is the foundation of our democracy. The commitment to educate not only our own children, but all of the children of the community provides the path to social and economic mobility in our society. People like General Beadle can arise from humble and modest means to provide leadership to the entire community.
In these times when our legislature is tax adverse and sees other priorities as rising above public education, it is important to remember our history. The principles upon which our state was founded included an absolute, constitutional commitment to public education.
Perhaps there is no more fitting memorial to General Beadle than the elementary school in our community that bears his hame. Very few, if any, of the 531 students in that school come from families that are able to afford private education. Many come from families whose access to other public institutions such as the library or community health center would be limited if it weren’t located in their neighborhood. The health and education of these students is part of the trust which we have inherited from the founders of our state who had the vision to set aside public lands for the support of the education of all of the students of our state.
It takes more than the commitment of our forebears, however, to insure adequate education for each generation of students. We, too, are called to make commitments of our time, energy, and our resources as an investment in the future of our state. Investing in education has a direct impact on the cost of a wide variety of public expenses in years to come.
North Dakota and South Dakota make an excellent study of these principles. We share the same establishment clauses for public schools in our constitutions. North Dakota, however, has a different funding structure for public education. This distinguishes their state from ours not only in the operation of schools and the compensation of teachers but also in the incarceration rate of our citizens and the cost of running state prisons. The contrast is stark. Failure to invest in education has direct and definite costs that are born by taxpayers.
I know that I’ve been on this topic for a couple of days and I have no intention of turning this blog into a political forum. But I do have a prayer for the members of the South Dakota legislature as they meet in session this winter. I pray that they will open their eyes and pay attention to their surroundings. I hope that some of them will take a look at the statue of General Beadle that is in our capitol and pay enough attention to check out who that person was and why he is so honored in that place. Perhaps they can be inspired by his story.
It is a story that should not be forgotten. It is a story that every South Dakotan should learn.
I’m guessing, however, that if you were to visit the building today you wouldn’t find many people who could tell you very much about the person for whom the school is named.
William Henry Harrison Beadle was born in a frontier log cabin in 1838. The story is that his father offered him the choice of the family farm or $1,000 for an education. The son chose the cash for an education and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in civil engineering. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War and rose to the rank of brigadier general. After being discharged from the Army he returned to the University of Michigan where he earned a law degree.
In 1869 President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him surveyor-general of Dakota Territory. He drafted the school lands provision for the South Dakota constitutional convention of 1885, which was accepted by the United States Congress in 1889. His efforts led to the establishment and sustaining of school lands as a trust for future generations. School lands could be sold, but at their appraised value and never for less than $10 per acre. The basic concept established in South Dakota was replicated in the constitutions of North Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming.
Beadle went on to serve as superintendent of public instruction in South Dakota and as president of Madison Normal School, the first school dedicated to training teachers in Dakota Territory. He continued to serve the college as professor of history until his retirement in 1912. For a few years the college was named General Beadle State College, but now is known as Dakota State University.
There is a bronze statue of General Beadle in the South Dakota State Capital. Actually the statue is a replica of an original statue which was donated by the State of South Dakota to the National Statuary Hall Collection at the United States Capitol. We also have a county in South Dakota named for him.
Maybe it is just a matter of history and of people who lived long ago who are seldom remembered, but the story of General Beadle is one that ought to be remembered. In a time when education wasn’t valued by many of the settlers of our territory he stood up for the concept of public education. He not only learned from his personal experience the value of education, he saw a connection between the trust of public lands and the obligation to educate all of the children of the state. His ideas weren’t always accepted by the general public. He had to fight political battles in order to establish the principles that have supported public education.
Public education is the foundation of our democracy. The commitment to educate not only our own children, but all of the children of the community provides the path to social and economic mobility in our society. People like General Beadle can arise from humble and modest means to provide leadership to the entire community.
In these times when our legislature is tax adverse and sees other priorities as rising above public education, it is important to remember our history. The principles upon which our state was founded included an absolute, constitutional commitment to public education.
Perhaps there is no more fitting memorial to General Beadle than the elementary school in our community that bears his hame. Very few, if any, of the 531 students in that school come from families that are able to afford private education. Many come from families whose access to other public institutions such as the library or community health center would be limited if it weren’t located in their neighborhood. The health and education of these students is part of the trust which we have inherited from the founders of our state who had the vision to set aside public lands for the support of the education of all of the students of our state.
It takes more than the commitment of our forebears, however, to insure adequate education for each generation of students. We, too, are called to make commitments of our time, energy, and our resources as an investment in the future of our state. Investing in education has a direct impact on the cost of a wide variety of public expenses in years to come.
North Dakota and South Dakota make an excellent study of these principles. We share the same establishment clauses for public schools in our constitutions. North Dakota, however, has a different funding structure for public education. This distinguishes their state from ours not only in the operation of schools and the compensation of teachers but also in the incarceration rate of our citizens and the cost of running state prisons. The contrast is stark. Failure to invest in education has direct and definite costs that are born by taxpayers.
I know that I’ve been on this topic for a couple of days and I have no intention of turning this blog into a political forum. But I do have a prayer for the members of the South Dakota legislature as they meet in session this winter. I pray that they will open their eyes and pay attention to their surroundings. I hope that some of them will take a look at the statue of General Beadle that is in our capitol and pay enough attention to check out who that person was and why he is so honored in that place. Perhaps they can be inspired by his story.
It is a story that should not be forgotten. It is a story that every South Dakotan should learn.