Charles Alexander McMurry
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Early life
Charles Alexander McMurry (1857–1929) was an American educator, pioneer in American Herbartianism, and brother to Frank Morton McMurry. In 1857, McMurry was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, but following the premature death of his father, his mother moved the family to rural Illinois where he and his siblings would begin attending Normal schools, specifically in Normal, Illinois. This is where Charles McMurry would meet Edmund J. James, a prominent educational figure in economics and academia throughout Illinois universities and schools.[2][3]
Education and Herbartianism
McMurry enrolled in the classical training school at
In 1886, McMurry traveled to Halle, Germany to continue his education.[2][4] He completed his Ph.D. in Halle in 1887 and brought back the teachings of German Herbartianist, Willheim Rein to the United States.[2]
McMurry began to incorporate Herbartianist teaching pedagogy into his own classrooms in Illinois, specifically in
In 1889, Charles McMurry returned to Normal and began teaching as an assistant of the training school at
In 1895, members of the National Herbart Club established the National Herbart Society for the Scientific Study of Education (NHS), marking the height of Herbartian educational influence in the United States.[5] Shortly after the establishment of the NHS, McMurry began to compile various works of Herbartian educational instruction from faculty at ISNU, to create The First Supplement to the Yearbook of the National Herbart Society in 1895.[1] The "yearbook" was rather a symposium for faculty and students at ISNU to engage in academic conversation in regards to early childhood education, secondary education, and post-secondary education, though its publication and distribution impacted educational institutions across the United States.[1][2]
In 1899, Charles McMurry helped establish an education program for teaching at
He taught Herbartianism in summer schools throughout the nation, most notably at the University of Chicago, Columbia University, Vanderbilt University, and Cornell University.[4][5]
McMurry taught and wrote about various ideologies of education, but is most notable for his work in Herbartianism. He authored and submitted over one hundred fifty works in seven hundred sixty-nine publications, until his death in 1929.[8]
Published works
- The Elements of General Method (1892; sixth edition, revised, 1903)[9]
- Method of the Recitation (1898), with F. M. McMurry[10][11]
- Special Method of Reading (1898; new edition, 1910)
- Special Method in Literature and History (1898)
- Special Method in Geography (1898)
- Special Method in Natural Science (1896; second edition, 1899)
- Pioneer History Stories (three volumes, 1891; fifth edition, 1898)
- Special Method in Primary Reading and Oral Work (1903)
- Special Method in Reading in the Grades (1908)
- Handbook of Practice for Teachers (1914)
- Conflicting Principles of Teaching and How to Adjust them (1915)
Notes
- ^ a b c d Harper, Charles A. (1935). Development of The Teachers College in the United States, With Special Reference to the Illinois State Normal University. Bloomington, Illinois: McKnight & McKnight. p. 204.
- ^ S2CID 248818674.
- ^ a b Cremin, Lawrence A. (1940). "Frank Morton McMurry" Dictionary of American Biography (XXII, Supplement Two ed.). New York: Auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies. pp. 423–424.
- ^ a b c d e TYLER, KENNETH. 1982. "The Educational Life and Work of Charles A. McMurry: 1872–1929." Ph.D. diss., Northern Illinois University.
- ^ a b c d "Charles McMurry (1857–1929)". education.stateuniversity.com. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
- S2CID 147540665.
- ^ a b Willoughby, Olivia. "History's foundation: McMurry Hall". Northern Star. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
- ^ McMurry, Charles A. (December 1, 2022). "McMurry, Charles A. (Charles Alexander) 1857-1929".
- ^ McMurry, Charles A. (1892). The Elements of General Method (Sixth, Revised ed.). London, England: The MacMillan Company. pp. 1–323.
- ^ McMurry, Charles A. (1905). The Method of The Recitation. London, England: The MacMillan Company. pp. 1–329.
- ^ McMurry, Frank M. (1905). The Method of The Recitation. London, England: The MacMillan Company. pp. 1–329.