Manual Training in Seattle Schools
Seattle High School launches a new carpentry course, emphasizing hand-eye coordination for students while avoiding the ire of labor unions.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The class in carpentry, in the industrial course of the Seattle High School, began work yesterday afternoon in the basement of the Central School building. The shop is provided with twelve benches, each with a vise and tool rack. As the class numbers thirty-six boys, they work in three shifts. Charles S. Wells, a practical carpenter, will instruct the boys. It is not proposed to carry the training to the graduation of journeymen carpenters, as is done in Europe; instead, the boys will be drilled in the use of hand and eye. The school noted that by focusing on elementary skills rather than finished construction, they will not bring out the antagonism of labor unions, as prison labor has done.
“The boys will not, therefore, bring out the antagonism of labor unions, as prison labor has done.”
This early debate about 'manual training' versus labor union concerns over competition reflects the long-standing tension between vocational education and local trade unions in the Pacific Northwest. Today, this focus has shifted toward modern CTE (Career and Technical Education) programs that balance economic workforce needs with academic training.
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