Peirce, Cyrus

In 1839, Horace Mann hired Cyrus Peirce to be the first principal of the Lexington Normal School in Lexington, Massachusetts. Mann turned to his longtime supporter and principal of the Nantucket High School after being rebuffed by five other prominent educators—each of whom had religious backgrounds. Peirce agreed to become not only the principal but also the sole lecturer and director of the model school, as well as perform the duties of janitor. His views on teaching and leadership reflected the same values held by Horace Mann with respect to the need for a professional school to train better teachers.

Cyrus Peirce (1790–1860) kept a reflective journal of his first years, 1839 to 1841, at the Lexington Normal School. He also corresponded with prominent educators, including Henry Barnard of Connecticut. His journal entries describe a man willing to fully commit himself to what he called “the Experiment,” noting that he would prefer death to the experiment's failure.

In fact, it is clear that both mentally and physically, the work affected his health. Not a sanguine or patient person to begin with, Peirce's journal is an honest and troubled account of the daily demands of school leadership. His workday combined teaching and teacher training, from early morning to late in the afternoon. He rose before dawn to set the fires going in the castiron stoves in his little school building, and in winter he arose at intervals all night to keep the stoves going. He sat late over his desk, writing down the events of the day and the progress of the great experiment.

Of the young women (numbering from 7 to 21 during the first 2 years), Peirce noted both their talent and lack of knowledge. He felt that they came to the Normal School to acquire knowledge rather than learn how to teach. The students were neither good readers nor good spellers, nor did they know much arithmetic and grammar. Still, it was Peirce's goal to educate them into becoming better teachers. At the same time, he was keenly aware that knowledge alone did not necessarily make for an excellent teacher.

As a teacher, he too experimented, varying his own classroom approaches. His views were that of an enlightened educator. He came to realize that studying in a few areas for a greater length of time was better than the time spent on too many subjects, and that teaching using fear of corporal punishment was ineffective. And so, in spite his ill health, Peirce continued his work in Lexington until 1842 and then led a second Normal School in West Newton until 1849.