John R. Park
Encyclopedia
John Rockey Park was a prominent educator in the Territory
and State of Utah
in the late 19th century, and in many ways was the intellectual father of the University of Utah
.
There is a statue of John Rockey Park in an alcove just to the left of the west (front) entrance to the University of Utah main administration building which bears his name. There is a plaque fixed to the base of the statue. The plaque lists biographical dates and statistics from Park’s life and career, and then repeats the following quote from an 1885 speech he gave to future teacher
s:
. As a young man he worked on his family's farm just outside of town and attended Tiffin's public school.
From 1848 to 1850, Park was a student at the Seneca County Academy in the nearby town of Republic, Ohio
. While Park studied at the Academy, he was fortunate to associate with and learn from Thomas W. Harvey, the Academy's principal. Harvey went on to write a number of grammar books, and he became a rather well-known figure in Ohio education history. He was one of several gifted teachers who would have an influence on Park, and by extension, on all of the students Park would teach in his own career as a teacher and teacher trainer.
After completing his preparatory studies, Park went on to graduate from Ohio Wesleyan University
.
From 1853 to 1855 Park was employed as a teacher for the first time; he taught at the Academy in Republic where he had attended classes as a student.
In 1855 Park entered medical school at New York University where he was a student of the chemist
, historian
and philosopher, John William Draper
. In later life Park would "gratefully acknowledge" the positive influence that Draper's teaching and friendship had on his life. In 1857 Park received his MD
, and he began practicing medicine that same year.
By 1860 Park had decided to leave the practice of medicine. Instead, he ventured out West where (initially at least) he would not always find employment as a teacher.
and the first large group of Mormon pioneers arrived in the area which now comprises the state of Utah
. In 1849 Brigham Young submitted a fairly bold proposal to the U.S. Congress, asking that a large portion of the land which had been ceded
to the United States at the end of the Mexican American War (1846-1848) be admitted to the Union as the State of Deseret
. At the time Congress was consumed with an issue which would eventually only be resolved by the Civil War (1861–1865)
: whether slavery should be permitted to extend into the western territories. A year and a half after the State of Deseret was proposed Congress passed the Compromise of 1850
. Among a number of other things the Compromise reduced the proposed state's borders, renamed it the Utah Territory
, and specified that slavery would be permitted in the new territory if the inhabitants voted to permit it.
Utah's Mormon settlers were very different from the “rugged individual
” adventurers who would pour into the American West
before and after the Civil War. Mormon theology emphasized a kind of "mutual service salvation
," and Mormon communities idealized mutual aid to such an extent that they attempted to implement a Christian collectivist economic system called the United Order
in the 1830s, very briefly in the 1850s, and again in the 1870s. Also, despite
federal
efforts to rigorously enforce separation of church and state
, the Utah Territorial government retained some elements of a theocracy
(or, as Joseph Smith had phrased it, a "theodemocracy
"). Park's effectiveness as an educator would hinge on his ability to appreciate the benefits of, and to be accepted into, a community which was unique for its time and place.
Education in the Utah Territory was similarly shaped by the religious philosophy of its Mormon settlers. Mormons held that "[t]he glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth." Like their lax attitude toward separation of church and state, the Mormons did not make great efforts to distinguish between truth
received from spiritual revelation
or from empirical confirmation
. In essence, they were willing to cross the Great Plains
and the Rocky Mountains
walking beside covered wagon
s or pulling handcarts
so that they could engage in a search for light and truth using methods that valued both secular truth and spiritual truth.
Almost immediately after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley
the "Saints" began making plans to ensure that their children received the basics of a secular and religious elementary education. A few weeks after the first crops were planted in the mid-summer of 1847 a school was established. In 1848 Brigham Young sent an open letter to those who would soon be emigrating to "Zion
," asking them to "improve every opportunity of securing at least a copy of every valuable treatise on education." During the 1850s, local LDS church meeting houses typically served as school houses for the community's children during the week, and the schools often used Mormon scriptures
as supplemental texts. A Territorial "Superintendent of Schools" position was created in 1851. However, as the settlers struggled with the realities of frontier life during the 1850s, there just weren't sufficient resources to ensure that schools throughout the Utah Territory taught to uniform standards. So, when Park arrived in 1861 the Territory's schools differed widely in the quality of education they offered.
The settlers started planning for a university
almost as quickly as they laid the foundations of an elementary education system. The provisional State of Deseret's General Assembly - consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives - met for the first time in January 1850. It took just another month or so for the Assembly to pass its eleventh official ordinance and create the University of Deseret (now the University of Utah
) on February 28, 1850. The new school officially opened on November 11, 1850. The legislators and regents who founded the University intended for it to be the governing institution supervising all the schools in the proposed State of Deseret; this was a system which the Mormons had attempted to implement while settling Nauvoo, Illinois
. The University was to serve primarily at first as a normal school
, but its founders also believed that it would soon be a world-class learning institution. Unfortunately in the early 1850s the Territory's economy was operating at least partially on barter
, and it quickly became apparent that the University would have to wait at least until there was sufficient money
in the Territory for students to pay tuition and for the legislature to fund, and not just pass, appropriation bills. In early March 1852 the Utah Territory's newly-formed legislature rescinded the University's funding. By the time Park arrived in 1861, the University had been closed for almost a decade.
in 1861 settling in Draper
. In 1862, he was baptized
a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
ticket.
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
and State of Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
in the late 19th century, and in many ways was the intellectual father of the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
.
Quote: Educating “intelligent, industrious and moral” citizens
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
s:
I would have you remember that the best intellectual ability . . . will result in worse than failure, unless it has underlying it a stratum of moral culture.
. . . Always remember in your teaching that the grand purpose of your labors is to make citizens
CitizenshipCitizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
- active, thinking, intelligent, industrious and moralMoralityMorality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
men and women. This you cannot do by any narrow routine of school forms.
- Address to Normal
Normal schoolA normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
Graduates, Class of 1885
Childhood, education and early career (1833-1860)
Park was born in Tiffin, OhioTiffin, Ohio
Tiffin is a city in and the county seat of Seneca County, Ohio, United States. The population was 18,135 at the 2000 census. The National Arbor Day Foundation has designated Tiffin as a Tree City USA....
. As a young man he worked on his family's farm just outside of town and attended Tiffin's public school.
From 1848 to 1850, Park was a student at the Seneca County Academy in the nearby town of Republic, Ohio
Republic, Ohio
Republic is a village in Seneca County, Ohio, United States. The population was 614 at the 2000 census.-History:In 1834, Sidney Smith hired R.M. Shoemaker of Cincinnati to survey a new town at the corners of sections 15, 16, 21, and 22 in Scipio Township...
. While Park studied at the Academy, he was fortunate to associate with and learn from Thomas W. Harvey, the Academy's principal. Harvey went on to write a number of grammar books, and he became a rather well-known figure in Ohio education history. He was one of several gifted teachers who would have an influence on Park, and by extension, on all of the students Park would teach in his own career as a teacher and teacher trainer.
After completing his preparatory studies, Park went on to graduate from Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...
.
From 1853 to 1855 Park was employed as a teacher for the first time; he taught at the Academy in Republic where he had attended classes as a student.
In 1855 Park entered medical school at New York University where he was a student of the chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and philosopher, John William Draper
John William Draper
John William Draper was an American scientist, philosopher, physician, chemist, historian, and photographer. He is credited with producing the first clear photograph of a female face and the first detailed photograph of the Moon...
. In later life Park would "gratefully acknowledge" the positive influence that Draper's teaching and friendship had on his life. In 1857 Park received his MD
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
, and he began practicing medicine that same year.
By 1860 Park had decided to leave the practice of medicine. Instead, he ventured out West where (initially at least) he would not always find employment as a teacher.
Education in the Deseret / Utah Territory prior to Park's arrival (1847-1861)
In July 1847, fourteen years before Park's arrival, Brigham YoungBrigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
and the first large group of Mormon pioneers arrived in the area which now comprises the state of Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. In 1849 Brigham Young submitted a fairly bold proposal to the U.S. Congress, asking that a large portion of the land which had been ceded
Mexican Cession
The Mexican Cession of 1848 is a historical name in the United States for the region of the present day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S...
to the United States at the end of the Mexican American War (1846-1848) be admitted to the Union as the State of Deseret
State of Deseret
The State of Deseret was a proposed state of the United States, propositioned in 1849 by Latter-day Saint settlers in Salt Lake City. The provisional state existed for slightly over two years and was never recognized by the United States government...
. At the time Congress was consumed with an issue which would eventually only be resolved by the Civil War (1861–1865)
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
: whether slavery should be permitted to extend into the western territories. A year and a half after the State of Deseret was proposed Congress passed the Compromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War...
. Among a number of other things the Compromise reduced the proposed state's borders, renamed it the Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
, and specified that slavery would be permitted in the new territory if the inhabitants voted to permit it.
Utah's Mormon settlers were very different from the “rugged individual
Individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...
” adventurers who would pour into the American West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
before and after the Civil War. Mormon theology emphasized a kind of "mutual service salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
," and Mormon communities idealized mutual aid to such an extent that they attempted to implement a Christian collectivist economic system called the United Order
United Order
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the United Order was one of several 19th century church collectivist programs. Early versions of the Order beginning in 1831 attempted to implement the Law of Consecration, a form of Christian communism, modeled after the New Testament church which had "all things...
in the 1830s, very briefly in the 1850s, and again in the 1870s. Also, despite
federal
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
efforts to rigorously enforce separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
, the Utah Territorial government retained some elements of a theocracy
Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
(or, as Joseph Smith had phrased it, a "theodemocracy
Theodemocracy
Theodemocracy is a political system that combines elements of theocracy and democracy.One concept of theodemocracy was theorized by Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement...
"). Park's effectiveness as an educator would hinge on his ability to appreciate the benefits of, and to be accepted into, a community which was unique for its time and place.
Education in the Utah Territory was similarly shaped by the religious philosophy of its Mormon settlers. Mormons held that "[t]he glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth." Like their lax attitude toward separation of church and state, the Mormons did not make great efforts to distinguish between truth
Truth
Truth has a variety of meanings, such as the state of being in accord with fact or reality. It can also mean having fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal. In a common usage, it also means constancy or sincerity in action or character...
received from spiritual revelation
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
or from empirical confirmation
Scientific method
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
. In essence, they were willing to cross the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
and the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
walking beside covered wagon
Covered wagon
The covered wagon, also known as a Prairie schooner, is an icon of the American Old West.Although covered wagons were commonly used for shorter moves within the United States, in the mid-nineteenth century thousands of Americans took them across the Great Plains to Oregon and California...
s or pulling handcarts
Mormon handcart pioneers
The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Salt Lake City, Utah, who used handcarts to transport their belongings...
so that they could engage in a search for light and truth using methods that valued both secular truth and spiritual truth.
Almost immediately after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably West Valley City, Murray, Sandy, and West Jordan; its total population is 1,029,655 as of 2010...
the "Saints" began making plans to ensure that their children received the basics of a secular and religious elementary education. A few weeks after the first crops were planted in the mid-summer of 1847 a school was established. In 1848 Brigham Young sent an open letter to those who would soon be emigrating to "Zion
Zion (Latter Day Saints)
Within the Latter Day Saint movement, Zion is often used to connote a utopian association of the righteous. This association would practice a form of communitarian economics called the United Order meant to ensure that all members maintained an acceptable quality of life, class distinctions were...
," asking them to "improve every opportunity of securing at least a copy of every valuable treatise on education." During the 1850s, local LDS church meeting houses typically served as school houses for the community's children during the week, and the schools often used Mormon scriptures
Standard Works
The Standard Works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are the four books that currently constitute its open scriptural canon.* The Holy Bible * The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ...
as supplemental texts. A Territorial "Superintendent of Schools" position was created in 1851. However, as the settlers struggled with the realities of frontier life during the 1850s, there just weren't sufficient resources to ensure that schools throughout the Utah Territory taught to uniform standards. So, when Park arrived in 1861 the Territory's schools differed widely in the quality of education they offered.
The settlers started planning for a university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
almost as quickly as they laid the foundations of an elementary education system. The provisional State of Deseret's General Assembly - consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives - met for the first time in January 1850. It took just another month or so for the Assembly to pass its eleventh official ordinance and create the University of Deseret (now the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
) on February 28, 1850. The new school officially opened on November 11, 1850. The legislators and regents who founded the University intended for it to be the governing institution supervising all the schools in the proposed State of Deseret; this was a system which the Mormons had attempted to implement while settling Nauvoo, Illinois
History of Nauvoo, Illinois
The known history of Nauvoo, Illinois starts with the Sauk and Fox tribes who frequented the area. By 1827 white settlers had built cabins in the area and the area became known as Commerce, Illinois. In late 1839 arriving Mormons bought the small town of Commerce and in April 1840 it was renamed...
. The University was to serve primarily at first as a normal school
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
, but its founders also believed that it would soon be a world-class learning institution. Unfortunately in the early 1850s the Territory's economy was operating at least partially on barter
Barter
Barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. It is usually bilateral, but may be multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a...
, and it quickly became apparent that the University would have to wait at least until there was sufficient money
Money
Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...
in the Territory for students to pay tuition and for the legislature to fund, and not just pass, appropriation bills. In early March 1852 the Utah Territory's newly-formed legislature rescinded the University's funding. By the time Park arrived in 1861, the University had been closed for almost a decade.
Frontier schoolteacher (1860-1869)
He came to Utah TerritoryUtah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
in 1861 settling in Draper
Draper, Utah
Draper is a city in Salt Lake and Utah Counties in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Between 1990 and 2000 Draper was Utah's fastest-growing city over 5,000 people . Its population in 1990 was 7,143 and had grown to 25,220 by the 2000 census...
. In 1862, he was baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
University president (1869-1892)
In 1869, he became president of the University of Deseret, the predecessor of the University of Utah.Community leader and State Superintendent of Public Instruction (1892-1900)
In 1895, Park was elected as Utah Superintendent of Education on the RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
ticket.