Events

• School Arts Magazine first appeared as The Applied Arts Book in September 1901. This popular journal for art educatiors was renamed School Arts Magazine in 1903. Henry T. Bailey, known as an advocate for art education, contributed much effort to the making of this book and served as editor from 1903 to 1917. School Arts Magazine continues to be made and used today. It is a great source for art educators and art education historians as well. [Jamie O'Neill, Spring 2002]

• September marked the first appearance of The Applied Arts Book. For an annual fee of one dollar, teachers who subcribed were sent a copy which promised to instill in children "perceptual interest in the coming of beauty into life." Extremely popular in schools, the title was changed in 1903 to the School Arts Book. [Sara Rasyinger, Spring 2002]

• The first edition of The Applied Arts Book, later renamed School Arts, was published by Henry Turner Bailey, Fred Hamilton Daniels and James Hall. These books included reviews of books and listed recommended articles and illustrations from magazines for teachers to use in their classroom. There were also an outline of work and art projects for each grade to do and charts of successful year-long studies and units that other teachers had used. These books became a guide for art teachers at the time. [Susan Tremblay, Spring 2002]

• On September 30th Binney & Smith incorporated. At the time they were merely a distributor of carbon black, a substance used on car tires. However they would grow tremendously as a company from this point on. They would add crayons to their product line in the following year and later create colored pencils, markers, and many, many other art materials for use in home and school settings. They would eventually become an American icon, distributing crayons by the millions to the U.S.A. and many other countries around the world. [Becky Lee Mooney, Spring 2002]

• Binney & Smith created the world's first dustless chalk to be used in schools. Teachers had been complaining that chalk always crumbled when they tried to write, so Binney & Smith decided to answer this by producing An-Du-Septic. The chemists for the company used a process of extrusion, which gave weight to the particles of dust. Two years later this innovation was hailed at the St. Louis World Exposition and took home a gold medal for the company. [Becky Lee Mooney, Spring 2002]

• The first box of Crayola crayons is produced by Binney & Smith. It includes eight colors; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, and black. This box costs a nickel. From this point on, crayons will become a widely used medium. They will be incorporated in art classes and widely used by children, of all ages, at home since they are now affordable and safe. [Becky Lee Mooney, Spring 2002]

• Binney & Smith represetatives noticed there was a need for better quality, affordable wax crayons. They adapted their industrial marking crayons to make them smaller and added colored pigments. Crayola Crayons were a success with teachers and children. The first box sold for just five cents and contained eight colors. [Mandy Hummer, Spring 2002]

• Artists Henri, Sloan, Luks, Glackens, Shinn, and Lawson called themselve "The Eight" and brought a more radical view of the art world to the conservative New York art community. This group was often referred to as such names like "Black Gang" and "Apostles of Ugliness" because the contemporary art that they exhibited at Macbeth Gallery went against the traditional critics. This is important to history because like so many other advancements in art, a radical step was taken to awaken the awareness of modern ideas. [Teresa Maria Anasagasti, Spring 2002]

• Futurism starts in Italy, led by the poet Marinetti. It was a forceful movement that brought about some changes to the Cubist approaches to painting. It influenced other artists and art movements to come. [Kim Simmons, Spring 2002]

• In 1909 Ella Flagg Young was appointed superintendant of Chicago schools. She was one of the first women to hold this position in a large city. In 1910, she became the first women president of the National Education Association (NAEA). She established teacher's councils and held meetings encouraging teachers to participate in policy and curriculum decisions, which led to the formation of the Chicago Teachers' Federation (CFT). Ella encouraged democratic school reform by attempting to abolish conservative administrative control that fueled conflicts between teachers and school boards. [Larissa Goldstein, Spring 2002]

• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is formed. In the early 1900's the goal of the group is to fight segregation. Today the NAACP still continues to take a stand against racial discrimination. Art educators and students benefit from this association by its approach to gain equality in schools. [Rhonda Montgomery, Spring 2002]