Why was Libertus Van Bokkelen important to education in Maryland?
A. He was a prominent reverend in Maryland.
B. He was once president of St. Johns College.
C. He was the first state superintendent of Public Instruction in 1864.
D. All of the above.
When Libertus Van Bokkelen died in 1889, he was looked upon as an energetic preacher, educator, abolitionist and reformer.
Born in New York City in 1815, his family came to this country because his paternal grandfather, originally from Holland, was exiled by the French government in 1796.
At the age of 15, Van Bokkelen was living in New Bern, N.C. During his later teens he was sent to the Union Academy boarding school on Long Island. He later attended Flushing Institute, which prepared him for a life as a scholar.
At 22, Van Bokkelen founded and established the St. Pauls College, a preparatory college in Long Island, N.Y.
Between 1839-42 he traveled Europe studying the methods and curriculum of noteworthy institutions of learning conducted by the Jesuits, and moved away from educational momentarily in order to become a minister.
In 1845, Van Bokkelen was appointed as the first rector of Catonsvilles St. Timothy Church and founded the St. Timothy Hall, the first church military preparatory school in the United States. Teaching military and physical training along with general education made St. Timothy Hall Academy nationally known.
Based on his success, Van Bokkelen was invited to take over numerous positions such as presidency of St. Johns College, the Agricultural School at Bladensburg, now the University of Maryland College Park, as well as colleges in Tennessee and Missouri. He refused them all.
Instead, Van Bokkelen served as the school commissioner of Baltimore County from 1859-1864.
During the Civil War, St. Timothy Hall Academy suffered great financial casualties. Many of his students were the sons of wealthy southern planters and they returned home to fight with the Confederate Army. In 1864, Van Bokkelen rented out the St. Timothy Hall, which later became the Catonsville Military Academy.
On Nov. 12, 1864, Governor Bradford, appointed Van Bokkelen as Marylands first state superintendent of Public Instruction. This position was created during Marylands 3rd Constitutional Convention. Along with a laundry list of other legislation ratified during the convention, slavery in Maryland was abolished, effective Nov. 1, 1864.
Van Bokkelens term as superintendent was met with fierce opposition from the General Assembly, based on his recommendation to use general taxes to fund colored schools. After heated debate, statewide financial support was provided to the counties for both white and colored schools. Colored schools received nothing, however, for years.
Van Bokkelen encouraged colored schools to seek funding from the Freedmans Bureau and Benevolent Societies. As a result, between 1866 and 1869, Anne Arundel County Colored Schools received funds and teachers from the New England Freedmans Aid Society, the American Missionary Association and others.
In Anne Arundel County, colored schools received the greatest assistance from the Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of the Colored People. Van Bokkelen was a member.
By 1867, the Maryland State Normal School (later called Towson University) was created during Van Bokkelens administration. Also that year, a new state constitution was enacted removing the duties of the state superintendent of Public Instruction to the principal of the new Normal School. In 1866, Van Bokkelen was elected as the director of the National Teachers Association; in 1868 he was elected secretary and in 1869 he was elected president.
Today, Van Bokkelen Hall at Towson University and Van Bokkelen Elementary School are named after this great educator.
So, the answer is C. He was the first state superintendent of Public Instruction in 1864.
