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Thomasites
The Thomasites were a group of 600 American teachers who traveled from the United States to the newly occupied territory of the Philippines on the US Army Transport Thomas. The group included 346 men and 180 women, hailing from 43 different states and 193 colleges, universities, and normal schools. The term 'Thomasites' has since expanded to include any teacher who arrived in the first few years of the American colonial period of the Philippines.
Thomas carried nearly 500 Thomasites, who arrived in Manila in August 1901. They represented 192 institutions, including Harvard (19), Yale (15), Cornell (13), University of Chicago (8), University of Michigan (24), University of California (25), Albion College (1), Alma College (2), Kalamazoo College (1), the Michigan State Normal School at Ypsilanti (now Eastern Michigan University) (6), and Olivet College (3).
The Thomasites arrived in the Philippines on August 21, 1901, to establish a new public school system, to teach basic education, and to train Filipino teachers, with English as the medium of instruction. Adeline Knapp, Thomasite and author of The Story of the Philippines, said:
Our nation has found herself confronted by a great problem dealing with a people who neither know nor understand the underlying principles of our civilization, yet who, for our mutual happiness and liberty, must be brought into accord with us ... the American genius, reasoning from its own experience in the past, seeks a solution of the problem, a bridging of the chasm, through the common schools.
Philippines had enjoyed a public school system since 1863, when a Spanish decree first introduced public elementary education in the Philippines. The Thomasites, however, expanded and improved the public school system and switched to English as the medium of instruction.
The name Thomasite was derived from the United States Army Transport Thomas which brought the educators to the shores of Manila Bay. Although two groups of new American graduates arrived in the Philippines before Thomas, the name Thomasite became the designation of all pioneer American teachers simply because Thomas had the largest contingent. Later batches of American teachers were also dubbed Thomasites.
The Thomasites—365 males and 165 females—left Pier 12 of San Francisco on July 23, 1901, to sail via the Pacific Ocean to Southeast Asia. The U.S. government spent about $105,000 for the expedition (equivalent to $3,968,580 in 2024). More American teachers followed the Thomasites in 1902, making a total of about 1,074 stationed in the Philippines. On January 20, 1901, Act No. 74 formalized the creation of the department.
At the time, the Thomasites were offered $125 a month (equivalent to $4,725 in 2024), but once in the Philippines salaries were often delayed and were usually paid in devalued Mexican pesos.
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Thomasites
The Thomasites were a group of 600 American teachers who traveled from the United States to the newly occupied territory of the Philippines on the US Army Transport Thomas. The group included 346 men and 180 women, hailing from 43 different states and 193 colleges, universities, and normal schools. The term 'Thomasites' has since expanded to include any teacher who arrived in the first few years of the American colonial period of the Philippines.
Thomas carried nearly 500 Thomasites, who arrived in Manila in August 1901. They represented 192 institutions, including Harvard (19), Yale (15), Cornell (13), University of Chicago (8), University of Michigan (24), University of California (25), Albion College (1), Alma College (2), Kalamazoo College (1), the Michigan State Normal School at Ypsilanti (now Eastern Michigan University) (6), and Olivet College (3).
The Thomasites arrived in the Philippines on August 21, 1901, to establish a new public school system, to teach basic education, and to train Filipino teachers, with English as the medium of instruction. Adeline Knapp, Thomasite and author of The Story of the Philippines, said:
Our nation has found herself confronted by a great problem dealing with a people who neither know nor understand the underlying principles of our civilization, yet who, for our mutual happiness and liberty, must be brought into accord with us ... the American genius, reasoning from its own experience in the past, seeks a solution of the problem, a bridging of the chasm, through the common schools.
Philippines had enjoyed a public school system since 1863, when a Spanish decree first introduced public elementary education in the Philippines. The Thomasites, however, expanded and improved the public school system and switched to English as the medium of instruction.
The name Thomasite was derived from the United States Army Transport Thomas which brought the educators to the shores of Manila Bay. Although two groups of new American graduates arrived in the Philippines before Thomas, the name Thomasite became the designation of all pioneer American teachers simply because Thomas had the largest contingent. Later batches of American teachers were also dubbed Thomasites.
The Thomasites—365 males and 165 females—left Pier 12 of San Francisco on July 23, 1901, to sail via the Pacific Ocean to Southeast Asia. The U.S. government spent about $105,000 for the expedition (equivalent to $3,968,580 in 2024). More American teachers followed the Thomasites in 1902, making a total of about 1,074 stationed in the Philippines. On January 20, 1901, Act No. 74 formalized the creation of the department.
At the time, the Thomasites were offered $125 a month (equivalent to $4,725 in 2024), but once in the Philippines salaries were often delayed and were usually paid in devalued Mexican pesos.
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