The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

November, 1942 Page 349 As to where tlie schoolman, or the churchman, or the club woman, obtains the funds with which to acquire his or her films, I have preferred—outside of a few casual references to striking cases^— to consider that a problem outside the scope of this history. It is my belief that, if visual instruction is a desirable factor in our classrooms, for instance, the expense of procuring it is an obli- gation of each school community, com- parable with the duty of providing teachers, schoolhouses and textbooks. Many other observers will not agree. None will deny the fact of cost; but opinions differ over who should be obliged to pay it. In some quarters it is held that the professional motion pic- ture industry should bear this burden— as doctors maintain clinics, one supposes, for practice. In others, the view is that it should be sustained by textbook pub- lishers on the ground that classroom films are only textbooks in another form, supplementary apparatus. Still others, not so particular, are careless where the money comes from, as long as it is not sequestered from fvmds possible to ap- propriate for teachers' salaries. In simple justice I, (but as one person not speaking for a group or sponsor), object to these contentions. At the same time I know, emphatically, that school boards generally will not provide money in sums adequate for films of their own, while privately I incline to believe that this widespread refusal is the real ob- stacle to the whole-hearted use of mo- tion pictures in education. So, idcalis- tically, school boards which subscribe to the complete concept of visual instruc- tion should, in my opinion, dig down into their official resources and foot the bill for putting it into practice; realis- tically, I am sorry to report, the teacher who wants the facility must usually sharpen and apply liis wits to ways and means to obtain it, arrogating to himself a duty that the school board has shirked. These realistic circumstances have nothing more interesting to show than the example in the State of Ohio where, for many years, visual instruction in public schools has been supported mainly, if not altogether, by theatrical exhibitors. State authorities there censor theatrical motion pictures, requiring a fee for the examination of each reel. Fifty per cent of the sum so obtained (in excess of operating e.xpenses and salaries paid in the division of censorship) is assigned to the State Department of Education, which is directed to use it to publicize advantages of Ohio, and to create, main- tain and administer a suitable collection of visual aids for loan to the educational institutions of Ohio. The education board therefore has a considerable sum available for the purchase and distribu- tion of reels, and even for a reasonable amount of production, without having to apply for funds in the customary way to the State treasury. That seems to be quite a happy solu- tion for the schoolmen, and especially so in Ohio, where the funds evidently are well applied. But for the educators else- where to seek a similar arrangement in all their situations might be less felici- B. A. Aughinbaugh, of Ohio's De- partment of Education, met a prob- lem of funds for classroom pictures by making theatres foot the bill. tous. The schoolmen of Ohio can say with free conscience that, as the money reaches them from the proper source— namely, the people's government (which is responsible for support of the educa- tional system)—it is not their concern whence it has been derived before that. The origin miglit, however, be a matter for study by the government itself. A citizen without professional interest in schools and contemplating the free play of the democratic spirit over the broader scene, might object to circumstances in which theatres are singled out through what might be called a discriminatory legislation, to support a school appara- tus which is not their direct concern. "Oh, yes," the government would re- tort, "but these theatres are not paying for classroom shows; they are paying for a maintenance of moral standards in their own product, and the money there- fore belongs to the State with no further obligation to the payee." And thus would open the line of argument that these theatres are paying much more than the assurance of their moral stand- ards actually costs—else there would be no surplus left for school expenditure. However, I do not pursue this particular discussion further, leaving it to opinions more authoritative than mine to define the essential justice of the case. In the Ohio situation the commanding figure, sharing place with other heroes who, when things "could not be done," girded their loins and did them anyway, is B. A. .Aughinbaugh. About the autumn of 1915 B. A. .'\ughinbaugh was superin- tendent of the public school at Mingo, Champaign County, Ohio. The popula- tion was 183 and there was no regular local form of public entertainment for the approximately one hundred pupils drawn from over the surrounding coun- tryside. Mr. Aughinbaugh conceived the idea of establishing a community picture show in the schoolhouse itself, enlisted the aid of a friend who loaned money with which to purchase a used film pro- jector at Urbana, and operated the machine until the enterprise had grown to la.sting success. In 1920 eleven out- lying villages were doing the same thing, and a writer in Leslie's Weekly deemed the example of sufficient impor- tance to report the facts and to recom- mend a similar course to all other country villages in America. Shows were booked and handled in the regulation theatrical way, and sometimes kept on for "runs" of ten or more days. But most significant to this narrative was the cir- cumstance that the profits enabled school boards to erect modern buildings and to equip them with approved facilities. It was doubtless the close relationship of schoolmen and theatrical men in Ohio that induced William Fox, in further- ance of one of his many educational film plans, to choose the Buckeye State as the test area in which to make the use of classroom motion pictures com- pulsory. That particular effort did not succeed; but the outcry against the manner of its doing did not deter the continuing development of Aughin- baugh's remarkable pioneer work. In shifting political administrations his sal- ary as a State official was stopped for two years, but he went on with his chosen labor undeterred, supporting him- self by lecturing on Ohio's scenic and historic places. In this activity he travelled some 400,000 miles through the State; but there he acquired the pre- cious familiarity with Ohio that enabled liim to produce, with the assistance of his devoted wife, the twenty-four reels of his well known "Ohio Travelogs." But the storm, as prolonged and as devastating as it was, eventually blew over. Mr. .'\ughinbaugh resumed as su- pervisor of the Slide and Film Exchange of the State of Ohio Department of Edu- cation at Columbus. There, at this moment of publication, he distributes an average of 800 reels a day out of what is frequently called the largest film and slide library of its kind in the country. The supply goes without charge to 2,500 schools in all cities, counties and vil- lages of the State, the volume of book- ings reported to exceed tliat of the State's ten leading theatrical exchanges. In his direct organization he employs twenty-eight persons to operate a film and slide collection of 8,000 titles, having an estimated value of $350,000. He buys all subjects outright or obtains them on lease. His eleventh catalogue, in 1942, emerged as a stout, illustrated, 12mo book of 310 closely printed pages. Apart from its clear and well-keyed descriptions of the available motion pictures and slides, it provides an opening article on the func- tion and aims of visual instruction, differentiating between approaches to understanding through the pupil's eye. ear and touch. There are also extended answers to the more frequently asked questions from the field concerning school uses of films; detailed, illustrated instructions on film care; advice on the purchase of projectors and screens; a description of the most direct way to apply for bookings; and reprints of A. P.