CLASS OF 1878

Walter Herbert Small, superintendent of schools of Providence, R. 1., and secretary of the class since 1903, died suddenly of heart disease while taking a lesson in automobile driving on the afternoon of September 15. Mr. Small was born in PIovincetown, Mass., April 21, 1856, being the son of Lot and Hannah (Smith) Small. His preparation for college was obtained at the high school of his native town. He was a member of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity, and graduated with Phi Beta Kappa rank. He embraced the profession of teaching upon graduation, being principal of the high school of Medfield, Mass., in 1878-9, and of Hudson, Mass., in 1879-93. For the next four years he was superintendent of schools at Palmer, Mass., and then for five years at Chelsea, Mass. In 1902 he was elected superintendent of the Providence schools, and was regarded as one of the ablest superintendents in the country. He was a prolific writer and speaker on educational topics, and had addressed many educational gatherings. At the time of his death he was completing a book on " Colonial Schools," the fruit of much research. He was also preparing a paper on open-air schools, to be read at the International Hygiene Congress to be held in Paris in March next. He had been president of the Massachusetts Schoolmasters' Club, of the Whittemore Club of Boston, and of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction, and was prominently connected with the National Educational Association and the American Institute of Instruction. When living in Hudson he was master of the local Masonic lodge. He was a member of the First Unitarian church of Providence, and president of the Unitarian Club. Mr. Small was married July 2, 1881, to Miss Alfa L. Watkins of Hudson, Mass. They have had two sons, the elder of whom is Walter B. Small '05.