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The Thomasites were originally a group of about 500 American teachers sent by the United States government to the Philippines in August 1901 who arrived on the USAT Thomas. The term however has also been expanded to include any teacher who arrived in the first few years of the American colonial period of the Philippines.
Contents
Foundation, purpose and etymology
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. The 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 transport vessel USAT Thomas (earlier known as SS Minnewaska in private service), which brought the educators to the shores of Manila Bay. Although two groups of new American graduates arrived in the Philippines before USS Thomas, the name Thomasite became the designation of all pioneer American teachers simply because USS 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 South East Asia. The U.S. government spent about $105,000 for the expedition. More American teachers followed the Thomasites in 1902, making a total of about 1,074 stationed in the Philippines.
At the time, the Thomasites were offered $125 a month, but once in the Philippines salaries were often delayed and were usually paid in devalued Mexican pesos.
Although the Thomasites were the largest group of pioneers with the purpose of educating the Filipinos, they were not the first to be deployed by Washington, D.C. A few weeks before the arrival of USS Thomas, U.S. Army soldiers had already begun teaching Filipinos the English language, thus in effect laying the foundation of the Philippine public school system. The U.S. Army opened the Philippines’ first public school in Corregidor Island, after Admiral George Dewey vanquished the Spanish Pacific fleet in Manila Bay on May 1, 1898. Also, a few weeks before the arrival of USS Thomas, another group composed of 48 American teachers also arrived in the Philippines, aboard the USAT Sheridan.
After President William McKinley’s appointment of William Howard Taft as the head of a commission that would be responsible for continuing the educational work started by the U.S. Army, the Taft Commission passed Education Act No. 34 on January 21, 1901, which established the Department of Public Instruction. The latter was then given the task of establishing a public school system throughout the Philippines. The Taft Commission also authorized the further deployment of 1,000 more educators from the U.S. to the Philippines.
Assignments
After being quarantined for two days after their arrival on August 21, 1901, the Thomasites were finally able to disembark from the USS Thomas. They travelled from the customs house near the Anda Circle then stayed at the walled city Intramuros, Manila before being given initial provincial assignments which included Albay, Catanduanes, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Masbate, Samar, Zambales, Aparri, Jolo, Negros, Cebu, Dumaguete, Bataan, Batangas, Pangasinan and Tarlac.
Curriculum 1902–1935
The Thomasites taught the following subjects: English, agriculture, reading, grammar, geography, mathematics, general courses, trade courses, housekeeping and household arts (sewing, crocheting and cooking), manual trading, mechanical drawing, freehand drawing and athletics (baseball, track and field, tennis, indoor baseball and basketball).
Legacy
The Thomasites built upon the contributions laid down by the U.S. Army. They built elementary schools and learning institutions such as the Philippine Normal School (now Philippine Normal University) and the Philippine School of Arts and Trades (now Technological University of the Philippines) in 1901, the Tarlac High School on September 21, 1902 and the Quezon National High School (now, Tayabas High School), also in 1902.
The Thomasites also reopened the Philippine Nautical School, which was originally established by the Board of Commerce of Manila in 1839 under Spain. About a hundred of the Thomasites stayed on to live in the Philippines after finishing their teaching assignments. They transformed the Philippines into the third largest English-speaking nation in the world and they became the precursors of the present-day U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers.
For their contribution to Philippine education, the Thomasites Centennial Project was established in cooperation with American Studies associations in the Philippines, the Philippine-American Educational Foundation, the Embassy of the United States of America in Manila, and other leading cultural and educational institutions in the Philippines.
List of some Thomasite teachers
Louis John Christopher Barlet, born in Bavaria, a former duchy made a kingdom by Napolon in 1805 but became a state of the German Empire when Germany was unified in 1871. Louis later migrated to America aspiring to become a teacher, he studied and subsequently earned a Teaching Certificate until he was granted U.S. citizenship in Buffalo, New York in 1896. In the Treaty of Paris signed December 10, 1898 which ended the Spanish-American War following the defeat of the entire Spanish fleet of 10 vessels by Asiatic Squadron of 6 ships under Commodore George Dewey during the historic Battle of Manila Bay, Spain surrendered the Philippine Islands to the United States, in turn, paid Spain $20 Million for the Philippine Islands. Among the first American teachers, Louis was assigned in the island province of Masbate where he met and married Sofia Medina with whom he procreated five children - Ernestine, Theodore, Helen, Elsie, and William. Louis subsequently served as first principal of Masbate High School from 1917 to 1923 and continued with his noble educational mission until his death in 1938. It was due to legislative mandate granting automatic U.S. citizenship to children and grandchildren of Thomasites born on or before July 4, 1946 when the U.S. granted the Philippines its independence that members of the Barlet clan began their exodus to the United States in the early '80s.