HORCHEM, B. J.

B. J. Horchem. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

HORCHEM, B. J. (Dubuque, IA, Dec. 4, 1866-Vera Cruz, Mexico, July 25, 1932). Horchem graduated from the Dyersville public schools and taught for two years in Dubuque County and three years in Delaware County. He then entered the Cedar Rapids Business College and graduated in 1889 before returning to teaching.

Horchem taught in Dyersville as an instructor of grammar and became a principal. During his vacation, he took courses at the Northern Indiana Normal School. In 1892 Horchem was granted a state certificate by the State Board of Examiners.

On December 15, 1893, the Dyersville school district prepared to choose a new principal to replace Horchem who had been elected county superintendent. Horchem, however, came to the meeting with an attorney to plead his case that he did not want to lose his position in Dyersville until he was actually installed in his new office. (1)

November 1903, Dubuque Telegraph-Herald

Horchem was eventually elected three times. (2) Horchem established Dubuque County Schools, a school journal in 1894. In 1896 he accepted an invitation to address the 42nd session of the Iowa State Teachers' Association and spoke on the topic "How to Secure a Demand for Better Training for Teachers." (3) In 1897 with this subject in mind, he established a summer school for teachers who were unable to attend regular normal schools. (4) As an educational leader, he believed in a twelve-month school program, establishing schools in the suburbs, desk work not being a primary focus, and examinations were unnecessary and unwise. (5) In 1903 he was a vocal advocate for free night school in the city. (6)

As the principal of AUDUBON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Horchem established the Audubon Improvement Association which held meetings using strict parliamentary procedure. He also formed the Dubuque Junior Poultry Association through which every children raised chickens in his back yard. (7) He believed students would perform better if problems to be solved were applied to nature. His theory, known as PARK LIFE, advocated outdoor work for pupils during vacation, open-air lectures, readings and debates, prevention of cruelty to animals, and the development of a traveling school that would take students to places of historic interest. (8) Believing cities did not provide such wholesome opportunities, Horchem stated such places were doomed to failure. To prevent this, he believed every third generation should be dispersed to rural areas to relieve urban congestion.

In 1907 Horchem purchased a neglected farm near Dubuque. The following year he invited seven or eight boys out to the farm to work in the garden. Subjects like mathematics taught in school began to be seen as necessary by the students. The size of the group eventually became forty or fifty who camped on the site while they worked during the day. At night, classes by visiting lecturers were held on astronomy. (9) The Park Life summer session lasted eight weeks during which Horchem arranged several times for the boys from the city to work on a large farm. (10) His motto was "Form boys aright, and they need not be reformed." (11) Continuing his appreciation of the benefits of the out-of-doors, Horchem prepared a series of programs on wildlife which he presented to local civic groups in 1928. (13)

Horchem was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1914 and 1916 and to the Iowa Senate in 1918. (13)

In 1923 Horchem was asked to substitute for Iowa Governor Kendall at Wisconsin's 250th anniversary of the discovery of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

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Source:

1. "Prof. Horchem's School," Dubuque Daily Herald, December 27, 1893, p. 4

2. "B. J. Horchem," Iowa Official Register State of Iowa: 1921-1922, p. 326 Online: http://iagenweb.org/boards/dubuque/biographies/index.cgi?read=65274

3. "State Teachers," Dubuque Herald, December 29, 1896, p. 4

4. Young, Robert E. Jr. "History and Purposes of 'Park Life,' The Survey. New York: The Charity Organization Society of the City of New York, April 6, 1912, p. 662

5. "A Summer School," Dubuque Herald, February 28, 1897, p. 5

6. "Night Schools in Demand, Fifth Ward Will Have One," Telegraph Herald, November 15, 1903, p. 4

7. "He's the Lovable, Affable Gerald "Red" McAleece," Telegraph-Herald, December 28, 1972, p. 21

8. "A Study of Park Life," Journal of Education, Chicago: American Book Company, January 7, 1909, p. 511

9. Young, Robert E. Jr.

10. "Park Life," American Primary Teacher, Boston: New England Publishing Company, September 1910, p. 245

11. Ibid., p. 246

12. "Birds Are Vital to Human Life," Telegraph Herald, June 17, 1928, p. 10

13. Iowa Official Register. http://iagenweb.org/boards/dubuque/biographies/index.cgi?read=65274