Seven Graded Sunday Schools: A Series of Practical Papers

In Short

Editor Jesse Lyman Hurlbut gathers eight detailed essays from Sunday school superintendents across the United States to argue that religious education requires the same systematic grading, standardized curricula, and clear promotional paths as public schools. Through local case studies—from Akron, Ohio, to Lynchburg, Virginia—the contributors demonstrate how dividing students into distinct age departments, introducing supplemental catechisms, establishing teacher-training Normal classes, and constructing specialized multi-room chapels can eliminate "skeleton classes" and retain adolescent pupils. The book survives as a foundational blueprint of late nineteenth-century Protestant administrative design and pedagogical reform.

The Story

The volume opens with Jesse Lyman Hurlbut establishing the core premise of the movement: efficient, satisfactory Sunday school work is impossible without a structured system of grades. He outlines a baseline organizational structure divided into four foundational departments—Primary, Intermediate, Junior, and Senior—supplemented by post-graduate Normal classes for teacher training and a Reserve Corps of substitute instructors. Hurlbut details how children should progress sequentially from basic oral instruction and song in the Infant room through rigorous memorization of the catechism and Scripture, culminating in written examinations, annual Commencement ceremonies, and diplomas.

Following Hurlbut’s introductory thesis, the text transitions into a series of practical reports from local practitioners who implemented graded models in their own communities. Hon. Lewis Miller presents the pioneering "Akron Plan," detailing an architectural and operational framework where glass-partitioned class rooms radiate from a central assembly hall, allowing simultaneous isolated instruction and unified worship. George S. Bennett outlines the "Wilkesbarre Plan," demonstrating how church governing boards can directly fund and manage Sunday schools to integrate them completely into the church's spiritual life.

Subsequent essays address specific operational challenges and demographic conditions. Horace Hitchcock explains the "Detroit Plan," which uses a strict two-year Normal course and post-graduate assemblies—including "Young Married People's" and "Old Folks' Classes"—to keep adults involved. H. A. Strong presents the "Erie Plan," proposing an eight-year supplemental course covering everything from the Life of Christ to Church History and Christian Evidences, anchored by an intense annual written examination in June that yields a publicly displayed Honor Roll. Hon. L. E. Hitchcock describes the "Chicopee Plan," which adapts grading principles to smaller or single-room churches using curtains or aisles as boundaries and incorporating kindergarten object-lessons for the youngest pupils.

The collection broadens its scope through Irvine Garland Penn’s account of the "Lynchburg Plan." Penn candidly describes a four-hundred-member African American Sunday school in Virginia where students previously shifted from class to class based solely on physical growth and age rather than academic or spiritual progress. By instituting a seven-year curriculum and structured departmental promotions, the school transformed its disorganized membership into a disciplined educational body.

Hurlbut returns to present the "Plainfield Plan," recounting how social receptions featuring cake, ice cream, and stereopticon shows helped overcome initial resistance from older students who feared losing their original class groupings. The volume concludes with an architectural design for a "Model Sunday School Room," complete with amber ground-glass sliding doors, elevated gallery seating, an integrated library, and a refreshment kitchen, demonstrating how purpose-built environments turn administrative theory into sustainable daily practice.

How It Unfolds

Establishing the imperative Hurlbut defines the essential departments and argues that Sunday schools must adopt public school grading methods to remain effective. He outlines the progression from oral infant instruction to catechism memorization and adult teacher training.

Implementing structural plans Superintendents from Akron, Wilkesbarre, Detroit, and Erie present their respective models, detailing administrative constitutions, lesson schedules, and post-graduate reserve corps. They share detailed charts outlining age-appropriate supplemental studies in church history, doctrine, and scripture.

Overcoming local obstacles Contributors from Chicopee, Lynchburg, and Plainfield address spatial constraints, historic disorganization, and student inertia. They explain how to grade single-room spaces using curtains, how to reform age-based promotion, and how to use social gatherings to ease transitions between departments.

Architectural integration The book closes with blueprints for a model chapel featuring movable amber-glass partitions and specialized entrances. This physical layout enables seamless transitions between isolated small-group recitations and whole-school assemblies.

The People

• Jesse Lyman Hurlbut: The editor, Methodist minister, and chief architect of the Plainfield Plan. He seeks to transform haphazard Sunday school instruction into a disciplined, graded educational system, battling widespread administrative ignorance among superintendents. He secures church oversight and establishes formalized commencement traditions.
• Lewis Miller: A superintendent from Akron, Ohio, and co-creator of the "Akron Plan." He seeks an architectural solution to the conflict between small-class intimacy and large-group worship, designing a central chapel with surrounding partitioned rooms.
• Irvine Garland Penn: The superintendent of an African American Sunday school in Lynchburg, Virginia. Having grown up in a school where students promoted themselves based on physical size rather than learning, he seeks to establish academic standards, implementing a multi-year curriculum that brings order and measurable progress to four hundred scholars.
• H. A. Strong: The superintendent behind the Erie Plan. He targets student passivity by instituting an eight-year supplemental course in Church History and Christian Evidences, using a strict, percentage-graded written examination in June to motivate scholars.

In Its Own Voice

"As every good public school at the present time is a graded school, so every first-class Sunday school must be." — Jesse L. Hurlbut introduces the driving thesis behind the reform movement.

"He had shifted from class to class, not by reason of any promotion by the superintendent, teacher, or any other officer of the school, but as he advanced in age from five to eight, eight to ten, and ten to fifteen years he correspondingly grew in size..." — Irvine Garland Penn describes the flawed self-promotion system of ungraded schools.

"Even if a boy can obtain a superabundance of cake at home he will be drawn by the prospect of another slice to the Sunday school sociable." — Jesse L. Hurlbut observes the practical incentives that help ease students into new class assignments.

What It's Really About

At its core, Seven Graded Sunday Schools is an argument for professionalizing religious education by adopting the structures of modern secular pedagogy. The contributors confront the problem of adolescent attrition—the "falling away" of teenagers from church life—by replacing informal, haphazard gathering with clear benchmarks, written examinations, and public recognition. Beneath the logistical details lies a firm belief that spiritual growth depends upon systematic, cumulative knowledge rather than momentary sentiment. By standardizing curricula around church doctrine, Christian evidences, and biblical history, the authors seek to build a lasting institutional framework that binds the individual scholar securely to the broader life of the church.

Why Read It Today

This collection will fascinate social historians, researchers in religious studies, and modern educators interested in the origins of late Victorian institutional design. Reading these papers offers an intimate look into the practical mechanics of nineteenth-century American Protestantism, revealing how local leaders navigated space, technology, and human nature to organize large numbers of children and adults.

The prose is direct, earnest, and entirely free of modern corporate jargon, though readers must navigate repetitive organizational details across the various plans and period assumptions regarding age and discipline. What lingers is the contributors' inventive pragmatism—their willingness to use everything from sliding amber-glass walls and stereopticon shows to ice cream socials and written examinations to capture the minds of young people. It serves as a compelling historical record of a moment when faith, public school bureaucracy, and industrial-era efficiency met under one roof.