Eli Witwer Weaver

Eli Witwer Weaver

• Birth: Aug., 1862, Churchtown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA
• Death: Nov. 1, 1922 - Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, USA

New York Times, Fri., Nov. 3, 1922:

ELI WITWER WEAVER DEAD

Father of Vocational Guidance system in the Public Schools

Eli Witwer Weaver, educator and lecturer and father of the vocational guidance system in the public schools, died on Wednesday at his residence, 25 Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn. He was 60 years old and until March, 1919, had been a teacher of mathematics in the Boys' High School for eighteen years. Mr. Weaver was born in Churchtown, Pa., and, after graduating from the Pennsylvania Normal School, he was a Doctor of Pedagogy at New York University. He subsequently served as Superintendent of Schools at Paris, Bellevue and Carrollton, Ky., and in 1900 came to this city and joined the staff of Boys' High.

Since his retirement Mr. Weaver had devoted his time to vocational guidance work and lectured at the Teachers College at Columbia and for the Young Men's Christian Association."

New York Times, Fri., Nov. 3, 1922: "ELI WITWER WEAVER DEAD Father of Vocational Guidance System in the Public Schools Eli Witwer Weaver, educator and lecturer and father of the vocational guidance system in the public schools, died on Wednesday at his residence, 25 Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn. He was 60 years old and until March, 1919, had been a teacher of mathematics in the Boys' High School for eighteen years. Mr. Weaver was born in Churchtown, Pa., and, after graduating from the Pennsylvania Normal School, he was a Doctor of Pedagogy at New York University. He subsequently served as Superintendent of Schools at Paris, Bellevue and Carrollton, Ky., and in 1900 came to this city and joined the staff of Boys' High.

Since his retirement Mr. Weaver had devoted his time to vocational guidance work and lectured at the Teachers College at Columbia and for the Young Men's Christian Association."

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York), Thursday, November 2, 1922, p. 3: "Eli W. Weaver Dies; Started Many Boys in Business World

Veteran B. H. S.Teacher, Father of Vocational Guidance System–Lost Two Sons in War.

Eli Witwer Weaver, one of the best-known educators in the city, "father" of the vocational guidance system in the public schools and who for 18 years until his retirement on March 1, 1919, was a teacher of mathematics in Boys High School, died last night at his home, 25 Jefferson ave. He had been ill for two weeks of pernicious anemia and apparently had been gaining in strength until the past few day. He was 60 years old in August.

Rarely has a school teacher taken the deep interest in his students that was manifested by Mr. Weaver. He not only guided them in their efforts to secure employment, but also carefully watched their progress in order to see that they did not get into business ruts. Thousands of his pupils today owe their progress to his skillful aid. It was his outstanding purpose in life to see that the boys and girls he came in contact with got a good start in life.

An outgrowth of his work was the formation of the Students' Employment Committee of the High School Teachers' Association.

Mr. Weaver came from an old Pennsylvania Dutch family and was born at Churchtown, Pa. on Aug. 5, 1862, the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Weaver. He was graduated from the Pennsylvania Normal School and New York University and first entered educational work in the South. He was for a short time Superintendent of schools at Paris, Bellevue, and Carrollton, Ky. He came to New York in 1900, and shortly thereafter was appointed assistant teacher of mathematics in Boys High School. He spent his entire career as a New York City teacher in this school.

Since his retirement three years ago, Mr. Weaver devoted most of his time to vocational guidance work and lectured at the Teacher's College at Columbia University on this subject. He also lectured for the Y. M. C. A. and wrote a number of books on the subject, among them being; "Building a Career," "Profitable Vocations for Boys," Profitable Vocations for Girls," and "Medicine as a Profession."

His health was affected somewhat by the loss of two of his sons. who were in the service in the World War. One son, Luther O. Witwer, was one of the first Brooklyn lads to die in the war, being a victim of the sinking of the Patrol boat, Alcedo, sunk on Nov. 5, 1917. The other son, Lt. John H. Weaver, who was in the Naval aviation service during the war, was injured in an airplane accident at the Marine Corps station, Paris Island, S. C. in August 1920, while awaiting his discharge, and died a few days later.

M. Weaver is survived by his wife, Susan E. Oberlin, whom he married in 1887, four daughters, Amy, Elizabeth, Mary, and Mrs. Bertha Liebensperger, and three sons, Paul Ernest and James Weaver, and seven brothers and two sisters. He was an elder in the Classon Avenue Presbyterian Church, where his funeral services will be conducted by the Rev. R. M. Huston, Saturday afternoon at 3 o'clock. The interment will be in Greenwood Cemetery."

In the archives of the library at Teacher's College, Columbia University, are three works by Eli Witwer Weaver. The first is entitled Building a Career and was published by the International Committee of Young Men's Christian Associations in the year of the author's death. This work was intended for young men in the YMCA's "Life Career" classes and was a comprehensive exploration of the gamut of careers open to young men in 1922.

Weaver explored the requirements for various occupations, expected remuneration, advantages and disadvantages of a particular career, and a wide range of factors to be considered in one's choice. Throughout the work he emphasized personal responsibility in analyzing one's talents and skills relative to the possibilities.

Many of Weaver's assertions are very modern. He encourages networking with friends and relatives, although he does not call it that. And he laments an industrialized age which has resulted in "the complete dependence of the worker upon the capitalist or his representative who controls the tools of the trade, markets the product of [the worker's] labor, and consequently determines the regularity of employment," and "the absence of any kind of outlook such as workers of a former generation had, who could advance themselves from craftsman to proprietor." (p. 92)

Building a Career was the successor to two previous works by Weaver: Profitable Vocations for Girls, New York: A. S. Barnes & Co. (1915) and Profitable Vocations for Boys, New York: A. S. Barnes & Co. (1915), both of which are also available in the archives of the library at Teachers College, Columbia University.

In the archives of New York University, there is a record that Eli Witwer Weaver, an 1886 graduate of Millersville Normal School, was enrolled as a student between 1902 and 1904. His books referenced above give his degree as Pd.M. (Master of Pedagogy). - Denise Witwer Lahr