PROF. R. S. ANDERSON

San Francisco County

Biographies

Prof. R. S. Anderson, Principal of “Anderson’s Normal School and University Class,” is a native son, born September 4, 1864. His father, Prof. J. W. Anderson, the efficient and popular superintendent of the public schools of San Francisco, is one of the most thorough and experienced educators on the Pacific coast. Our subject received his education in this State, under the direct tutelage of his father, thereby enjoying exceptional advantages.

The school of which he is now Principal was founded in 1873, by his father, and he has had control of it since 1883. In this school graduates of the grammar class and persons of equal acquirement are prepared to enter the California State University, Stanford University and other colleges of the United States. The time required to make this preparation is from one to three years, according to the capacity and attainments of the student, the term commencing in July. There is also a department in which pupils are prepared to take examinations in any county of the State for teacher’s certificates. Though a person may have the requisite general education to become a teacher, he usually requires a special course in order to pass the examination. The class studying for the university recite in the morning, and the normal class in the afternoon. Lectures on mathematics are delivered free to all teachers daily.

Prof. Anderson limited the number of pupils, so as to be able to devote his personal attention to each, giving them the stimulus of his personal watchfulness and inspiration. He has published a work entitled “Philosophical Arithmetic,” in which demonstrations accompanied with philosophical explanations are given instead of rules.

Prof. Anderson was married November 1, 1884, to Miss Minnie Thurgood, a native daughter, and they have one daughter, named Genevieve, and a son, named after his father, R. S.

Transcribed by Donna L. Becker

Source: "The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 2, pages 116-117, Lewis Publishing Co, 1892.