- Email: [email protected]
The effect of the Angle College
THE
EFFECT
OF THE
FREDERICK
B.
NOYES,
ANGLE
COLLEGE
CHICAGO,
ILL.
REGRET more than I can say my inability to be present at the meeting 01 the Eastern Association of Graduates of the Angle School of Orthodontia. If it were not for the fact that I am on the program of the Illinois State Dental Society meeting for the evening of May 9, I would certainly be present. But even flying could not get me back to Peoria by eight o’clock and my engagement with the Illinois State Dental Society is of several months’ standing. Your program is most attractive, and I shall look forward to reading the papers. I am glad for the opportunity of at least sending my greetings.
I
I find it very difficult to write on the topic, “The Effect of the Angle Callege. ’ ’ First, it is difficult to separate the effects of the teaching of the Angle School and the Angle College. Second, it is quite impossible to separate the effect of Edward H. Angle from the effect of either the Angle School or the Angle College ; for Dr. Angle was the School and the College and the Society. Most schools and colleges are institutions which go on and on, perhaps with fluctuations in quality, but quite regardless of their personnel. Dr. Angle made the Angle School and the Angle College and they ceased to exist with his passing. The Angle School and College grew from a course which consisted of a few weeks of informal training by one man to a well-organized course of a calendar year in length, requiring the cooperative efforts of a considerable faculty. Finally, recognizing that training does not make a man, Dr. Angle waited to see what effect the training had had upon the man before he conferred his official stamp. When Dr. Angle left the east, I am sure that he was resolved to retire from organized teaching, and he made a strenuous fight to live up to that resolution. James Angle was the first student he accepted after moving to Pasadena, and I know, for both he and Dr. Angle told me, that it was only by camping upon Dr. Angle’s doorstep and refusing absolutely to accept “no” for an answer, that James finally succeeded in being accepted as a student. It was partly his name, partly what he had gone through, and most of all, the quality of the man himself, that finally induced Dr. Angle to accept him. With the gate broken open, it was impossible for Dr. Angle to close it again and the development of the Angle College was the result. It was during the operation of the Angle College that the course was lengthened from three or four months to a full calendar year, because Dr. Angle’s experience had convinced him that a longer period of time was necessary in order to give the students a foundation upon which they could continue ‘to build. I wish to emphasize strongly that Dr. Angle always recognized, even in May
Read 8 and
before the Eastern 9. 1939, New York
Association City.
of
Graduates 982
of
the
Angle
School
of
orthodontia,
Effect
of the Angle
Collegcl
983
the last years, that he could only teach fundamental concepts which students would either apply and develop, and consequently grow-or lose, and consequently relapse into their old condition. This is the reason that in the Angle College he never gave a student a certificate or diploma at the end of his course of resident study. He required him to go back to practice, to keep on studying, to report to him, and at the end of two years to return and take his examinations again, and present cases that he had treated. Then perhaps he was given a diploma. It is interesting to note that for twenty years, most, if not all, of the important teaching positions in orthodontics have been occupied by Angle-trained men. The proportion of the contributions of value to the science, literature, and research of orthodontics, that have been made by graduates of the Angle School and the Angle College is still more impressive. Still, it is sometimes difficult for me to understand why, with these two facts as they are, the character of the teaching of orthodontics in dental schools has changed so little. Without any hesitation I would place the greatest effect of the Angle College as the effect on the concepts of professional education. These are rather intangible and difficult to trace, but the Angle School was the first attempt to teach orthodontics as a specialty or a profession. Of course Dr. Angle considered orthodontics a separate profession, and in a narrower sense it is ; but in much the same way as dentistry must always be considered a part of the healing art, and consequently a specialty of medicine, so also orthodontics will always be a part of dentistry. In conclusion then, I would say that the effect of the Angle College was: To produce a considerable number of men who have been and are most influential in the development of the specialty of orthodontics; To develop the importance of the fundamental sciences as the basis for all technical procedures ; and To develop certain fundamental concepts of education as applied to professional and technical training. All of these things emanate from that most remarkable personality, Dr. Edward H. Angle, who created and developed orthodontics as a specialty and a science.
EFFECT
OF THE
FREDERICK
B.
NOYES,
ANGLE
COLLEGE
CHICAGO,
ILL.
REGRET more than I can say my inability to be present at the meeting 01 the Eastern Association of Graduates of the Angle School of Orthodontia. If it were not for the fact that I am on the program of the Illinois State Dental Society meeting for the evening of May 9, I would certainly be present. But even flying could not get me back to Peoria by eight o’clock and my engagement with the Illinois State Dental Society is of several months’ standing. Your program is most attractive, and I shall look forward to reading the papers. I am glad for the opportunity of at least sending my greetings.
I
I find it very difficult to write on the topic, “The Effect of the Angle Callege. ’ ’ First, it is difficult to separate the effects of the teaching of the Angle School and the Angle College. Second, it is quite impossible to separate the effect of Edward H. Angle from the effect of either the Angle School or the Angle College ; for Dr. Angle was the School and the College and the Society. Most schools and colleges are institutions which go on and on, perhaps with fluctuations in quality, but quite regardless of their personnel. Dr. Angle made the Angle School and the Angle College and they ceased to exist with his passing. The Angle School and College grew from a course which consisted of a few weeks of informal training by one man to a well-organized course of a calendar year in length, requiring the cooperative efforts of a considerable faculty. Finally, recognizing that training does not make a man, Dr. Angle waited to see what effect the training had had upon the man before he conferred his official stamp. When Dr. Angle left the east, I am sure that he was resolved to retire from organized teaching, and he made a strenuous fight to live up to that resolution. James Angle was the first student he accepted after moving to Pasadena, and I know, for both he and Dr. Angle told me, that it was only by camping upon Dr. Angle’s doorstep and refusing absolutely to accept “no” for an answer, that James finally succeeded in being accepted as a student. It was partly his name, partly what he had gone through, and most of all, the quality of the man himself, that finally induced Dr. Angle to accept him. With the gate broken open, it was impossible for Dr. Angle to close it again and the development of the Angle College was the result. It was during the operation of the Angle College that the course was lengthened from three or four months to a full calendar year, because Dr. Angle’s experience had convinced him that a longer period of time was necessary in order to give the students a foundation upon which they could continue ‘to build. I wish to emphasize strongly that Dr. Angle always recognized, even in May
Read 8 and
before the Eastern 9. 1939, New York
Association City.
of
Graduates 982
of
the
Angle
School
of
orthodontia,
Effect
of the Angle
Collegcl
983
the last years, that he could only teach fundamental concepts which students would either apply and develop, and consequently grow-or lose, and consequently relapse into their old condition. This is the reason that in the Angle College he never gave a student a certificate or diploma at the end of his course of resident study. He required him to go back to practice, to keep on studying, to report to him, and at the end of two years to return and take his examinations again, and present cases that he had treated. Then perhaps he was given a diploma. It is interesting to note that for twenty years, most, if not all, of the important teaching positions in orthodontics have been occupied by Angle-trained men. The proportion of the contributions of value to the science, literature, and research of orthodontics, that have been made by graduates of the Angle School and the Angle College is still more impressive. Still, it is sometimes difficult for me to understand why, with these two facts as they are, the character of the teaching of orthodontics in dental schools has changed so little. Without any hesitation I would place the greatest effect of the Angle College as the effect on the concepts of professional education. These are rather intangible and difficult to trace, but the Angle School was the first attempt to teach orthodontics as a specialty or a profession. Of course Dr. Angle considered orthodontics a separate profession, and in a narrower sense it is ; but in much the same way as dentistry must always be considered a part of the healing art, and consequently a specialty of medicine, so also orthodontics will always be a part of dentistry. In conclusion then, I would say that the effect of the Angle College was: To produce a considerable number of men who have been and are most influential in the development of the specialty of orthodontics; To develop the importance of the fundamental sciences as the basis for all technical procedures ; and To develop certain fundamental concepts of education as applied to professional and technical training. All of these things emanate from that most remarkable personality, Dr. Edward H. Angle, who created and developed orthodontics as a specialty and a science.