When I was a young officer, stationed in the Ministry of Education and Science, late 60's of last century, used to come here many letters, especially the United States, directed to a so-called "International Institute " The postmen of the time, ignorant of English, deposited by ministerial approach to the post office. A server that was then in charge of administrative information office of the Department and that he knows a lot about the history of Spain, knew nothing, of course, the existence of the International Institute, so I'm afraid, not knowing where the re-dispatch , these letters remained unanswered.
I came in this anecdote to mind days spent visiting the headquarters of the International Institute calle Miguel Angel, 8, into the range of those buildings in Madrid created or linked in some time, as is the case The Board Advanced Studies inspired by the Free Institution of Teaching .
I appreciate the warm welcome and facilities Pilar Piñon, executive director of the administration of the International Institute in Madrid has given me to visit the center and get photos and the guidelines of your library Nuria Segui, twenty-five years in the institution, to know the long history of the International Institute, referring to its website http://www.iie.es/ and, in particular the book by Carmen de Zulueta (sold commercially) " Missionary, feminist and educators. History of the International Institute " 1 I could borrow a library. This is a dense book, well documented, with many file data, rich in names and dates, not easy to follow at times. In both sources, website and book Zulueta, I have relied for the preparation of the following summary of the history of the International Institute. International Institute Foundation (in 1892) and long survival time to date, to the great crises of the recent history of Spain can not be explained, Zulueta writes without conjunction of a number of factors and English Americans that " combined with the personality of the founder, Alice Gordon Gulick, gave the Institute a strong momentum and a special character that has kept him alive throughout the years ." Among the factors it should be noted American Protestant missionary movement, a pioneer in higher education of women coming to Spain in the late nineteenth century building on the religious freedom recognized in the Constitution of 1869, and among the factors English, " the Krausist group's existence, the inspiration of the Free Institution of Teaching [that] also a decisive influence on the development International Institute . "
Alice Gordon Gulick (1847-1903), an educated woman for a lifetime of educational and religious mission in the prestigious Mount Holyoke Seminary, was sent to Spain in December 1871 by the Board of Foreign Missions (American Bord of Commissioners for Foreign Missioners in ABCFM acronym), together with her husband, also a missionary William H. Gulick (1835-1922).
Incidentally, the reading thread Zulueta, the English (educated) know very little about the history of Protestantism in Spain. If anything we know the George Borrrow names for his magnificent autobiography Travel "The Bible in Spain " (in the translation of ana) of Blanco White, the English priest converted to Protestantism in Britain and little else. Other names appearing on the work of British missionaries Zulueta as the first half of the nineteenth century, William H. Rule, founder in 1837 of the first Protestant mission in Spain and James Newenham Graydon or English a while back and Rivers Usoz , Carrasco " Castelar Protestant" and Ruete were so far, at least for me, perfect strangers 2.
One of the Protestant missionaries whose work is more rooted in Spain, in Madrid, was the German Evangelical pastor, Federico Fliedner who created the foundation " El Porvenir", which still exists, which depended on the school secondary school he created in 1872 and noted for its progressive nature (co-education, modern school curriculum ...) His descendants held the center as the College of Education, Primary and secondary at a neo-Gothic building of Bravo Murillo, 85.
Returning to the Gulick and the origins of the Institute International, the American marriage in 1871 opened a chapel in Santander " in a store horns and hides," and the following year, an elementary school for poor children based on the American educational system. But soon Alice Gulick realized how necessary it was the education of women in Spain, in the words of Zulueta, " Alice has seen about fanaticism and religious persecution, has also seen the complete ignorance of the English woman "He believes that by educating women of the middle class and upper middle class can contribute to the regeneration of the whole country. So starting in 1877, Santander, a small boarding school for girls, will be from seed 1892 the International Institute for Girls in Spain , known in Spain as the International Institute and the Institute of Boston.
In 1882, Gulick moved to San Sebastian Elementary School and missionary boarding school for girls, known as the North American College, settling in a rented house near Miramar and soon walk of fame the North American College extends throughout the city due to its modern teaching methods. For their activities had the cooperation of teachers graduated in female colleges in the eastern United States, primarily Smith, and Wellesley Holyhoke. The students received a diploma upon graduation without official value, but Mrs Gulick got schoolgirls who wished they could introduce high school examinations as students in the Institute free of Guipuzcoa, been a great success.
in 1892 and the requirement of English law that prohibits religious communities to hold property in the country, Ms, Gulick decided, with the consent of the ABCFM, form a separate corporation, The International Institute for Girls in Spain whose reputation will only grow in subsequent years to the point that by 1895 two trained graduates at the International Institute 3 decide to go for free at the University of Madrid, undergraduate studies in Philosophy and Letters. From this period are the first contacts with Ms. Gulick institution, Gumersindo de Azcarate, distinguished professor at the University of Madrid, Francisco Giner and probably also with Manuel Bartolomé Cossio, contacts will be strengthened over the years due to the similarity of teaching methods with the International Institute of the Free Institution of Education.
English-American War of 1898 forced the temporary relocation International Institute of Biarritz, and at war's end, Alice Gulick, and fully oriented to higher education of women, decide, on the advice of Azcarate and the institution, established in Madrid the new headquarters of the International Institute. The site chosen is a small house with garden, in need of reform, Fortuny Street No 5 (now 53, where the headquarters of the Fundación Ortega y Gasset), acquired in late 1901 for $ 55,000. In 1902 he acquired a second site on the streets of Michelangelo and another on the street of Rafael Calvo, but the founder could not enjoy the new facilities because, exhausted by the disease (tuberculosis), died of a failure Heart in London on September 14, 1903, inaugurated the new headquarters of Fortuny with his funeral. Gulick Alice deserves to be remembered for generations as a woman driven by a strong faith in religion and education, aims to which he devoted all his energies. A few days before he died he confessed to his sister: " Sometimes I think if I died, my friends would help the school. I feel so humble when I think God called me to give the ideal of Christian education to a whole nation. If the offer my life to bring a greater good that Spain gladly offer!
On the death of Alice Gulick, her husband stayed as director of the Institute, but soon it was necessary to have a second building to house the College Hall, equipped with modern facilities, classrooms, laboratories and library. The funds for the construction of new headquarters in Calle Miguel Angel 8 were provided by other colleges and American institutions whose names can still be read on the doorposts of classrooms and meeting rooms at the headquarters of the Institute. The proposed new building, completed in 1910, may be made in the United States, involving, perhaps only in legal terms, the English architect Joaquín Saldaña. The cost was 478,636 pesetas 4 times.
That same year, 1910, the Corporation commissioned the International Institute of the direction of Susan Huntington Wellesley graduate. The new director stripped the Institute of Protestant missionary connotation and opened its doors to other Catholic families, of liberal ideas, where one could study high school, teacher, conservatory, English and kindergarten for children between 4 and 6 years. Susan Huntington established a strong friendship that came to collaboration between the International and the group of educators from the Free Institution of Education. Under his leadership (1910-1919), the International Institute became one of the most educational and cultural center of Madrid. "Gradually was attracting the attention of scholars and educators. Figures such as José Ortega y Gasset, Rafael Altamira, Manuel Gómez Moreno, Ramón Menéndez Pidal, including lectures in its auditorium. In 1914, the young teacher, María de Maeztu joined the faculty of the Institute . "
In the years of World War I, the economic problems besetting the Institute, unable to cover their expenses with the amount enrollments and the difficulty of obtaining new financing of American institutions. Then, at that crucial moment, there is collaboration with two of the institutions created by the Board of Advanced Studies, inspired institution, Private Girls (1915), directed by Maria de Maeztu, "one of the most important figures education in Spain 5 that worked with physical hardships in rented premises in the Rue Fortuny and School Institute (1918). The collaboration will be implemented in the rent (sales in 1923) by the Institute for the institution Fortuny 53 "by a very small price "And the rent from the Institution of Miguel Angel 8, which would house first, to the Residence for Girls and from 1918 to School Institute. At both institutions collaborate Board the " American teachers," providing English courses and music lessons, gymnastics and games. The Institute shall also ensure the girls' boarding school Institute. During the twenties and thirties the collaboration between the two entities, International Institute for Advanced Studies Board, was, according to Carmen Zulueta, "magnificent "And together exerted great cultural influence in Madrid before the civil war. Under the direction of Mary Loise Foster, Smith College, organized a chemistry laboratory courses" because women were not allowed to attend the seles college. "In the library of the Institute merged with the Residence for Women, founded María de Maeztu the Lyceum Club 6 first club in which women were grouped intellectuals and professionals in Madrid and were held first courses to train library archivists and librarians, teaching Dewey cataloging method.
The civil war ended all of this path. The institutions created by the Board are abolished by the new regime and this keeps the buildings, including the subrogation to the hired. In the early 40's, home of Michelangelo 8 is occupied by the College Library Santa Teresa and purged of "Marxist books." In 1944, the U.S. Embassy gets six-year lease for its headquarters and archive in 1950, the expiry of the rental contract, the Institute provides Study College, a private school, which continued in some way to the liberal educational tradition School Institute, half of the building in exchange for sharing costs .
As a result of this policy disinterested assistance extended to teachers persecuted by the regime " they found a place in the teaching of subjects to groups that used American Michelangelo 8 as its headquarters, the Institute International red is crossed by the Franco dictatorship and its activities subject to police surveillance .
In the 70's the International Institute suffered a severe economic crisis and structural and disappear almost 7. Fortunately the crisis was overcome in the 80's and today International Institute, faithful to its mission of promoting the common cultural interests Hispanic Americans, developed a large number of cultural and educational programs in its renowned building.
For the English are of special interest courses in American English that have a strong reputation among students and professionals.
So far the history of the International Institute we have attempted to summarize as much as possible. Subtract add on our visit to the building, which we have lacked see the auditorium and courtyard, this still impresses, despite the historical vicissitudes that have passed since its foundation. I would like to find out more at your local library to see if you have any old background (I have taught a book dedicated to the Institute by Maria de Maeztu) and go further in its history (photos, souvenirs). But I think by now seen enough of that, of course, is much more than I did before starting the visit.
© Manuel Martínez Bargueño
April, 2011
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NOTES
1. Carmen de Zulueta. " Missionary, feminists, educators. History of the International Institute." Editorial Castalia. 1984.
2. In our partial knowledge of history taught us no doubt weighed the trial unfair as hard as Menendez Pelayo who judged these missionaries as " contemptible, crazy, adventurous opportunistic or simple. "
3. Their names deserve to be remembered. They were called Country Esther Alonso and Juliana who came to graduate in Philosophy and Letters in 1897. On one occasion, when the professors of the University were asked, wondering who had prepared them for exams, they answered with pride women!.
4. The premises of the Institute must have caused a great effect on the public at the time. It is said that once, the Countess of Pardo Bazán wrote to the new headquarters of to attend a ceremony had been invited and when the driver stopped in front of the new building, Mrs. Emilia said " should not be here, this building is too smart to be a college ."
5. About Maria de Maeztu see the book by Isabel Pérez-Villanueva Tovar " Maria de Maeztu. A woman in the English educational reform "National University of Distance Education. Madrid, 1989.
6. The Lyceum Club, pejoratively called "the club maridas", opened on November 4 1926. Its headquarters was in the street Infantas 31 in the house called the Seven Fires. About this Club is interesting to consult ebook Jose Antonio Marina and Maria Teresa Rodriguez de Castro " The readers conspiracy." Editorial Anagram. Barcelona. 2009.
7. Surely this time, second half models 70, is the story that says Manuel Vicent, in his book "the magnificent Aguirre (Alfaguara, 2011). One evening was held at the Boston Institute conference Jesús Aguirre on the dialogue between Marxists and Christians, with the room full of women from the liberals, socialists and liberals many of whom had attended the 'Munich conspiracy. " At one point a few individuals, guerrillas of Christ the King, sitting in the back rows, opened a canvas bag and let loose rats in the room shouting "Arriba Spain" After the first shock, the rats managed to escape to the street except one that could be grasped by a young biology teacher who, after showing it up, threw it into a culvert while exclaiming, "Look, so you have to do with the fascists."
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