Psychological Development of Expression, 1899 - 1919

The Psychological Development of Expression is four-volume set of texts for practical use by students of the Columbia School of Oratory in Chicago.

Edited by the school's founders, Mary A. Blood and Ida M. Riley, the texts were chosen to foster the development of "personal power in public speaking." The founders sought specifically to engage the whole person: intellect, emotions, will, and physique.

Mary Ann Blood was born July 10, 1851 in Hollis, NH to Isaac Pierce and Sarah (Fisk) Blood. She attended Framingham Normal School in Massachusetts (now Framingham State University), graduated in 1871, then took post-graduate advanced classes and completed her course of study in 1873. Normal schools trained its students to be teachers.

She moved to the Jamaica Plain area of Boston in 1873 to teach at the Eliot School, founded in 1676. During the 1870s and 1880s, the school began its "manual training" era where classes such as drawing, painting, sewing, and cooking were added to the curriculum. Its purpose was to "satisfy that instinctive desire of human beings to create."

In 1880, she attended Monroe College of Oratory, now Emerson College, in Boston, studying under C. Wesley Emerson, its founder, where she earned a degree in Oratory in 1882 and became a member of its faculty in 1883. During her tenure at Monroe, Mary taught Analysis, Practical Hygiene, Rendering, and Bible Reading and also administered the Normal Department. Additionally, she served as a member of the School's Board of Trustees from 1887 until she left the school in 1890.

During her tenure at Monroe, Mary accepted an assignment to teach elocution and expression courses at the State Agricultural College in Ames, Iowa from 1887 to 1888. It was here she meet fellow teacher, Ida Morey Riley.

Mary Blood and Ida Riley left New England to establish Columbia School of Oratory in Chicago, Illinois in 1890 where the "Emerson System of Physical Culture" was taught.

Ida Riley died in 1901 and the school changed its name to Columbia College of Expression in 1905. The college added variety to its coursework and by the 1920s, the school was recognized by the State Examining Board of Illinois and the examining boards of other states, with men and women holding degrees from the College qualified to teach any branch of English, correlated speech arts, and dramatics in the schools without examination. Also, coursework at the school was accredited by the Chicago Board of Education. It also offered a course of study to train students for the Chautauqua traveling lecture circuit. These public lectures became a popular form of entertainment and the College offered training courses for those who wished to become a lecturer or performer on the circuit.

She also remained active in the National Association of Elocutionists, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and local community groups.

She died July 25, 1927 at the College she founded. On July 27th funeral services were held at the school, 120 E. Pearson Street, and many of its alumni were present. She is buried in Hollis, NH and her epitaph reads "She was one of the founders and for 37 years the president of the Columbia College of Expression in Chicago, Illinois".

Ida Morey was born April 11, 1856 to William and Sarah Morey in Mercer County, Illinois. Later, the family moved to Union Township, Iowa. Her father, originally from Ohio, was a farmer and her mother, originally from New York, was a housewife.

She attended the public schools of Chariton, Iowa. On October 4, 1877, she married Heston G. Riley of Ashley, Ohio. He died January 19, 1879. She returned to Iowa to teach and later become principal of the Chariton, Iowa public school that she attended as a youth.

She then taught at the State Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa where she met Mary A. Blood in 1887, who had been sent out from the Emerson School of Oratory (now Emerson College) in Boston to teach elocution and expression.

Mary Blood urged her to move to Boston and study at the Emerson School where she graduated with a Bachelors degree in Oration in 1889 and a Masters degree in Oration in 1890. She then joined Mary Blood in Chicago where the two women established the Columbia School of Oratory in 1890.

She served as secretary of the National Association of Elocutionists and was a member of its Board of Directors until her death on March 7, 1901. Funeral services were held at the residence of Helen E. Starrett as both Mary Blood and Ida Riley had been living there. Dr. Frank W. Gunsaulus conducted the services and Mary Blood read selections from the Bible. She is buried next to her husband in Ashley, Ohio.

The Psychological Development of Expression set was published between 1899 and 1919, and the seven volumes take up 1 cubic foot. There are three copies of Volume II and two copies of Volume III. The series is made up of collected short works designed to develop students' "personal power in public speaking" and engage the whole person: intellect, emotions, will, and physique.

The seven volumes comprising are arranged by their numbered order. Duplicate copies of volumes are arranged chronologically.

Item Title, (date). Psychological Development of Expression records, College Archives & Special Collections, Columbia College Chicago.

The entirety of this collection is available for research in person. However, the entirety of it has also been digitized and made available online:

Psychological Development of Expression, Volumes I - IV | http://digitalcommons.colum.edu/oratory_pde/

View the four volume set of The Psychological Development of Expression books by Mary A. Blood and Ida Morey Riley.

RG 01.02 Columbia College of Expression, Effective Public Speaking Courses generated by the Department of Public Speaking | http://digitalcommons.colum.edu/effective_public_speaking/

Evolution of Expression by Charles Wesley Emerson. First published by the Emerson College of Oratory, 1905. Available digitally in three volumes: Volume I on Project Gutenberg | http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4942 Volume II on Project Gutenberg | http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34498 Volume III on GoogleBooks | https://books.google.com/books?id=aXY6AQAAMAAJ&hl=en

Psycho Vox, or The Emerson System of Voice Culture by Charles Wesley Emerson. Published by the Emerson College of Oratory, 1903. Available digitally via HathiTrust Digital Library or on Project Gutenberg | http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48515.

Six Lectures by Charles Wesley Emerson. Published by Everett in Boston, 1909. Available digitally via HathiTrustDitial Library |https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044030526909;view=1up;seq=1.

The entirety of the Psychological Development of Expression collection is available to all users.

Materials are the property of Columbia College Chicago. Intellectual property rights of work belong to the original creators. Materials within the collection that are published and copyrighted maintain their copyright protections and must be used according to United States Copyright Law. Use of this collection and its materials is understood to be primarily for research, teaching, and creative study; additional uses, such as publication, exhibition, or other appropriate purposes may be considered upon consultation with the Archivist.

All physical materials and reformatted media must be viewed during a scheduled appointment time within the College Archives & Special Collections office. No materials are to be circulated unless otherwise consulted with the Archivist.

Researchers viewing digitized, online material (http://digitalcommons.colum.edu/oratory_pde/) from this collection may access these materials from home via the World Wide Web 24/7.

The majority of the books in this collection were originally purchased by the Columbia College Chicago Library and then transferred to the College Archives circa 2005 when the department was created.

• Subject
  • Public sepaking -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
  • Oratory
  • Expression