Librada Avelino

Librada Avelino

Born	Librada Avelino Mañgali (1873-01-17)January 17, 1873 Quiapo, Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippines
Died	November 9, 1934(1934-11-09) (aged 61) Ermita, Manila, Insular Government of the Philippine Islands
Nationality	Filipina
Other names	Ada Avelino
Occupation(s)	Teacher, school founder
Years active	1889–1934
Known for	co-founding the Centro Escolar University

Librada Avelino (January 17, 1873 – November 9, 1934) was a Filipina educator who co-founded the Centro Escolar University. She was the first woman to earn a teaching certificate from the Spanish authorities when she passed her examination in 1889. Continuing her education, Avelino was also certified as a secondary teacher in 1893. After establishing her own girls' school in Pandacan, she was forced to flee to Manila when in 1896, the Philippine Revolution brought troops to Pandacan. Reopening a school in the capital, she operated until the Spain ceded the country to the United States and the educational authorities changed the requirements, implementing English language curricula. To learn English, she agreed to take a post as principal of the Pandacan Girls' School, believing that teaching the language would help her learn it faster. She also took English classes and studied English briefly in Hong Kong in 1901.

In 1907, Avelino joined her friend Carmen de Luna and lawyer/educator Fernando Salas to found the Centro Escolar de Señoritas, a school which organized courses from kindergarten through high school for girls. The school was the first non-parochial institution in the country and based its curriculum on a modern, liberal model, attempting to equalize the education of girls with what was offered to boys. As the school grew, additional buildings were acquired for lectures and dormitories and by 1921 Avelino expanded the offerings to include tertiary, first offering a bachelor's degree program in pharmacy. She was awarded an honorary master's degree in pedagogy by the University of the Philippines in 1930. From 1930, the Centro Escolar de Señoritas operated as an accredited university and was incorporated with a name change to Centro Escolar University in 1932.

Avelino directed the school until shortly before her death from cancer in 1934. There are multiple monuments in the Philippines which bear her name. The Centro Escolar University bestows an award in her honor to Asian women who are recognized leaders. The school which she founded has continued to offer education for over 100 years.

Early life

Librada Avelino Mañgali was born on January 17, 1873, in Quiapo, Manila, in the Philippine Islands, then part of the Spanish Empire, to Francisca Mañgali and Pedro Avelino.^[1] Soon after her birth, the household, which consisted of her parents and her father's sister Juana Avelino, moved to Pandacan.^[2] Her father, an intellectual, worked in a pharmacy and also operated a store which sold sundries,^[3] including fabrics, needles and thread, cigars, and other items.^[4] When her father was working at the pharmacy, his sister Juana ran the store.^[5] Though her early education began at home, from five or six years old, Avelino, who was called "Ada", was sent to the public girls' school run by Luisa Bacho. This was the first school to offer education to girls and included primary courses in reading, writing, and mathematics, as well as recitation of prayers.^[6]

When Avelino was seven, her mother died^[7] and about three years later her father remarried to Paula Arcilla, who was determined to have a close relationship with her step-daughter.^[8] As Avelino wanted to learn more than was typically offered to girls, Maestra Bacho instructed her in rudimentary domestic science, geography and Spanish grammar, and introduced her to more difficult mathematical studies.^[9] She also studied advanced syntax and language with Fermin Raymundo, a local Spanish grammarian, as well as music, including the piano, with Ladislao Bonus.^[10] Upon completion of her primary schooling, Avelino moved to Manila to attend the municipal Santa Cruz School, but after one year transferred to the private institution run by Margarita Lopez in Tondo.^[11] The school was a preparatory institution which trained girls in the subjects needed for the teaching examination. After completing the courses in 1889, Avelino faced a jury and successfully passed the civil exam for elementary school teachers,^[12]^[13] becoming the first woman to receive certification in the Spanish era.^[14]

Career

Upon receipt of her diploma, Avelino, with the support of her father and step-mother, opened a free school in Pandacan. She modeled it on Lopez's school and trained students for the teaching examination.^[15] As the school grew rapidly,^[16] to further her own education, Avelino studied dressmaking and embroidery at the Concordia College and then took a course offered by the sisters of the Assumption Convent, which allowed her to earn a certificate to teach high school^[17] in 1893.^[18] During her courses, Avelino met Carmen de Luna, who would become her collaborator and companion for the rest of her life.^[19] Activities at Avelino's school initially continued at the onset of the Philippine Revolution in 1896,^[20] but when the United States forces arrived in Pandacan, she suspended her courses.^[21] On the advice of her father, she fled to Manila days before her hometown was reduced to ashes by the invading soldiers.^[22] By the time her family, which included three step-siblings, was able to join her, they had lost their home, as well as their business in the conflict.^[23] Assisted by brothers Vicente and Lucas Gonzalez, Avelino was loaned a property in Santa Cruz in which to reopen her school.^[24] As the school grew, it moved from Fernandez Street to San Sebastian, now R. Hidalgo Street. She was soon joined by her cousin Margarita "Garit" Oliva and Carmen de Luna.^[25]

On the conclusion of the revolution in 1898,^[26] the United States, under its sovereign authority,^[27] established new rules in schools requiring teaching the English language. As Avelino did not speak English, she volunteered to teach at the girls' school in Pandacan, believing she would learn faster by trying to teach the language to others.^[28] She was appointed as the first Filipina principal in the United States era.^[13]^[14] Simultaneously, she studied in the mornings with an American teacher, while also taking night courses in Sampaloc with tutor Mauricio Somosa to enhance her language skills.^[28]^[29] In 1901, though hostilities continued over the terms of the Treaty of Paris and there were discussions as to whether the Philippines would gain independence or be annexed by the United States,^[30] Avelino wrote the school superintendent, David Prescott Barrows asking for a leave of absence to study English abroad and approval to be reinstated upon her return as principal of the Pandacan Girls' School.^[31] Securing his approval, she closed the school and accompanied the Gonzalez family to Hong Kong, where she studied for half the year, but had to return due to illness of one of their party.^[32] Upon her return, she resumed her duties as school principal,^[31] but conflict with the American principal of the boys' school, caused her to resign her position^[33] at the end of the 1906 term.^[34]

The insurrection continued until 1902,^[27] and Avelino's step-mother died in 1905. Still longing to open a school, when she came out of mourning in 1907,^[35] Avelino sought the advice of Fernando Salas, a lawyer from a family of educators, and her friend Carmen de Luna. They decided to invest^[Notes 1] in opening a school in Manila which would be called the Centro Escolar de Señoritas (Central School of Ladies), modeled after a school Salas was running the Centro Escolar de Varones. (Central School of Men).^[40]^[41] Each contributed ₱250^[36] and used it to found the school located at 841 Iris Street, later called Azcarraga Street.^[42]^[39] Having little capital, but wanting to establish a modern, liberal school, Avelino approached educated women like Maria del Pilar Francisco, the first woman lawyer in the Philippines; Felisa and Domingo Francisco, cousins of Maria; sisters Filomena and Ildefonsa Amor;^[43] her cousin Garit Oliva; and Constancia P. Arrieta, all having graduated from Normal School.^[34] Salas proposed Josué Soncuya, a historian and lawyer; Manuel Ravago [es], a journalist and orator; and Alberto Campos, a former soldier of the Spanish army, and a journalist and educator.^[44] Soon after proposing his candidates, Salas withdrew his capital and ceased his involvement with the school.^[45]

The idea behind the school was to offer girls the same opportunities as boys in education. At a time when few opportunities for girls' education existed, Avelino argued that women's responsibility for raising children required them to have the education needed to instill moral responsibility and patriotism to keep the country free.^[46] Her shrewd merging of girls' education and nationalist interests swayed fathers with daughters on more than one occasion to send them to her school.^[47] The Centro Escolar de Señoritas was the first non-sectarian school in the country.^[14] Once the basic staff had been recruited, the school began operations under Avelino's leadership, accepting boarders, half-boarders and day students^[48] for girls from kindergarten to high school with 27 students in June 1907.^[49]^[39] By 1910, there were over 300 students and by 1914 over 500.^[48] As a private school, the institution was not compelled to comply with the Department of Public Instruction requirement for teaching in English,^[50] and chose to present bilingual classes to accommodate those students who did not have full command of English.^[51] As one of the leading feminists of the period,^[13] when Carrie Chapman Catt and Aletta Jacobs visited the Philippines in 1912, Avelino met with them during one of their scheduled stops.^[52]

Short on space, Avelino began buying up adjoining properties to increase both the number of lecture halls, as well as dormitory space.^[53] Around 1917, they moved to a newly built facility located at 2265 Azcarraga Street with over 650 students^[54] and by 1920 the school was the largest women's institution in the country.^[55] By 1921, Avelino was determined to launch a university and offer tertiary education. The first college to offer a bachelor's degree program was the school of pharmacy.^[56] Her plan included opening 10 colleges, but after pharmacy, she succeeded in opening six more: The College of Liberal Arts was founded in 1922, the College of Education in 1923, the College of Dentistry in 1924, the College of Law in 1925, the College of Medicine in 1929 and College of Optometry in 1930.^[57]^[58] Shortly after her father's death,^[57] in 1930 she was conferred an honorary master's degree in pedagogy by the University of the Philippines.^[59] Officially, from 1930, the Centro Escolar de Señoritas operated as a university and was incorporated with a name change to Centro Escolar University in 1932.^[58] Because of the inability to secure a hospital facility for students to gain practical experience, the government withheld accreditation of the Medical College, which was forced to close after four years of operation.^[60]

Death and legacy

Avelino died from stomach cancer at the home of a friend who lived on Alhambra Street in Ermita, Manila, on November 9, 1934.^[61]^[62] She was buried in Campo Santo de La Loma, in Caloocan.^[63] Between its founding in 1907 and her death, the Centro Escolar University graduated 20,000 students^[64] and its capital increased from the initial investment of ₱750 to over ₱1,000,000 at the time of her death.^[36] It named an award which honors Asian women leaders after Avelino.^[14]^[29] The university became co-educational in 1945 and has continued to expand, offering a wide range of courses on numerous campuses.^[65] In 2005, President Gloria Macapagal proclaimed the country's Centennial of the Feminist Movement and Avelino was honored with the Champion of the Feminist Movement Award.^[13]

There are memorials throughout the country which honor Avelino: a street in Pandacan bears her name,^[66] as does an elementary school in Tondo;^[67] and an auditorium and statue at the Centro Escolar University.^[68]^[69] There is also a plaza in Manila named after her. Originally the space known as the Rotonda de Sampaloc housed the Carriedo Fountain and contained a roundabout. After urbanization in the 1960s and 1970s, it became the junction point of Jose Laurel Street, Lacson Avenue, Legarda Street, and Magsaysay Boulevard and is known better as the Rotonda or Nagtahan Interchange, though the police station known as the Plaza Avelino Outpost retains the official name of the plaza.^[70]

Notes

^ While Varona and de la Llana state the three founders and initial donors were Avelino, de Luna and Salas,^[36] Artigas y Cuerva says that the initial investment of ₱1,000 was divided between Avelino, de Luna, María de Salas, (Fernando's wife?) and Josué Soncuya.^[37] Avelino died intestate and in a lawsuit which followed Soncuya, the plaintiff alleged that in 1910, he, Avelino and de Luna organized the corporation "Centro Escolar de Señoritas".^[38] This would indicate Soncuya was not one of the initial founders, but invested three years after the school was opened in 1907.^[39]

References

Citations

^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 11.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 13.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 17, 20.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 23–24.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 26.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 27–28.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 31.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 42–43.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 47.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 48–49.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 50–51.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 57–59.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Cojuangco 2005.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Almario 2015.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 60–61.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 63.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 65–66.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 68.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 66–67.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 87–88.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 92.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 92–93.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 95.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 95–96.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 96, 98–99.
^ Worcester 1914, p. 77.
^ ^a ^b Worcester 1914, p. 293.
^ ^a ^b Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 100–101.
^ ^a ^b National Historical Commission of the Philippines 2013.
^ Worcester 1914, pp. 77–78.
^ ^a ^b Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 103.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 102.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 104.
^ ^a ^b Santos 1907, p. 6.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 109.
^ ^a ^b ^c Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 113.
^ Artigas y Cuerva 1917, p. 920.
^ Philippine Supreme Court 1939.
^ ^a ^b ^c Artigas y Cuerva 1917, p. 921.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 110–111.
^ Artigas y Cuerva 1917, p. 919.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 116.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 121.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 122.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 123.
^ Artigas y Cuerva 1917, p. 917.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 134.
^ ^a ^b Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 126.
^ McFerson 2002, p. 171.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 133.
^ Artigas y Cuerva 1917, p. 927.
^ Mangubat 2018.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 127.
^ Artigas y Cuerva 1917, p. 932.
^ Yeater 1920, p. 20.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 129.
^ ^a ^b Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 130.
^ ^a ^b The Manila Bulletin 2013.
^ Alzona 1932, p. 289.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 130–131.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, pp. 149–150.
^ Philippine Magazine 1934, p. 522.
^ Suarez 2010.
^ Varona & de la Llana 1935, p. 140.
^ Centro Escolar University 2009.
^ Macairan & Manimtim 2007.
^ Philippine Companies 2007.
^ The Philippine Star 2009.
^ Lomographic Society International 2012.
^ Aguilar 2009.

Bibliography

Aguilar, Karl (October 30, 2009). "Tales of a disappearing plaza and a moving monument". theurbanroamer. Manila, The Philippines: The Urban Roamer. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
Almario, Virgilio S., ed. (2015). "Librada Avelino (17 Enero 1873–9 Nobyembre 1934) [Librada Avelino (17 January 1873–9 November 1934)]". Sagisag kultura [Culture Symbols, Vol. 1: History and Heroes] (in Tagalog). Vol. 1. Kasaysayan at bayani (Unangisyon ed.). Manila, The Philippines: National Commission for Culture and the Arts. ISBN 978-9-719-54874-4. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019.
Alzona, Encarnacion (1932). A History of Education in the Philippines 1565–1930 (1st ed.). Manila, The Philippines: University of the Philippines Press. OCLC 3149292.
Artigas y Cuerva, Manuel (1917). "Avelino, Librada". Galeria de filipinos ilustres: biografias a contar desde las primeros tiempos de la dominaci'on Hispana, de los hijos del pais que en sus respectivas profesiones descollaron ı hayan alcanzado alguń puesto de distinción en sociedad [Gallery of Illustrious Filipinos: Biographies Starting from the Early Days of the Hispanic Domination, of the Children of the Country Who in Their Respective Professions Excelled and Have Reached Some Position of Distinction in Society] (in Spanish). Manila, The Philippines: Imp. Casa Editora "Renacimiento". pp. 915–932. OCLC 615740617.
Cojuangco, Tingting (March 13, 2005). "Women who made our nation proud". The Philippine Star. Manila, The Philippines. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
Macairan, Evelyn; Manimtim, Adolph (January 13, 2007). "Avoid passing through Pandacan today". The Philippine Star. Manila, The Philippines. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
Mangubat, Lio (February 11, 2018). "In 1912, Two of the World's Leading Feminists Visited Manila and Made Waves in Philippine Society". townandcountry.ph. Mandaluyong, The Philippines: Summit Publishing Co. Inc. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
McFerson, Hazel M. (2002). Mixed Blessing: The Impact of the American Colonial Experience on Politics and Society in the Philippines. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-30791-1.
Santos, Guillermo, ed. (June 1907). "Centro Escolar". The Filipino Teacher. 1 (3). Manila, The Philippines: The Philippine Teachers' Association: 6. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
Suarez, Larissa Mae (October 31, 2010). "Filipinos start paying homage to dead ahead of Nov. 1 Undas". GMA News Online. Quezon City, Philippines. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
Varona, Francisco; de la Llana, Pedro (1935). Ada: The Life of Librada Avelino or the Development of a Soul. Manila, Philippine Islands: P. Vera & Sons Company. OCLC 830042720.
Worcester, Dean C. (1914). The Philippines Past and Present. Vol. 1. New York, New York: The Macmillan Company. OCLC 11297250.
Yeater, Charles Emmet, ed. (1920). Facts and Figures about the Philippines. Manila, The Philippines: Bureau of Printing. OCLC 2575964.
"CEU marks Loyalty Day". The Philippine Star. Manila, The Philippines. September 6, 2009. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
"Doña Librada Avelino Statue In CEU". lomography.com. Sheung Wan, Hong Kong: Lomographic Society International. December 1, 2012. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
"Josue Soncuya vs. La Urbana et al". lawphil.net. Manila, The Philippines: Supreme Court of the Philippines. April 12, 1939. case #G.R. No. L-45306. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
"Librada Avelino Elementary School". philippinecompanies.com. Quezon City, The Philippines: EACOMM Corporation. 2007. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
"Librada M. Avelino (1873–1934): Educator". nhcp.gov.ph. Manila, The Philippines: National Historical Commission of the Philippines. 2013. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
"November 9th". Philippine Magazine. XXXI (12(320)). Manila, The Philippines: A. V. H. Hartendorp: 522. December 1934. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
"The 106 years of excellence of the Centro Escolar University". The Manila Bulletin. Manila, The Philippines. June 1, 2013. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019 – via Yahoo! News.
"The History and the Founders". infograph.venngage. Manila, The Philippines: Centro Escolar University. 2009. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	Germany

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia