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Remarks by Commissioner of Education Earl J. McGrath at meeting of Chief State School Officers, Federal Security Agency, Washington, D. C., Tuesday, December 9, 1952, 9:30 a.m. It is a real privilege to welcome to this building what I believe to be the largest meeting in a long time of the Chief State School Officers under the auspices of the Offico of Education. Dr. Fuller tells me that all but four of you have accepted our invitation, and, though you are not all here yet, you will be before the day is out. I became a little bit interested in the history of these meetings and I was able to discover that the Chicf State School Officers came together for the first time under the auspices of the Office of Education almost forty-five years be exact on February 24, 1908. It is very interesting to read the report which the then Commissioner of Education made on that meeting because it has a strange similarity to some of the things that we're doing and saying today. I want to, read a few sentences from the Commissioner's report for 1908: "Tho Conference of the Chief School Officers of the sevoral States and Territories was held at Washington on the 24th of February, 1908, on invitation issued by this Bureau." The educational conference vas called by the Commissioner of Education on the suggestion of State Suporintendent J. Y. Joyner of North Carolina which had followed a similar suggestion from State Superintendent Katherine L. Craig of Color lo. It is interesting to observe that the ladies occupied en important place in this organization way back there forty=five years ago as they continue to do coday. Now we have a better attendence record than they had at that meeting. Of the fifty chiof educational officors of as many States and Territories who were invited to that conference, thirty-seven wore present in person This I think is the significant part of the Commissioner's statement in 1908: "This conference seemed destined to mank an opoch of no small importance in the history of educational