Frank Henry Selden was born September 25,1866. He spent his childhood and much of his adult life on Lundy's Lane in Cranesville, Pennsylvania. His mother's name is not known. There was a George Selden that owned a lumber company in the Cranesville area. This was probably Frank's father. He had at least one sister named Jennie Lind Selden Hart. She moved to Tacoma Washington when Frank was 25 years old. Frank Henry Selden's grandfather first purchased the 65-acre homestead in 1857. He describes it as a plank house that was old when it was purchased. The barn that also stood on the property was also there when the Seldens arrived in 1857. Selden attended Edinboro State Normal School from January 1884 to June 1885. From there, Selden received a Bachelor of Education, a B.Ed. This is a Normal School degree that gave the graduate a license to teach in Pennsylvania. Prior to this, Selden says he spent most of his time tinkering in the barn. The only reason he went to school, Selden claims, is that his mother's father was a well-known Methodist minister and he went to school "to avoid the disgrace of not having an education." Apparently there was some discussion as to whether Frank could be spared from helping in the family business. After one semester at the Normal School, Frank was hired as an assistant to the science teacher. The money he earned from this he sent home. This placated his father enough to permit him to stay in school. Joseph Cooper, who was then the principal of the school, conducted chapels each morning before classes began. These chapels included a discussion of a quote put before the students. Selden was enthralled by these sessions and went on to write a brief book about Cooper's one-line wisdoms. After graduating from Edinboro, Selden was hired into a manufacturing job. He went on to teach mechanical science at Valley City Normal School in North Dakota. He was a carpenter, a proprietor in an architect's office and taught in various capacities. Selden was a highly opinionated man and he frequently submitted his thoughts to various magazines for publication. Though several of his writings were accepted, this collection of papers has a few long works that were never published. The bulk of his writing was on the topic of labor and the economic causes of warfare. Sometime during his stay in North Dakota, Selden founded the Maudslay Press. Apparently Maudslay was a leading thinker in teaching the manual arts. In 1934, Frank Henry Selden campaigned for the office of United States Congressman. It was an unsuccessful attempt but the effort reflects the strength of Selden's convictions. This apparently brought him to the attention of Henry L. Stoddard, with whom he had some correspondence. By the early 1940's, Selden had founded Hillcrest School. This was a composite of the Maudslay Press, Hillcrest print shop, and the Selden Lumber Co. The focus of the school was training in the manual arts. Selden has published several books. The titles are listed below: The Yankee Blade, 1877; Elementary Cabinetwork for Manual Training, 1909; Elementary Drawing, 1917; Elementary Turning for Use in Manual Training, 1907; Helpful Lessons: Selections from the lessons used by Professor J.A. Cooper in the Chapel Exercises at Edinboro, Pennsylvania, from 1863 to 1892, 1928; How to Teach Wood Finishing, 1914; Mechanical Science in Education, 1920; The Problem of Peace, 1942; Problems in the Successful Teaching of Manual Arts, 1914; Rural Schools, 1931; Suggestive Courses in Mechanical Science; Woodwork for the Grades for use in manual training classes, 1912; Manual Training, 1910.
From the description of Frank Henry Selden collection, 1930-1950. (Edinboro University of Pennsylvania). WorldCat record id: 767834517
