Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1990 A Socio-Historical Analysis of Public Education in Chicago as Seen in the Naming of Schools Mary McFarland-McPherson Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation McFarland-McPherson, Mary, "A Socio-Historical Analysis of Public Education in Chicago as Seen in the Naming of Schools" (1990). Dissertations. 2709. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/2709 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1990 Mary McFarland-McPherson A SOCIO-HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN CHICAGO AS SEEN IN THE NAMING OF SCHOOLS by Mary McFarland-McPherson A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Loyola University of Chicago in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 1990 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer sincerely appreciates the patience, · endurance and assistance afforded by the many persons who extended their unselfish support of this dissertation. Special orchids to Dr. Joan K. Smith for her untiring guidance, encouragement, expertise, and directorship. Gratitude is extended to Dr. Gerald L. Gutek and Rev. F. Michael Perko, S.J. who, as members of this committee provided invaluable personal and professional help and advice. The writer is thankful for the words of wisdom and assistance provided by: Mr. and Mrs. John Gholar, Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Riggs, Dr. Frank Lucente, Mrs. Dorothy Wadley, Mrs. Mildred Pope, Dr. Florence Williams, Dr. Mattie A. Williams, Dr. Joan O'Malley, Mr. Richard Tryba, Ms. Geraldine Jackson, Mrs. Juanita Denson (typist), Dr. Rev. Morris E. Jones, Sr. (pastor), and Mrs. Amanda McPherson and family. The staffs of the following libraries also deserve commendation: Loyola University, Chicago Board of Education, University of Chicago (Regenstein), Chicago state University, Chicago Historical Society, Jones Metropolitan High School, and the Chicago Public Libraries. ii Finally, this dissertation is dedicated to the following members of the writer's immediate family, for their extraordinary moral support and patience: the writer's spouse Lawrence and children Devon and Karla, her father Early McFarland, Jr. and sisters Erma Lovett and Dorothy McCormick, and her mother, the late Annie Lee McFarland who passed during the time that the degree was being pursued. iii VITA Mary McFarland-McPherson is the daughter of Early McFarland, Jr. and the late Annie Lee McFarland. She was born on 22 February 1942 in Heidelberg, Mississippi. She attended Shady Grove Elementary and High School in Heidelberg. In May 1960, she graduated as class valedictorian from South Side High School, also in Heidelberg, Mississippi. Mrs. McPherson graduated with honors from Jackson State University in 1964 with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Language Arts. In 1969, she received an "Experienced Teacher of English Fellowship" to the University of Chicago, where a degree in the Master of Arts in Teaching English was earned in·september 1970. Mrs. McPherson began her professional career after completing a bachelor of Science degree in three and a half years. She taught English for three months at Holy Ghost Catholic High School in Jackson, Mississippi. However, in September 1964, she was employed by the Jackson Municipal Public School System at Jim Hill Jr. and Sr. High School where she taught English and social studies for one year. Upon moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1965, she served as a Chicago Public School elementary teacher, a high school English and resource teacher, and a district reading, and iv instructional coordinator. She also taught a reading course at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. V TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACK?lOWLEDGMENTS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ii VITA................................................. iv LIST OF CHAR.TS. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • viii LIST OF TABLES • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ix PREFACE.............................................. X Chapter I. THE BACKGROUND OF SCHOOLS IN THE CHICAGO AREA DURING THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY •••••••• 1 National Trends............................ 1 The Development of Schools in Chicago...... 3 Numbered Schools in Chicago................ 9 The FirstEmerged............................. Chicago Board of Education . 15 Naming Chicago Public Schools.............. 16 Representative Profiles.................... 20 summaey. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 21 ·Chapter 1 Notes............................ 24 II. NAMING THE CHICAGO PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS BETWEEN 1859 AND 1879 •••••••••••••• 26 Governance of the Chicago Public Schools... 26 School Naming Policy Changes............... 27 Schools Named for Streets.................. 30 Rented Buildings Named for Streets......... 37 Schools Named for Women.................... 38 Schools in Annexed Territory............... 41 The Colored School......................... 42 School Number Twelve....................... 44 The Committee on School Buildings and Grounds. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • . • 4 5 Local Trends • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 4 a A Change in the Process of Naming Schools. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • 53 Representative Profile..................... 55 Summary. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 57 Chapter 2 Notes. • • • • • • • • • . • • . • . • . 6 o Chapter Page III. NAMING POLICIES FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS BETWEEN 1880 AND 1910...................... 63 Expansion of Elementary Schools Between 1880 and 1889......................... 64 Increase in School Building Activity....... 72 Naming Schools in the Midst of Local Change. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 7 6 Summ.ary • ••••••••••••••••••••••••• • • • • . • • • • . 8 5 Chapter 3 Notes............................ 87 IV. NOMENCLATURE OF THE CHICAGO PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS FROM THE FINAL QUARTER OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY TO THE 1920s ••••......•. 90 National Trends............................ 90 High School curricula Trends............... 91 Superintendents• Views on the High School................................ 94 The Chicago Public High Schools Expand..... 95 Inherited High School Names................ 98 An Expanded Naming Practice Activated...... 107 Profiling Summ.ary.......................... 117 Chapter 4 Notes............................ 121 v. POSTSCRIPI' .•.••••••••••••••••••••...••..... 125 The Committee on School Buildings and Grounds Abolished..................... 125 Future Implications........................ 128 The Redmond Plan for Naming Schools........ 130 Chapter 5 Notes............................ 135 REFERE.NCES. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • • . • . 13 6 APPENDIX. • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • . • • • • • . • . 14 5 vii LIST OF CHARTS Chart Page 1. A Chronology of Chicago PUblic Schools Between the Years 1816 and 1837 (Before Schools in Chicago Were Given Names)........................ 10 2. The Location of Numbered Chicago PUblic Schools Between the Years 1845 and 1857.................. 13 3. Criteria for Naming the First Ten Chicago PUblic Schools (How Each Name Fits).............. 18 4. Special Contributions and Backgrounds of the Persons for Whom the First Ten Schools Were Named (Chicago PUblic Schools)................... 19 5. Chicago PUblic Schools and Branches Year Ending 31 December 1861.......................... 31 6. Chicago PUblic Schools Named for Chicago Area Streets in Existence in 1870..................... 35 7. Background of the Names of Chicago Public Schools in Existence in 1889 •••••••••••••••••.•••• 77 8. Chicago PUblic Schools Named Between 1890 and 1893.. 80 9. Chicago PUblic Schools Named for Americans Between 1890 and 1900 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••.• 83 10. Chicago Public Schools Named for Foreign-Born Residents Between 1890 and 1900 ••••••••••••••..••• 83 11. Chicago Public Schools Named for African- American.......................................... 129 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Schools Built by the Chicago Board of Education 1880 to 1899, by District............. 146 2. Native and Foreign-Born Census of Chicago Between 1850 and 1890........................... 148 ix PREFACE The purpose of this study is to identify and understand the relationship among certain social, political and educational variables contributing to the naming of Chicago Public Schools. The focus of the research will be highlighted through the following time-frames, during which schools were named: The Early Nineteenth Century (1810-58); the Mid-Nineteenth Century (1859-79); the End of the Reconstruction Period (1880-89); The Progressive Era (1890- 1920); The Depression-War Years to Present. Biographical profiles of personalities who are selected as representative ones will be included. This study will relate social, political and educational trends of the early nineteenth century to the