Coping with Administrative Pressures in the Chicago Schools' Superintendency: an Analysis of William Henry Johnson, 1936-1946
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Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1988 Coping with Administrative Pressures in the Chicago Schools' Superintendency: An Analysis of William Henry Johnson, 1936-1946 Theresa Mary White Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation White, Theresa Mary, "Coping with Administrative Pressures in the Chicago Schools' Superintendency: An Analysis of William Henry Johnson, 1936-1946" (1988). Dissertations. 2616. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/2616 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 © 1988 Theresa Mary White COPING WITH ADMINISTRATIVE PRESSURES IN THE CHICAGO SCHOOLS' SUPERINTENDENCY: AN ANALYSIS OF WILLIAM HENRY JOHNSON 1936-1946 by Theresa Mary White A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Loyola University of Chicago in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 1988 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer expresses her deep appreciation for the kindness, tolerance and devotion of many people who gave so generously of their support during the time spent research ing and writing this dissertation. The project would never have been accomplished without the guidance and patience of Dr. Joan Smith, Director of the dissertation committee. Her unfailing assistance and persistent dedication is gratefully acknowledged and appreciated. Sincere gratitude is extended to Dr. John Wozniak and Dr. Philip Carlin for their sugges tions and encouragement. The writer valued the assistance of Yoland Wershing and the Loyola University staff at the Water Tower and Lake Shore libraries. I am sincerely indebted to Archie Motley and the staff of the Chicago Historical Society for their assistance and service. Mona Wie, the archivist at Illinois State University and archi vist Thomas Quinn, at Northwestern University also gave generously of their time and support. Dr. Williams and the staff at the Chicago Board of Education library were especially helpful. The librarians at the Chicago, Park Ridge, Arlington Heights and Skokie public libraries were helpful in securing articles and books. In conclusion, I wish to acknowledge the incredible patience, and under standing of my family. ii PREFACE V Initially, I became interested in Superintendent Johnson when I was a student at Chicago Teachers 1 College during the time that Raymond Cook was the dean there. Stories were widely circulated about the unbelievable difficulties Cook had encountered with the administration in the thirties and forties. While attending the University of Illinois in Champaign, I was fortunate enough to have had a dedicated instructor by the name of John DeBoer. He was another excellent educator who had problems with Johnson. I discovered that persons were considered disloyal and a threat to the Johnson-McCahey administration because they differed in their views with the organization. Persons such as Cook and DeBoer were punished so as to be taught a lesson. Disloyalty and speaking out against the organiza tion appeared not to be tolerated by the group, and it seemed to me that teachers and administrators were severly punished and usually demoted with a loss in pay. Ever since that time I wondered how accurate that picture was. I was also interested in Johnson because I was born and raised on the northwest side of Chicago in the Humboldt Park area and lived a few blocks from Johnson's birthplace near Wicker Park. Members of my family graduated from Tuley High School and Lane Technical High School in the thirties and iii forties while Johnson was the superintendent of the Chicago schools. I wanted to find out more about this superinten dent and the Chicago schools during his administration. While my dissertation is a study of the man and his times it was important to understand what kinds of coping behaviors and devices he used for survival. I became interested in his personality, because I was curious and puzzled about his ability to withstand the constant, extreme opposition to his policies and administration. It was not clear to me how he survived the constant barrage of accusa tions against him. It was interesting to note that he was able to cope with the pressure groups and remain cool and unruffled most of the time. I wondered how a person was able to survive the admininstrative pressures of the superintendency over a ten year period of time. Finally, I speculated about the kind of strength an individual would need in order to cope with these constant pressures. In the account that folows, I found Johnson was a strong figure who mastered the ability to cope with his daily duties as the superintendent in charge of a large metropolitan school system. I marveled at his use of a variety of survival strategies to withstand the criticisms hurled at him constantly by many of the teacher, parent, church, and civic organizations. He skillfully developed the strategies that allowed him to continue to move forward iv despite the opposition to his policies and programs. The notoriety about the 1936 principals' examination had to be faced by Johnson on a continuous basis for ten years. The daily newspapers and the pressure groups would not allow the scandal to be forgotten. It is important to understand that his membership in the administrative organization of the Chicago schools, gave him the support necessary to carry on his administrative duties. He was the one of the most educationally knowledge able members of the organization and was able to utilize the expertise of many of his district superintendents who remained loyal to him throughout his administration. In the most stressful situations Johnson can be seen as a person who is very rational and not too emotional. His rational behavior allowed him to be a stabilizing force to the other members of the organization. In turn they shared certain values that al lowed them to empathize with each other and protect each other. Thus the group protected itself against the outsiders who were hostile to the organization. The depression years were extremely difficult ones for Chicago. It was probably the hardest hit of all the major cities. Johnson had to find ways to keep the system running smoothly on a shoestring budget. He was not a quitter. Instead he tried to find solutions to the schools' v problems and worked long hours to provide what he thought was the most appropriate education for all the students in the schools. He had the youth and energy needed to bring about many innovations and changes in the curriculum which he believed would benefit the greatest number of students. It is hoped that the reader will gain some insight into Johnson 1 s history and personality and develop an understan ding of the complex situations Johnson was subjected to because of the variety of political, economic, and ad ministrative constraints forced upon him. vi VITA Theresa Mary White is the daughter of Carl and Theresa Lengyel. She was born in Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from St. Aloysius Elementary School and completed her secondary education at Josephium Academy for Girls in Chicago. In 1950 she started her undergraduate work at the University of Illinois, at Navy Pier and the University of Illinois, in Champaign-Urbana. Having completed her senior year at Chicago Teachers College, she earned her Bachelor of Education degree in 1954. She received her Master of Arts degree from Northeastern Illinois University in 1979. Her teaching career started in 1954. During her twenty years of teaching in the Chicago public schools, she has taught at every elementary grade level. Since 1976 she has been teaching children with moderate learning disabilites. She is active in community, church, school and professional organizations. At the current time she is beginning her third year on the Local School Improvement Council (LSIC) of the Schubert Elementary School. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii PREFACE ................................................ iii VITA .................................................. vii LIST OF TABLES. x Chapter I. WILLIAM H. JOHNSON'S HERITAGE AND EARLY YEARS Danish Heritage......................... 1 Elementary School Years................. 12 High School Years....................... 13 Undergraduate College Years............. 16 Graduate School and Teaching Career..... 19 Teaching on the College Level........... 26 Endnotes . 29 II. JOHNSON'S ROLE WITHIN THE CHICAGO SCHOOL SYSTEM PRIOR TO HIS SUPERINTENDENCY Returning to a Transformed Chicago...... 33 The Chicago Normal College Experience... 38 The Principalship 1925-1933............. 49 The Great Depression Hits Chicago....... 57 Effects of the Depression on the Schools 59 The Devastating Economy Program......... 61 Mayor Edward J. Kelly and the Federal Government. 70 Johnson's Early Contributions........... 73 Endnotes. 7 5 III. A CLIMB TO CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION Assistant Superintendent of High Schools 80 Wi 11 i am J . Bogan . 8 9 William H. Johnson Becomes Superintendent.......................... 92 The Kelly School Board.................. 94 Beginning Experiences as Superintendent. 97 Johnson's System of