Herold C. Hunt
Encyclopedia
Herold Christian Hunt was a Superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools, bringing it out of an era of political patronage. He was the Charles W. Eliot
Professor of Education at Harvard University
, an expert in education from the 1930s through the 1970s, President of the American Association of School Administrators
, chairman of the American Council on Education
, served on the National Board of the Boy Scouts of America
, and was awarded the Silver Buffalo in 1963 for his contributions to Scouting.
. He became principal of the St. Johns, Michigan
high school for four years. In 1931 he became superintendent of that district, and in 1934 superintendent of the Kalamazoo, Michigan
school system. In 1937, at age 32, he became head of the New Rochelle, New York
School system. He combined his background as a would-be Episcopalian
minister with the "glad-handing techniques of a backwoods Congressman," Hunt began speaking tours, set propaganda bonfires in newspaper articles, addressed civic club meetings—did everything, in short, to arouse public interest and squeeze money from city and state legislatures.
He was Superintendent of the Kansas City, Missouri
school system and President of the American Association of School Administrators
from 1947-1948. While in Kansas City, he was known to fill in for vacationing Episcopalian ministers at the pulpit. In 1947, he was sought as Superintendent for the New York, San Francisco, and Chicago school systems. Chicago hired him as their first General Superintendent in charge of both operations and education in 1947. While in Chicago, he was credited with cleaning up a system rife with corruption. During the tenure of his predecessor, Superintendent William Johnson, the district was blacklisted by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Three days after the board unanimously confirmed Hunt as its new superintendent, the organization removed Chicago from its blacklist.
When Hunt arrived, "Nonteaching jobs were given out as patronage, and the third floor of the administration building was notorious as a distribution center of political plums." In Chicago, he doubled the school district's budget to $146 million, updated facilities with a $50 million building program, raised faculty salaries almost 50%, and relieved them from kickbacks to ward captains and ringing door bells in every election. Chicago was so anxious to hire Hunt that the offered him US$25,000 a year—US$9,000 more than it has ever paid a superintendent before, and US$7,000 more than it paid its mayor at the time.
He was second vice-president of National Congress of Parents and Teachers from 1948-1951, chair of the American Council on Education
from 1948-49, and chair of the Board of Trustees of the Educational Testing Service
from 1949-50.
In 1953 he accepted Harvard President Conant
's offer to come to Harvard (at half his Chicago salary), to become the Charles W. Eliot
professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School. At the Harvard School of Education, he became the first Chairman of the Administrative Careers Program, which later led to programs in Administration, Planning and Social Policy. From 1955-1957, he served as undersecretary of Health, Education and Welfare during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower
. He was eager, he said, "to give back to education the lessons learned in the last thirty years."
After he retired from his position as undersecretary of Health, Education and Welfare, he returned to Harvard. In 1958, he was selected as a recipient of the American Education Award. He served as a consultant to the Ford Foundation
's program on the use of television in the schools, was a UNESCO
delegate to New Delhi, a member of a delegation that visited Russian schools, and served on the board of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. During his time on the board, he served on a task force invited to take a look at the White Stag Leadership Development Program
. He was instrumental in persuading the National Council President Ellsworth H. Augustus
to conduct research into the program's potential contributions to adult and youth leadership development. He was cited for his contributions to Scouting and received the highest award given volunteers, the Silver Buffalo, in 1963. He retired from Harvard in 1970.
Charles William Eliot
Charles William Eliot was an American academic who was selected as Harvard's president in 1869. He transformed the provincial college into the preeminent American research university...
Professor of Education at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, an expert in education from the 1930s through the 1970s, President of the American Association of School Administrators
American Association of School Administrators
The American Association of School Administrators , founded in 1865, is the professional organization for more than 14,000 educational leaders across the United States. AASA’s members are chief executive officers and senior-level administrators from school districts in every region of the country,...
, chairman of the American Council on Education
American Council on Education
The American Council on Education is a United States organization, established in 1918, comprising over 1,800 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher education-related associations, organizations, and corporations....
, served on the National Board of the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
, and was awarded the Silver Buffalo in 1963 for his contributions to Scouting.
Education
Hunt was a graduate of the University of Michigan class of 1923. While in college he wrote for the summer Michigan Daily. His love for journalism fostered a desire to understand and participate in every aspect of an operation, which would later affect his work in schools. He then became a high school history teacher and rapidly became a school principal and then superintendent in the Michigan public school system.Professional accomplishments
He taught in the Michigan public schools from 1923-1927. He earned his M.A. degree from Teacher's College of Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. He became principal of the St. Johns, Michigan
St. Johns, Michigan
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,485 people, 2,994 households, and 1,999 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,909.1 per square mile . There were 3,148 housing units at an average density of 802.9 per square mile...
high school for four years. In 1931 he became superintendent of that district, and in 1934 superintendent of the Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
school system. In 1937, at age 32, he became head of the New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
School system. He combined his background as a would-be Episcopalian
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
minister with the "glad-handing techniques of a backwoods Congressman," Hunt began speaking tours, set propaganda bonfires in newspaper articles, addressed civic club meetings—did everything, in short, to arouse public interest and squeeze money from city and state legislatures.
He was Superintendent of the Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
school system and President of the American Association of School Administrators
American Association of School Administrators
The American Association of School Administrators , founded in 1865, is the professional organization for more than 14,000 educational leaders across the United States. AASA’s members are chief executive officers and senior-level administrators from school districts in every region of the country,...
from 1947-1948. While in Kansas City, he was known to fill in for vacationing Episcopalian ministers at the pulpit. In 1947, he was sought as Superintendent for the New York, San Francisco, and Chicago school systems. Chicago hired him as their first General Superintendent in charge of both operations and education in 1947. While in Chicago, he was credited with cleaning up a system rife with corruption. During the tenure of his predecessor, Superintendent William Johnson, the district was blacklisted by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Three days after the board unanimously confirmed Hunt as its new superintendent, the organization removed Chicago from its blacklist.
When Hunt arrived, "Nonteaching jobs were given out as patronage, and the third floor of the administration building was notorious as a distribution center of political plums." In Chicago, he doubled the school district's budget to $146 million, updated facilities with a $50 million building program, raised faculty salaries almost 50%, and relieved them from kickbacks to ward captains and ringing door bells in every election. Chicago was so anxious to hire Hunt that the offered him US$25,000 a year—US$9,000 more than it has ever paid a superintendent before, and US$7,000 more than it paid its mayor at the time.
He was second vice-president of National Congress of Parents and Teachers from 1948-1951, chair of the American Council on Education
American Council on Education
The American Council on Education is a United States organization, established in 1918, comprising over 1,800 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher education-related associations, organizations, and corporations....
from 1948-49, and chair of the Board of Trustees of the Educational Testing Service
Educational Testing Service
Educational Testing Service , founded in 1947, is the world's largest private nonprofit educational testing and assessment organization...
from 1949-50.
In 1953 he accepted Harvard President Conant
James Bryant Conant
James Bryant Conant was a chemist, educational administrator, and government official. As thePresident of Harvard University he reformed it as a research institution.-Biography :...
's offer to come to Harvard (at half his Chicago salary), to become the Charles W. Eliot
Charles William Eliot
Charles William Eliot was an American academic who was selected as Harvard's president in 1869. He transformed the provincial college into the preeminent American research university...
professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School. At the Harvard School of Education, he became the first Chairman of the Administrative Careers Program, which later led to programs in Administration, Planning and Social Policy. From 1955-1957, he served as undersecretary of Health, Education and Welfare during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
. He was eager, he said, "to give back to education the lessons learned in the last thirty years."
After he retired from his position as undersecretary of Health, Education and Welfare, he returned to Harvard. In 1958, he was selected as a recipient of the American Education Award. He served as a consultant to the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
's program on the use of television in the schools, was a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
delegate to New Delhi, a member of a delegation that visited Russian schools, and served on the board of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. During his time on the board, he served on a task force invited to take a look at the White Stag Leadership Development Program
White Stag Leadership Development Program
The White Stag Leadership Development Program is a non-profit organization that sponsors youth leadership development activities. Founded on the Monterey Peninsula, California, in 1958 by Dr. Béla H. Bánáthy, it traces its history to the 1933 World Jamboree in Gödöllő, Hungary, which took as its...
. He was instrumental in persuading the National Council President Ellsworth H. Augustus
Ellsworth H. Augustus
Ellsworth Hunt Augustus was an American businessman from Cleveland, Ohio who served as the tenth National president of the Boy Scouts of America.-Biography:He was born on November 23, 1897 in Cleveland, Ohio....
to conduct research into the program's potential contributions to adult and youth leadership development. He was cited for his contributions to Scouting and received the highest award given volunteers, the Silver Buffalo, in 1963. He retired from Harvard in 1970.
Publications
- Democracy Needs No Interpretation Education; November 1940, Vol. 61 Issue 3, p129-132, 4p
- Are the Public Schools Godless? (1952) with Muriel Stanek, in "Public Education Under Criticism" By Cecil W. Scott and Clyde Milton Hill Ayer Publishing, ISBN 0836925203, p 142
- The Practice of School Administration: a Cooperative Professional Enterprise (1958) with Paul R. Pierce. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
- The School Personnel Administrator (1965) Houghton Mifflin Comp.