Improving the Life of the Poor: Grace Dodge’s Membership on the New York City Board of Education, 1886-1889

• In Event: Education Reform at the Turn of the 20th Century

Abstract

This paper focuses on the work of Grace Dodge, one of the first women to serve on the New York City Board of Education. While Dodge’s work with service organizations and Teachers College are documented, her service on the Board of Education has never been studied in depth. Building on our previous studies, we investigate whether overlaps and conflicts between “professionalization” and “direct service” reform movements in the late 19th century are evident in the challenge to the reappointment of superintendent, John Jasper in 1888. Through this example, we seek to understand how multiple motives and goals (political, personal and social) can intersect in educational reform movements.

Authors

• Sonia E. Murrow, Brooklyn College - CUNY

• Mary Rose McCarthy, Pace University