Ella Flagg Young

Ella Flagg Young (1845 - 1918) was born January 15, 1845 in Buffalo, New York to Theodore and Jane (Reed) Flagg. She didn't attend school until the age of ten, after teaching herself how to read and write. She graduated in 1862 from the Chicago Normal School. She studied at the University of Chicago under John Dewey and received her Ph.D. in 1900. She was married to William Young in 1868.They had no children together. Her husband died when she was 27 years old, so she spent the rest of her life alone. Her teaching career spanned 53 years (1862-1915). She became superintendent of schools in Chicago in 1887; professor of education in the University of Chicago in 1899; principal of the Chicago Normal School in 1905; and was superintendent of schools of Chicago from 1909 until her resignation in 1915. She was the first woman in America to head a large city school system. In 1910-1911 she was appointed the first woman president of the National Education Association. Mrs. Young also identified herself strongly with the woman's suffrage movement. She died in the 1918 flu pandemic, on October 26, 1918, at age 72 .^[1] The University of Illinois conferred on her the degree of LL.D. She published many educational works, including:

• Isolation in the School (1901)
• Ethics in the School (1902)
• Some Types of Modern Educational Theory (1902)

Publications

• John T. McManis, biography (Chicago, 1916)

School Named for Ella Flagg Young

The Chicago Public School system named an elementary school (K-8) in honor of Dr. Young in 1924. The school is located in the north Austin neighborhood and continues to be used as an elementary school. The school is traditional masonry construction, with a central boiler heating system. In 1998, an addition was built to the school almost doubling the usable floorspace, and the masonry was renovated and the windows were glazed.

A view of the front of the school.

You can view other photos of the school as it currently exists on the reunion website of the 1968 class.

References

1. ^ Blount, Jackie M. (2004) Fit to Teach, SUNY Press. p. 56. ISBN 0-7914-6267-6.

Biographical Dictionary of American Educators.

• This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.