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From Exemplar to Deviant: Same-Sex Relationships Among Women Superintendents, 1909-1976

JACKIE M. BLOUNT
Iowa State University

The demands of the superintendency long have required that persons holding the position enjoy the domestic help, social support, and companionship of committed partners. Historically, however, differences in gender roles within traditional marriages have meant that women superintendents have faced different challenges than men in fulfilling this need. To resolve this difficulty, some women superintendents maintained life partnerships with other women. Such arrangements generally were ignored early in the twentieth century, but during the Cold War era, they triggered suspicions of lesbianism and thus were not tolerated. By profiling the experiences of two women superintendents, this article explores these changes in sentiment regarding the sexuality of women superintendents. Over the past century, public school superintendents have performed difficult, complex work. The harrowing administrative and political demands have required grueling hours and countless public obligations. School leaders who have managed their work skillfully also have relied on the abundant help and good graces of their colleagues-and their families. At midcentury, the support of family was deemed so essential that annual meetings of the American Association of School Administrators offered featured sessions on the role of wives in maintaining successful superintendencies. Wives supported their overextended and socially fatigued husbands, the session speakers maintained, by keeping house well, hosting tasteful parties, and cheering them up after a hard day. I Women as well as men held significant school leadership positions through the first half of the twentieth century, however. Thousands of them served as superintendents, particularly in county school units (Blount 1998). In contrast with men, though, women school administrators-like women teachers-tended to be single, widowed, or divorced because school districts at the time commonly prohibited the employment of married women educators (Beale 1936, 384-385). Be-

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cause of gender role conventions, the relatively small number of married women superintendents could not count on their husbands for the same kinds of support that male colleagues received from their wives. Yet, women superintendents undoubtedly needed assistance in maintaining their households, and at the end of the day, they surely desired the caring and dependable support of trusted companions. Single women who wished to superintend schools faced a choice, then. They could cultivate companionate relationships with men, but this carried the risk that communities would regard these relationships as unsavory. On the other hand, women superintendents could choose such relationships with other women and-for a time-avoid social disapproval. Early in the twentieth century, formally educated single women commonly lived with other women or otherwise maintained close female companionships. Communities did not reject these relationships, without which the lives of single women might be regarded as bleak or lonely. However, public sentiment toward such relationships eventually changed substantially. By the 1930s, women's companionships with other women were scrutinized more closely as sexologists, psychologists, and others argued that some such relationships contained sexual components. Then the Cold War years brought a heightened awareness of and antipathy toward anyone rumored to be homosexual. Consequently, women superintendents with same-sex companions risked ostracism and the humiliating public loss of their jobs. In this article I explore this shift in public regard for women educators who maintained companionate relationships with other women. In particular, I focus on the experiences of two women superintendents. The first, Ella Flagg Young, served as superintendent of the Chicago Schools from 1909 to 1915. Young's partner, Laura Brayton, became Young's personal secretary, managing her crushing load of social and professional commitments. The two lived, attended public events, dined, and traveled together. Close friends and community members knew them as companions. No records exist that question or criticize their relationship. In contrast, Mildred Doyle, superintendent of Knox County, Tennessee, schools from 1946 to 1976, did face criticism of her relationship with Mildred Patterson. Doyle, long a popular and powerful political figure in the Knoxville area, maintained a close relationship with Patterson, who also served as Doyle's administrative assistant and director of personnel (Maples 1986, 83). The two shared a house, attended social and professional events together, and otherwise were known as companions. However, Kellie McGarrh indicates in her biography of Doyle that shortly before her final election for the superintendency in 1976, an anonymous letter circulated accusing Doyle of homosexuality. McGarrh contends that this letter contributed to her narrow defeat (McGarrh 1995, 121-122; also see Allison 2000, 84). Young and Doyle share many commonalities. They both enjoyed long and disfinguished careers in a single school district. Their communities respected them both for managing the schools well during periods of rapid population growth and social tumult. Both lived with female companions. Their companions managed

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their social and professional affairs, offered them comfort during bruising public battles, accompanied them on all travels, and cared for them as they died. However, during the sixty-one years that stretched between their respective retirements, public ethos regarding the nature of their primary relationships shifted substantially. In this article I explore these changes in sentiment regarding the sexuality of women superintendents.

Single Women Educators, 1900s-1930s

Once women began teaching, they quickly dominated the work, rapidly filling schoolhouses around the country during the mid-1800s. Communities typically preferred single women teachers-to the extent that by 1900, women who were single, widowed, or divorced accounted for over 95% of all women teachers (Folger and Nam 1967, 81). So many "spinsters," or so-called old maids, taught, that they became fixtures of the cultural landscape. They appeared in novels, cartoons, short stories, press accounts, and plays. Eventually, the word "schoolteacher" even came to connote a single woman. The prim, stern schoolteacher with her hair pulled into a severe bun offered one stereotype. In other cases, the public regarded kindly single women teachers as high-minded, upstanding members of the community who selflessly devoted themselves to their students. Communities of spinster teachers flourished in urban centers and in remote prairie settlements as new kinds of housing accommodated them, allowing them unprecedented independence. Schoolteachers' social clubs formed and a variety of other informal groups allowed single women teachers to develop their own rich subcultures. And communities of women teachers often functioned as part of the larger women's movement, bonding together and working for social reforms. This relatively young field of work for women attracted many who wished to teach for a few years, supporting themselves as they searched for suitable husbands. The income, however meager, allowed women the opportunity to be selective, to choose marriage with men for whom they felt passion and friendship-rather than settling for less compatible men and perhaps learning to love them later.2 For these women, teaching careers largely ended upon marriage. Administrators expected married women to step down, in part because they argued that two-income families were unfair. Also, women were thought to have untenable conflicts in deciding whose authority they should respect more: their husband's or their supervisor's (Strachan 1914, 12). As women left teaching for marriage, single women replaced them. Many women teachers, however, remained single throughout their lives. Some wished for marriage but grew frustrated in the search for a worthy husband. For women living in New England after the Civil War, finding compatible men was particularly difficult. The war had taken a toll on the population of young men. Others who survived battle or otherwise avoided service eagerly pursued lucrative

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opportunities, including those in the West. As a result of this imbalance of eligible men and women, families struggled with the so-called surplus woman problem. They hoped their daughters would marry, but as a fallback they often encouraged teaching as a career (Solomon 1985). A number of women enjoyed their unmarried status, however. For these women, the income that a teaching career afforded and the freedom from caring for a spouse meant that they could live independently. To avoid the safety risks of living alone, some of these women opted to live with relatives. Many others, though, lived near or with other women in similar circumstances. A wide variety of new housing arrangements emerged in the late 1800s and early 1900s to accommodate this new class of worker. Schools in states such as Texas and Washington constructed teacherages, or teacherhomes adjacenttorural schoolhouses ("Teacherages in Texas" 1930; Maxcy 1979, 271 ). Cities saw the rapid expansion of boardinghouses, settlement houses, and apartment houses designed to suit the needs of single, wage-earning women (Freeman and Klaus 1984, 401-407; Harris 1992). Fueled by the rise of teaching as a viable profession for women and the establishment of a variety of respectable living arrangements for single wage-earning women, definite cultures of single women emerged around the country during the late 1800s. Some teacherages housed two or more single women. Women's dormitories, apartments, and boardinghouses accommodated larger numbers of teachers in urban areas. Often women found these relatively new arrangements surprisingly satisfactory as they discovered the possibility of companionship with other single women. Harriett Paine described these new households and the factors most likely to make them work well: Sometimes half-a-dozen teachers combine in one household. Many such schemes are brilliantly successful. This is surprising, when it is considered that every new element in a family is a possible element of discord. But many a woman who is a very disagreeable addition to her married sister's family is thoroughly inplace insuch a voluntary association-probably because all the members have equal rights, and the code of the household is arranged with equal reference to all. (Chester 1892, 163-164) Settlement houses also became popular centers of women's lives. These turn-of-the-century communities brought together a variety of women from across economic and social strata, women bound by commitment to social reform. Educational programs highlighted some days as women taught each other subjects and ideas of mutual interest. Social events capped others. Without question, political organizing became an important focus of many settlement houses as women discovered that improving social conditions was impossible without political power-and for women, that usually included campaigning for women's suffrage.

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At times these clusters of single women bonded to form significant power structures in their communities. Estelle Freedman contends that during the turn-of-the-century women's movement, women who worked for progressive causes often joined together in mutually supportive, caring networks. They created' women's organizations and institutions that nurtured their collective political and social successes. Instead of limiting themselves to the private sphere or to venturing into traditionally male realms, women established public, though separate institutions and networks. Through these institutions, women activists pursued social reforms-with the women about whom they cared greatly (Freedman 1979, 512-529). Freedman argues that within these female institutions, women shared friendships, private space, and common goals. The resulting women's culture became vital to feminist politics of the time (Freedman, 513). Many women teachers participated vigorously in such women's cultures. Often women teachers served in significant leadership positions in suffrage associations as well as in other reform-minded organizations. 3 Women teachers often gathered to focus on their common profession, as well. The authors of a 1910 study explained that "in city associations of teachers, the prominence of women immediately strikes an observer.... In nearly every city there is some association in which women either form a total membership or else monopolize the offices, boards of control, and advisory offices. The indications are that in at least half the cities of 30,000 and upwards, 4 there is at least one organization of teachers, composed of women only." Women teachers worked together; they often lived together; and they built communities of like-minded women who socialized, labored for social uplift, championed political causes, and organized for professional betterment. Their lives were intertwined and complex. In some cases, single women teachers lived with others in passionate or romantic same-sex relationships. Lillian Faderman (1993) explained that these "Boston Marriages" offered many advantages: "They afforded a woman companionship, nurturance, a communion of kindred spirits, romance (and undoubtedly, in some but not all such relationships, sex)-all the advantages of having a 'significant other' in one's life and none of the burdens that were concomitant with heterosexuality, which would have made her life as a pioneering career woman impossible" (29-42).5 Such relationships reputedly were so common among women in some parts of the country that Henry James described his 1885 novel, The Bostonians, as "a very American tale ... [about] one of those friendships between women that are so common in New England" (quoted in Faderman 1993, 30). Blanche Wiesen Cook (1977) argued that the single, strong, independent women who led many of the early century social reforms maintained close, supportive relationships with other women, sometimes including lesbian relationships. At the time, close friendships among single women teachers did not raise eyebrows. They made a certain amount of sense. Career-minded women could devote themselves to their work without having to worry about a second full-time career tending their family's needs. Women tended to feel safer living together rather than

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alone (Danylewycz, Light, and Prentice 1987; Chalmers 1991). Single women could not have lived with men while adhering to the strict social codes demanded of teachers. Violating that would have scandalized their communities. Finally, many be*lieved that women teachers living by themselves suffered from terrible loneliness. For these reasons, communities did not begrudge women these close friendships. Apparently, it did not cross many minds that these relationships might have strongly romantic or even sexual components. Women were not widely thought capable of sexual response with men, much less with other women. Instead, single women who lived with women companions were considered moral exemplars to be trusted with teaching children. Faderman (1993) argued that women's intense companionate relationships with other women generally were not taken seriously, and they certainly were not regarded as threatening. Such women were viewed simply as making the best of a bad lot in life, or perhaps they were regarded with sympathy. Among upper- and middle-class women, these relationships were regarded as temporary because marriage was required for women to maintain their economic privilege. Women who aspired to teaching careers typically studied in normal schools, academies, colleges, or seminaries-most of which tended to be all-female contexts. In these settings, women faculty members commonly maintained Boston marriages with other members of the staff. Elizabeth Edwards (1993) argued that although the predominant discourse in women's teacher training colleges was heterosexual, "the possibility of homosexuality was recognized." Though it was common knowledge that faculty members maintained such relationships, they were "never given an explicitly sexual label." Furthermore, such homoerotic friendships not only were acceptable but often they were respectable as well-provided that the women were discreet (277-288). Women's companionate relationships were common among educated women around the turn of the century. In her history of Wellesley College, Patricia Palmieri (1995) described the so-called "Wellesley marriages" among some faculty members as ones in which partners shared both their social and professional lives, expressed deep emotional connections, and "derived all of the satisfactions of family from their female friendships" (137). In a number of cases, these relationships lasted for the lifetime of the partners and fostered "verbal and physical expressions of love" (137). Such relationships developed at many women's colleges of the time, as well as in other kinds of female institutions as Freedman describes them. For the most part, then, these relationships were viewed as harmless. Many of these women were significantly improving the social conditions of their communities and, as such, were respected for their efforts and high-mindedness. Single women teachers frequently lived with others and often in larger communities of single women teachers. In some cases, these relationships became romantic and possibly sexual. Such relationships were not stigmatized as long as they were inconspicuous. Clearly, some single, widowed, or divorced women teachers-who

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collectively constituted by far the greatest share of all teachers in the country in the early 1900s-centered their lives on their work and on other women.

The Case of Ella Flagg Young

Women's companionate relationships were not the exclusive province of the relatively insular communities of women's colleges or normal schools. Ella Flagg Young offers a compelling example of a powerful woman who evoked significant progressive change as superintendent of the Chicago schools. Young centered her private life on women, in particular on her companion. Over the second half of her life, Young lived with Laura Brayton, an English teacher who began her career in a school where Young served as principal. Brayton and Young quickly became dear friends. Eventually, Young invited Brayton to live with her. For the remainder of Young's life, friends and colleagues recognized them as inseparable companions (McManis 1916; Donatelli 1971; Smith 1979). Despite Young's high profile in one of the largest cities in the country-and her politically controversial reform agendas-her companionate relationship did not adversely affect her public image. Like many single women in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Young cultivated her independence largely through the teaching profession-to which she devoted her life. Her early years demonstrate something of her tenacity and talent. A frail, sickly child, she required her mother's close care. Her mother attempted to tutor her at home until she was almost eleven. Though a resistant student at times, Ella eventually found the motivation to learn to read when her mother recounted a newspaper story about an elementary school that had burned to the ground. According to one account, Ella snatched the article, ran to her room, and studied the text relentlessly. From that point on, she demonstrated a keen interest in reading, quickly becoming a voracious reader-and then a scholar (McManis 1916). When Ella's family moved to Chicago a few years later, she eventually enrolled in the normal high school where her intellect and abilities caught the headmaster's attention. He moved Ella's desk near his and soon charged her with assisting in all of the school's instructional activities (McManus 1916, 15-28; Donatelli 1971, 66-67; Smith 1979, 1-16). Shortly afterward, Ella Flagg began teaching in her own classroom. Over the next few years, every member of her family died, a grievous setback by any standard. She responded by plunging fully into her teaching responsibilities, quickly earning a reputation as a remarkably fine educator. Chicago records indicate that she received unprecedented salary increases for several consecutive years. During her fourth year, she was asked to serve as principal of the school of practice, a difficult assignment in which she excelled. During these years, Ella married an older gentleman who long had been a friend of the Flagg family. Very little is known about her relationship with William Young, who suffered from chronically poor health. Shortly after their marriage, he moved by himself to the Southwest to recuperate. He died about a year later. Ella

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reputedly never spoke of her husband again and friends insisted that the subject not be raised. Over the following years, she continued to bury herself in her career (McManis 1916, 27; Donatelli 1971, 69; Smith 1979, 23-27). Young served as principal of several schools, including the Skinner school where she met Laura Brayton in 1883. Young continued rising through the administrative ranks, and at some point, Young and Brayton began living together. Brayton then became Young's personal secretary. For the remainder of Young's life, they remained by each other's side (McManis 1916, 56-72; Donatelli 1971, 101-102; Smith 1979, 28-36). Typically they lived together in hotels or apartments that catered mainly to women (Donatelli, 338). At the end of the school day, Young and Brayton participated in social and professional organizations. They developed a large, vibrant network of friends, including many single women. Young valued social contact so much that as a principal, she formed study groups-mostly social-for the teachers and principals with whom she worked. Her friends and colleagues called these groups "Ella Flagg Young Clubs," which became popular among Chicago educators. In addition, Young also participated actively with the General Federation of Women's Clubs, eventually assuming some leadership work. Beyond these groups, Young maintained connections with a host of other organizations and institutions, including the Schoolmistresses' Club, the Chicago Teachers Federation, and the Illinois State Board of Education (Bennett 1915, 26 1; Donatelli 1971, 124-130, 257-259; Smith 1979, 32, 50; Murphy 1990, 80-100). Although Young and Brayton relished their social activities and friendships, apparently they were quite guarded about whom they chose for close relationships (McManis 1916, i). They selected a few women who became their most cherished friends. This network of support allowed them to let down from public pressures and to heal their inevitable wounds. These women spent considerable time together, but they never discussed private matters publicly. Upon her death in 1918, Young willed part of her estate to several of these trusted women. None would ever publicly disclose information about Young's private life, especially about her short-lived marriage or relationship with Brayton (Donatelli 1971, 440). Young's network of close friends included women who were active in social and political causes of the day. Jane Addams, whose Hull House became a model settlement house, remained one of Young's staunchest supporters throughout her superintendency. Young also counted Catherine Goggin and Margaret Haley of the Chicago Teachers Federation among her friends, even though they suffered differences of opinion on school political issues from time to time. Other of her friends were involved with the General Federation of Women's Clubs (Smith 1979, 203, 206, 230-231). This close group of friends as well as Young's larger circles of acquaintances and colleagues constituted a formidable network. When Young turned fifty, she decided to enroll at the University of Chicago, which had just begun admitting women to its graduate programs. She gravitated to

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John Dewey, who served as her doctoral advisor. With his direction, she wrote and then published her dissertation, "Isolation in the Schools," a treatise on how large, bureaucratically oriented school systems might place democratic principles at their core to humanize school communities. During these years she also became a very popular instructor in the graduate program. She resisted vigorous efforts by the University of Chicago to recruit her into a professorial position, choosing instead to spend a year traveling in Europe with Brayton, studying the school systems of other nations(McManus 1916,101-122;Donatelli 1971,136-200;Smith 1979,60-100). A few years after their return from Europe, Young was offered the superintendency of the Chicago schools. As one colleague explained, "She inspired fear and awe. She created admiration and evoked unquestioning approval. ... She was a leader. She did not seek leadership, it came to her" (Owen 1909,79). The opportunity to lead the Chicago schools was not one that she had sought. The previous superintendent had stepped down because of poor health. The divided school board offered the names of several men who might replace him, but on the urging of some women community advocates, Young's name was forwarded as a compromise candidate. When the board interviewed each of the candidates, Young's deep wisdom and skill so impressed the boardthatit selected herunanimously (Donatelli 1971,279-285). Young entered her work as superintendent with an immense knowledge of the city, its politics, and the inner workings of the district. For three years, she launched programs, gathered support, reorganized supervisory duties, and enacted a host of other projects-all with excellent cooperation from teachers, administrators, school board members, and the Chicago community. After serving as superintendent for a year, Young's national prominence led female teachers around the country to push her to run for president of the National Education Association. She won after an unprecedented number of women schoolteachers attended the annual meeting to cast their votes. During her term as president, Young took daring and controversial stands on some issues, but ones for which she felt emboldened because of the active support of her broad circle of friends and admirers. 6 Within a few years, Young's unprecedented cooperation from the Chicago community began to wane. Chicago area politicians who opposed women's suffrage withdrew their cooperation. Area women rallied to support Young whenever she encountered conflicts with these individuals. After one exhausting battle with a divided board, Young stepped down in 1913, only to accept the position again a few months later upon the promise of better cooperation. By 1915, though, board cooperation broke down entirely and Young resigned for good. Her ardent fans would not allow her to leave quietly, however. They staged a number of well-attended, spirited celebrations to thank her for her remarkable and enduring contributions to the schools (Smith 1979, 183-231). Later that year, Young decided that she needed to leave the city entirely to free herself of its grip. She and Brayton left for California, where they traveled extensively. Despite her then advanced age, she soon plunged into anew set of civic projects such as campaigning forwarbonds. In 1918, however,

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the great influenza pandemic claimed her. She died on October 26, leaving Brayton all of her personal property and a sizable portion of her estate (231). Young was remembered among her colleagues and many supporters as a remarkable person who had done much to improve the experiences of students, teachers, and administrators throughout the district. Brayton eventually moved back to her home state of New York, where she taught English over the next decade. Young's close friends in Chicago declined to offer insights into her private life. Although the public understood Brayton to be Young's companion, no unkind discussion of their relationship ever appeared in print. Young did not hide her companionship with Brayton, but neither did she call attention to it. By seemingly tacit agreement, media and public figures alike refrained from discussing it-even those who disagreed bitterly with her professional decisions. This state of affairs for women with female companions would change sharply in the decades ahead.

Single Women Educators, 1940s-1970s

Ella Flagg Young offers an example of an important kind of leader in the larger turn-of-the-century women's movement. Young was well educated by the standards of the time. She pursued her passionate professional and personal interests somewhat freed from traditional family obligations. She lived in close association with other women. She and her network of friends socialized with one another and built powerful communities of women determined to create larger social good. And she rose to leadership in public schools, perhaps the most important employer of single women at the time. Although some groups, such as male teacher associations, found the large numbers of single women teachers shocking, by and large, communities everywhere believed they were well served by this motivated, well-prepared, relatively inexpensive, and abundant labor source. 7 As long as women served public needs and did not encroach on men's privileges, there was little trouble. However, this equilibrium shifted when women began winning political power, organizing and demanding equal salaries with men, and becoming relatively independent of men. In response to these developments, criticism of women with public power mounted. Because the percentage of boys who attended high school dropped far below that of girls, critics wondered if schools were becoming feminized. They charged that schools made boys effeminate; consequently, proper masculine boys abandoned the classroom. Conversely, the large numbers of young women who remained in high school, performed well, and aspired to higher education came to be viewed as supposedly lacking feminine qualities. These years also witnessed declining marriage rates, increasing divorce rates, and a drop in the number of children born (Dubbert 1974, 443-455). Taken together, these trends provoked some critics to worry about the supposed "woman peril," especially in educational employment. To capture something of this growing wariness, the editors of the Edu-

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cationalReview in 1914 ran a series of articles and rebuttals discussing the volatile issue. F. E. Chadwick launched a volley by declaring, "For generations the American boy ... has been under woman tutelage. ... The effect of such procedure has

had so evil an effect upon the manhood of the country, on the qualities that go for making the masculine character, that it is more than full time to consider most seriously this great and vital question" (1914, 109). In the issues that followed, writers debated whether or not the "new woman" with her increased education and independence, bore responsibility for the feminization of a generation of boys. 8 Concurrently, works of German and British sexologists began circulating in this country. As scientific studies of sex and sexuality gained credence, popular attention shifted toward identifying and pathologizing nonmainstream sexualities, which became conflated with nonmainstream genders as well. Single vwomen suddenly found themselves scrutinized closely by critics eager to denounce their nonconformity, or even their alleged deviance. In time, the term "spinster" essentially became synonymous with "lesbian," a term made so horrendous in the public mind that anyone so accused would be stigmatized-or much worse. To protect themselves from such devastating charges, greater numbers of women in the general population began to marry. A writer in 1929 summarized, "There was a period, which can be roughly calendared as a decade ago, when it was prophesied that the life of an unmarried woman in the world would give a richer yield than had been believed possible. It was as if a new vein in the mine of women's prospects had been discovered and there was the natural rush to share in its riches. A good many girls decided to remain single.... But now some of the old dubiousness about the spinster life seems to be surging back" (Banning 1929, 88). This dubiousness soon would affect the demographics of the teaching force. Although single, widowed, and divorced women accounted for over 95% of women teachers at the turn of the century, their numbers would shift downward in the coming decades (Folger and Nam 1967, 81). First, the general public began to suspect that spinster teachers might in some manner be sexually suspect, or otherwise that they might interfere with the normative sexual and gender development of children. Second, after suffrage, employers generally hired more married women. Eventually, advocates of married women's employment rights campaigned to have school districts lift their marriage bars for women teachers. 9 Third, in a post-WWII marriage boom, greater proportions of women got married than did before the war. For all of these reasons, school districts dropped their bans on employing married women teachers after the war. At this point, not only did married women enter teaching in significant numbers, but also by 1960, there were twice as many married than single women teachers. Also by that year, the proportion of married women teachers stood at nearly twice that among women in the general workforce. Over two decades, then, teaching effectively shifted from work done overwhelmingly by single women to that done mainly by married women (Blount 1998, 104).

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In time, this public discomfort with spinster teachers changed to a full-fledged fear of their possible homosexuality. The release of the Kinsey reports (Kinsey, Pomeroy, and Martin 1948; Kinsey, Pomeroy, Martin, and Gebhard 1953) heightened public awareness of homosexuality, impressing on many a much higher incidence of homosexual behavior than previously had been acknowledged. ' 0 Military and government agencies eager to downsize after the war effort began purging their ranks of supposed homosexuals (Berube and D'Emilio 1984; Berub6 1990). Soon schools scoured personnel rosters in search of teachers who might prey on impressionable youths. In the mid-I 950s, government officials in Florida launched a statewide effort to rid schools of suspected homosexuals. A decade later, the state superintendent reported that stringent screening processes had been instituted to keep lesbian and gay teachers out of the classroom (Mitchell 1965, 8-9). California followed suit-implementing new practices allowing law enforcement officials to cross-reference their records with school personnel lists (Harbeck 1997, 188-200). Around the country, school districts went about the work of terminating educators deemed homosexual. Under public pressure, superintendents and principals screened teaching candidates for evidence of homosexuality. Because cross-gender characteristics were thought to belie homosexual tendencies, administrators carefully scrutinized the gender-appropriate behaviors and characteristics of job applicants. I During the 1950s and 1960s, lesbian and gay educators faced daunting choices. If they remained in the profession, they risked exposure and humiliating expulsion. To avoid detection, they would need to adopt behaviors and characteristics considered appropriate for their sex. Alternatively, they could leave schools and work elsewhere. However, by the 1970s, another option emerged: publicly fighting employment discrimination against lesbian and gay educators. In 1969, the Stonewall Riot in Greenwich Village aroused the consciousness of isolated lesbian and gay individuals and communities around the country. Thereafter, annual parades that commemorated the bold revolt served as rallying points for grassroots organizing as well as for supporting gay men and lesbians in claiming their sexual identities openly.' 2 During the early 1970s, several teachers who had been removed from the classroom because of their alleged homosexuality contested these decisions in high-profile court cases. These cases substantially raised public awareness of gay and lesbian teachers.' 3 Then, in 1974, a major television network planned to air an episode of a popular drama that featured a gay teacher who sodomized an adolescent student. In response, several powerful lesbian/gay political action groups emerged that waged and won a coast-to-coast battle to deny the episode its advertising sponsorship. This particular battle launched a truly national gay rights movement, to which much press, television, and radio coverage was devoted. 14 By 1977, however, a powerful and widely reported backlash movement led by Anita Bryant, California senator John Briggs, and others would attempt to remove all ho-

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mosexual teachers from schools. 15 It was in the middle of this tumult that Mildred Doyle would seek her final term as superintendent.

The Case of Mildred Doyle

Mildred Doyle, a physically small but athletic woman, was born into a family of prominent politicians in Knox County, Tennessee. Reportedly, she idolized her father, who served a lengthy term on the County Quarterly Court. In her later years, she recounted, "When I was young, all I wanted to do was to be a professional athlete" (Ricker 1989,4A). Despite her great athletic gifts, women of the time could not support themselves as athletes, with extraordinarily few exceptions. Initially she resisted teaching as a career, explaining, "I had always thought being an old maid school teacher would be the worst thing in the world." However, when her sister, a teacher, got married in 1924 and was required to step down, Doyle agreed to fill the position. She quickly discovered she enjoyed the work (Moxley 1985, Al, A8). Within a few years, she applied to be principal of the school in which she taught. A contingent of parents resisted, however, insisting that a male principal must run the school. They accused Doyle of being a "flapper," a charge that made national news. When she won the position, she remained principal for sixteen years-during which she converted her opponents into staunch advocates. In 1945, she was promoted to supervisor of county elementary schools. Then a year later, at age forty-two, the County Court on which her father served elected her superintendent. Just as quickly, the county superintendency became a popularly elected position. Doyle then succeeded in winning reelection for a series of terms extending through 1976 (Moxley 1985). Doyle was known for understanding how to work well with a wide variety of persons in her district. She maintained her own weekly radio show, during which she kept county voters apprised of school issues. Her folksy humor and keen understanding of popular sentiment helped her gauge school policies to pursue. In 1951, she enlisted the help of the College of Education at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in surveying the county on desired school initiatives. The results compiled after canvassing sixteen thousand homes shaped her agenda over the following decades. Included in these changes were an overall upgrading of school facilities; a massive new school construction program; peaceful desegregation; and the addition of a range of student services such as art and music programs, special education programs, and a coordinated school guidance program. Her efforts were so well regarded and widely known, that in 1956, Senator Howard Baker nominated her for U.S. Secretary of Education (Moxley 1985). Doyle never married, which seemed unsurprising to her many friends and colleagues who regarded her as tough, athletic, and somewhat tomboyish throughout her life. During her superintendency, she worked closely with Mrs. Mildred Patterson, her administrative assistant, whom most also regarded as her dear

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friend. After Patterson's husband died in 1961, Doyle moved in with her. Patterson later recounted, "We made a pretty good pair at that" (Allison 2000, 40). She explained how they worked together: "She was the one out front and took all the gaffe that you have to take. And I was working underneath helping her with decisions and such" (Moxley 1985, A8). Doyle described Patterson as the "person on whom I rely" (Vines 1973, A6). Patterson understood well the complexities in Doyle's pressure-filled life. In a newspaper interview, she indicated that Doyle succeeded in her duties because of her strong masculine and feminine qualities. The reporter described an intimate story recounted by Patterson: "Doyle even displayed that paradox in her working wardrobe-she'd be seen in public in very plain, simple dresses and suits, but underneath she'd be wearing beautiful silk slips edged with yards of delicate lace" (Moxley 1985, A8). Doyle and Patterson loved to travel together, touring the North American continent at every opportunity. Because they worked closely together, traveled together, and lived together, their friends and acquaintances knew them as companions and often spoke of them together. One reporter indicated that they lived together and even gave their address (Vines 1973, A6). In describing their relationship, biographer Kellie McGarrh explained, "Doyle and Patterson are remembered by family, friends, and colleagues as an inseparable team. Those who knew them well understand that neither would have functioned as effectively independently of each other. The gentle Patterson provided an emotional balance to Mildred's aggressiveness and hot temper. In fact, colleagues considered Patterson to be the only one to even attempt to calm Miss Doyle down when 'she was about to go off"' (in Allison 2000, 43). For many years Doyle and Patterson maintained their relationship, free of public criticism. Doyle vigorously went about the day-to-day business of building the Knox County schools into a distinguished district. Patterson handled much of the daily business efficiently and effectively. Persons with business to conduct with Doyle knew that they needed to work not just with Doyle but also with Patterson. For nearly thirty years, Doyle ran the schools so exceedingly well that often she faced no opponents in her bids for reelection. Occasionally, weak candidates challenged her, but her long reign in the schools remained nearly unquestioned. Then, after serving as county superintendent for thirty years, Doyle decided she would retire when her term expired in 1976 and she would be seventy-two. Teachers, who long had admired her leadership of the district in difficult times, contributed to the collective gift of a new Cadillac, which they presented near her birthday. Shortly afterward, Doyle changed her mind and decided to run for county superintendent once again (Rogers 1976, Al). This change of heart antagonized some political hopefuls who thought that Doyle, in her relatively advanced years, might not make it through another term and therefore should step down. Others accused her of taking a supposed retirement gift and then not retiring. Still others be-

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lieved that her advocacy for open classrooms and schools spelled the demise of quality instruction in the district. It was in the middle of these reelection controversies that someone circulated anonymous letters accusing Doyle of homosexuality. McGarrh describes these missives as cheaply copied, and furthermore, "they were poorly written and contained many grammatical errors." Upon learning about these letters, Doyle's opponent called her and insisted that he bore no responsibility for them. She reportedly believed him (Allison 2000, 84). However, in a campaign where Doyle already was vulnerable on several other issues, and during a time when public controversy about gay and lesbian teachers had reached a fever pitch, the ever-powerful and seemingly unstoppable Doyle could not muster the support necessary for another term. She narrowly lost.' 6 Overthe lastdecade of Doyle's life, she frequently volunteeredfor service related to the county schools. She and Patterson traveled extensively together and attended many sporting events. Then, after Doyle's protracted battle with cancer, Patterson honored herwish to die at home. Patterson carefully took care of Doyle, even turning her bed toward the beautiful garden they both had tended for years. She sat by Doyle's side as she succumbed on May 6,1989 (Allison 2000, 1-3,83-85,91-105). At that point, Patterson stepped down from her professional duties. Conclusion Ella Flagg Young and Mildred Doyle shared many common experiences. A few are superficial. Both women were small in stature. Both left the superintendency after the age of seventy. Some of their commonalities are more deeply meaningful, however. Both served within the same school district for over fifty years. They rose through the ranks quickly, excelling in the classroom and then assuming principalships within their first few years. Each enjoyed the backing of a broad base of constituents. Young's supporters included women's movement activists, other progressive reformers, and an overwhelming portion of the Chicago schools staff. Doyle maintained the firm backing of Knox County Republicans until the end of her career. She also managed to win over critics with superb displays of administrative and political skill, and teachers obviously felt deeply indebted to her for her leadership. Both women led their school districts as superintendents during times of social tumult, change; and population growth. And each spent their final thirty years with a significant woman partner. Their partners managed their personal and business affairs. Both women lived with their partners and otherwise were known as companions. Young and Doyle believed that they could not have managed their public office without the incredibly skilled assistance of their partners. In Young's day, a same-sex companionate relationship was not discussed publicly and certainly not made the subject of criticism. Many women who taught were single, and of these, some formed long-term companionships with other

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women or otherwise centered their lives on women. Some of these relationships may have been sexual, but, in general, that possibility was not publicly acknowledged among the persons who lived and worked around them. A few such women rose to positions of leadership in schools, as did Young. They valued their companions as colleagues who assisted them in their service. As was common during the time, women who centered their lives on women typically enjoyed a broad circle of friends, many of whom worked for women's political or social causes. They also frequently built strong professional networks that allowed them to serve schools effectively. Women companions, such as Ella Flagg Young and Laura Brayton, shared in female institution building with their close friends in Chicago. Arguably their companionship was essential to their larger work. By midcentury, such women-centered relationships were viewed suspiciously. Communities often went to great pains to avoid noticing female companionate relationships though, especially if the women were highly valued and effective public servants. However, during the fledgling gay and lesbian rights movement of the mid-1970s, potential homosexuality became a serious political liability. Although Doyle and Patterson obviously lived together and maintained a companionate relationship for many years, their relationship was not called into question until the author of an anonymous letter accused them of homosexuality. This accusation made explicit a possibility that many acknowledged only privately. Once the accusation was made public, Doyle's political future was compromised. Women leaders who found support and strength in their long-term relationships with other women discovered that such support could make them targets for attack. The few women who continued to lead schools after the rise of the gay and lesbian rights movement of the 1970s found themselves alone in their pursuits. No longer did groups of women teachers organize and rally behind them. In the face of openly homophobic attacks, female support networks, like women-centered relationships, crumbled or became invisible. During these years, women school superintendents largely disappeared. The few who remained tended to be married. 17

Notes 1. See, for example, Mrs. Herold Hunt, "Are There Do's and Don't's for Wives Relative to the Office Staff?" (1960, 223-225). Other professional magazines joined in with articles such as Janne and Clyde Blocker's "The School Executive's Wife" (1963, 12). 2. See Christina Simmons (1979) for a discussion of the rise of marriages based on romantic love rather than convenience or arrangement by families. 3. See, for example. "Women Teachers' Clubs" (April 6, 1893); Patricia Smith Butcher, "Education for Equality: Women's Rights Periodicals and Women's Higher Education, 1849-1920" (1986); and Blount, Destinedto Rule the Schools (1998), especially chapter 3. 4. Carter Alexander, Some PresentAspects ofthe Work of Teachers' Voluntary Associations in the United States (1910). These organizations include Boston Lady Teachers' Association; Boston Teachers' Club; Boston Master's Assistants' Club; Canton, Ohio, Teachers' Club; Cincinnati Women Teachers' Club; Chicago: Ella Flagg Young Club (Principals), Chicago Teachers' Federation; New York: Interboro Association, Women Principals' Asso-

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ciation; San Jose, California: Schoolwomen's Club; Somerville, Massachusetts: Woman Teachers' Club; Springfield, Massachusetts: Teachers' Club; Toledo, Ohio: Schoolmistresses' Club; Jersey City Teachers' Club; Jersey City Primary Principals' Association; Patterson, New Jersey: Public Kindergarten Association; Philadelphia Teachers' Club; Providence, Rhode Island: Rhode Island Kindergarten League, Sarah E. Doyle Club; Savannah Teachers' Mutual Benefit Association; Indianapolis: Federation of Teachers; Hartford, Connecticut: Grade Teachers' Club; Houston, Texas: Story Tellers' League; Memphis: Story Tellers' League: Pittsburgh Teachers' Art Club; Denver: Women's Educational Club of Colorado; Savannah Kindergarten Club. 5. Also see Lillian Faderman (1999). 6. McManis (1916,144-155), Smith(1979,158-181), and Mary Herrick(1971,114-137). For further discussion of the male culture of the NEA during Young's life, see David Tyack (1974, 264-267), and Marjorie Murphy (1990, especially 61-79). 7. See, for example, "Are There Too Many Women Teachers?" (June 1904). 8. See, for example, Anne Burton Hamman (1914); Florence H. Hewett (1914); Laura L. Runyon (1914); Leonard M. Passano (1914); and Anne Bigoney Stewart (1914). 9. See, for example, "Marriage as a Basis for Termination of Service," (1942), and David Wilbur Peters (1934). 10. For a fine analysis of the influence of these volumes, see Regina Markell Morantz (1977). 11. For a careful discussion of pre-Kinsey scholarship conflating cross-gender tendencies with homosexuality, see Kinsey, Pomeroy, and Martin (1948, 637-638). 12. See "Gay Pride: Thousands March in New York, LA" (1970). 13. See "Fired Because of Rumor, Rural Teacher Fights Back" (1972); Harbeck (1997, 244-248); "Gay Teachers Organizing" (1972); "Gay Teacher Agrees to Test" (1979); and "Acanfora Decision May Help Teachers" (1974). 14. See David Aiken (1974); "Network Squirms As Sponsors Flee 'Welby' Episode" (1974); and "Gay Giant Seen As 'Welby' Legacy" (1974). 15. See Anita Bryant (1977); Penelope McMillan (1978, sec. 1, pp. 1, 26) and (1979). 16. McGarrh uncovered the issue of these anonymous letters as she conducted interviews with persons close to Doyle, including her opponent in this election, Earl Hoffmeister. See Allison (2000, 89, footnote 42). 17. See Blount (1998, 108-1 10).

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Correspondence should be addressed to Jackie M. Blount, College of Education, Iowa State University, E262 Lagomarcino Hall, Ames, IA 50011-3191. E-mail: jblount@iastate.edu

"Patient Persistence": The Political and Educational Values of Anna Julia Cooper and Mary Church Terrell
MARGARET NASH University of Californiaat Riverside

Anna Julia Cooper and Mary Church Terrell were two of the foremost African American spokeswomen during the Progressive Era. On the surface, the two women had much in common. They earned degrees from Oberlin College in the same year and taught in two of the same schools. Both women lectured and wrote about "the race problem," as relations between African Americans and whites commonly were referred to, and both pinpointed African American women as the key to racial uplift. For much of the past century, scholars have pitted rural, southern, former slave Booker T. Washington's emphasis on industrial education against urban, northern, middle-class W. E. B. DuBois's emphasis on higher education. The lives and writings of Cooper and Terrell lead to a more complex rendering of debates within African American communities at the turn of the twentieth century. The essential difference in their political views stemmed from Cooper's conviction of the salience of individualism, and Terrell's prioritizing of community. Cooper's and Terrell's interactions with Booker T. Washington and his politically powerful "Tuskegee Machine" also reveal sophisticated arguments regarding the privileging of either self or group identity. Following brief biographical sketches, this article addresses their individual perspectives on education, on women's roles in the racial uplift movement, and on women's rights.

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TITLE: From Exemplar to Deviant: Same-Sex Relationships Among Women Superintendents, 1909-1976 SOURCE: Educ Stud (AESA) 35 no2 Ap 2004 WN: 0409403450001 The magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and it is reproduced with permission. Further reproduction of this article in violation of the copyright is prohibited. To contact the publisher: http://www.uakron.edu/aesa/index.html

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