STUDEBAKER, John Ward

STUDEBAKER, GILMORE, WINBURG

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 11/11/2014 at 00:07:24

The Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
Saturday, June 01, 1940, Page 16

THEY STARTED HERE
No. 11 in a Mason City Series of Success Stories

JOHN WARD STUDEBAKER, Commissioner of Education

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Familiar to many Mason Cityans is the name of John Ward Studebaker, who, as U. S. commissioner of education, heads the entire educational setup of the United States government.

For Commissioner Studebaker is a former Mason Cityan - as principal of the Central school he worked with some local persons and handled the elementary training of many others.

One of the outstanding educators of the day, it was here that Mr. Studebaker first began to make himself known and to show that drive and keen intellect which have stood him in such good stead in the years that followed his work here.

He is an Iowan by birth and education and it was in this state that he made the reputation that brought him one of the highest positions in his profession.

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John W. Studebaker was born at McGregor June 10, 1887, the son of Thomas and Mary Dorcas Studebaker. He was a star all-round athlete, playing baseball, basketball and football in high school and college. He was the quarterback of his high school and college football teams. Following his primary and high school education, he decided on college and worked his way through Leander Clark college at Toledo, being graduated from there in 1910.

In addition to his A.B. degree from Leander Clark, the famed educator holds an M.A. degree from Columbia university and an honorary LL.D. presented him at Drake university in 1934.

Following his graduation from Leander Clark, Mr. Studebaker became principal of the high school and athletic coach at the Guthrie Center high school before coming here in 1911 to accept the position of principal at Central school. He came here upon the recommendation of Hugh Gilmore, then secretary of the schools, who soon recognized him as an unsuaully capable man.

Mr. Studebaker had married Eleanor Regina Winburg of Kenosha, Wis., on Christmas day, 1909, and it was while they lived here that their son, John Gordon Studebaker, was born.

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The then principal of the Central school is a small man. Indeed, it is told of him here that on one occasion as he was going up the stairs of teh school at the same time two columns of children were marching down, he was reprimanded for going against the traffic before the teacher discovered that it was not a pupil she had by the arm.

During the three years that Mr. Studebaker was here he showed himself to be an unusually fine educator, and at the end opf his third year a vacancy brought him the offer of being superintendent of the grade schools in the city. He accepted the position, but before her was well into the work the opportunity came to be assistant superintendent of the schools at Des Moines, and he took it.

He had met the superintendent of the Des Moines schools at Columbia during previous studies there and had made such a fine impression that, coupled with his work here, brought him the offer of the job.

Mr. Studebaker continued his Columbia studies at long range and in 1917 won his M. A. degree.

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An unusual fact about the former Mason Cityan is that he had picked up the bricklaying trade somewhere before coming here and while here was a member of the bricklayers' local and carried a union card. He even worked one summer at his auxiliary trade when the Jackson and manual arts buildings were constructed.

The little education was outstanding in public speaking and never was at a loss for words, according to local persons who remember him. He was especially adept at witty sayings and repartee when the occasion demanded and it was later said of him at Des Moines that he could prove almost anything if he so desired.

Always interested in the sociological side of his work, Mr. Studebaker in later years earned a reputation as being especially outstanding in adult education and teaching of handicapped children [special education programs]. This latter interest is readily understandable because of the fact that he himself overcame a handicap, blindness in one eye [the loss of his right eye due to an accident at age 12].

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After leaving here to go to Des Moines in 1914, Mr. Studebaker was assistant superintendent of the schools unil 1924, when he was named superintendent. He served in that capacity until 1934 when he was appointed to his present post and obtained a leave of absence from the Des Moines position.

While at Des Moines Commissioner Studebaker instituted "the most comprehensive and carefully planned programs of public forums ever inaugurated under public auspices," according to Who's Who in America. The forums were organized as a part of the school system and were aimed at a solution in part at [illegible] of the adult education problem.

These forums and ther outstanding work in the education field soon brought national recognition to the former Mason Cityan. He wrote various educational texts and articles and orginated and copyrighted several devices for use in the classroomns. Much of his work has been in the field of elementary school education.

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John W. Studebaker's greatest strength is in knowing what the schools should teach and the best ways of presenting the subjects. He has unusually clear conceptions of the fundamentals of education and has the happy knack of being able concisely to express his ideas.

In Washington, the Commissioner's duties are very largely with research, study of educational practicies and policies and recommendations for the betterment of U. S. education and schooling, although there are in addition many government schools that require practical supervision.

Mr. Studebaker will be 53 years old in less that 10 days, which means that he probably has many years ahead of him as one of the country's best in his field. But he already has earned more recognition in his post that has any other commissioner of education who ever preceded him.

NOTE: John Ward Studebaker served as U. S. Commissioner of Education from 1934 to 1948, holding the longest tenure of any eduction commissioner. He devoted much of his time to children's literacy and arithmetic. He wrote The American Way (1935) and Plain Talk (1936), both of which were influential with Depression-era educators. He held the position of vice president and chairman of the editorial board of Scholastic Magaines, Inc. for 20 years, retiring in 1968. Studebaker was a member of the Methodist Chrch, the Masons, the Shriners, and Rotary International. He died at Rossmore Manor Convalescent Hospital, Walnut Creek, California, on July 26, 1980 at the age of 102 years.

Photograph courtesy of Globe-Gazette

Transcription and note by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2014

Cerro Gordo Biographies maintained by Lynn Diemer-Mathews.
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