Adelbert Althouse (May 23, 1869 – May 17, 1954) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

who served as the 27th and 29th

Naval Governor of Guam The governor of Guam ( / ) is the head of government of Guam and the commander-in-chief of the Guam National Guard, whose responsibilities also include making the annual State of the Island (formerly the State of the Territory) addresses to t ...

. Prior to his Governorship, he served on ships in the Navy and participated in both the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

and

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He earned the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is equivalent to the Army ...

for his actions commanding and serving as Chief of Staff for the Commander and Chief of the

United States Asiatic Fleet The United States Asiatic Fleet was a fleet of the United States Navy during much of the first half of the 20th century. Before World War II, the fleet patrolled the Philippine Islands. Much of the fleet was destroyed by the Japanese by Februar ...

during the World War. As Governor, he focused on reforming the island's education system. He modeled a new system after that of co-educational

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

but also outlawed the speaking of the

Chamorro language Chamorro (, ; orthern Mariana Islandsor uam) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken by about 58,000 people, numbering about 25,800 on Guam and about 32,200 in the Northern Mariana Islands and elsewhere. It is the h ...

at schools in an effort to improve the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

skills of the local children. Most of his education reform took place in his first term.

Life and legacy

Althouse was born in 1869 in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. He died on May 17, 1954. In 1930, the Navy named a Guamanian school, the Adelbert Althouse School, after him.

Naval career

Althouse entered the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

on May 21, 1887, graduating in 1891. He was commissioned as an

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

on July 1, 1893. He achieved the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1900. The same year, he served aboard . As a lieutenant, he served as a

watch A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...

and division officer aboard . During this time, he participated in the

. In 1901, the navy assigned him to . As a lieutenant commander, he served as navigating officer aboard . During

, Althouse served as

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

to the commander in chief of the

and commanded , for which he received the

. He retired with the rank of

Governorship

Althouse served two terms as Naval Governor of Guam; he served his first term from February 7, 1922, to December 8, 1922. During his first term, he made significant changes to the Guamanian education system. In an effort to promote the spread of English among local children, he burned a large number of Chamorro-English dictionaries and banned the use of Chamorro in the classroom and on playgrounds. Due to a shortage of classrooms, classrooms were made

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

. He based the new system on the educational system of

and demanded that teachers stick to a rigid syllabus. His second term took place from December 14, 1922, to August 4, 1923.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Althouse, Adelbert 1869 births 1954 deaths Governors of Guam United States Naval Academy alumni American military personnel of the Spanish–American War United States Navy personnel of World War I Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States) American educational reformers