Albert Cullum (November 1921 – July 2003) was an American

Elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

teacher in the 1960s. Instead of the standard ''

Dick and Jane ''Dick and Jane'' are the two main characters created by Zerna Sharp for a series of basal readers written by William S. Gray to teach children to read. The characters first appeared in the ''Elson-Gray Readers'' in 1930 and continued in a subse ...

'' style of teaching, he opted to introduce his children to classic literature such as

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and Greek Dramas. Unlike other teachers at the time, Cullum strongly believed that learning and play could be combined in the classroom. Cullum was the author of numerous books about education including ''The Geranium On The Windowsill Just Died But Teacher You Went Right On'', which sold over half a million copies. He taught at St. Luke's School in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

in the 1940s, and at Midland School in

Rye, New York Rye is a coastal suburb of New York City in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the Town of Rye, which has more land area than the city. The City of Rye, formerly the Village of Rye, was part of the Town until it r ...

in the 1950s. He then went on to become a professor of education at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

and at

Stonehill College Stonehill College is a Private college, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1948 by the Congregation of Holy Cross and is located on ...

. Many of Cullum's pedagogical experiments and class performances were captured on film by filmmaker

Robert Downey Sr Robert John Downey ( Elias Jr.; June 24, 1936 – July 7, 2021) was an American filmmaker and actor. He was known for writing and directing the underground film ''Putney Swope'', a satire on the New York Madison Avenue (Manhattan)#Advertising in ...

. Albert Cullum died at his home in Massachusetts near the campus of Stonehill College in July 2003 at the age of 81. A documentary called ''A Touch of Greatness'' was made about his life in 2004.A Touch of Greatness
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Bibliography

*''Greek and Roman Plays: for the intermediate grades'', paramount communications company, 1993 *''Blackboard, Blackboard on the Wall, Who Is the Fairest One of All?'',

Harlin Quist Harlin Quist (died May 13, 2000, age 69) born Harlin Bloomquist was a publisher noted for innovative children's books. Early years Harlin was born and raised in Virginia, Minnesota, attended Carnegie Tech and began his career in 1958 as an off-Br ...

, Inc. 1978 *''The Geranium On The Windowsill Just Died But Teacher You Went Right On''

, Inc. 1971. Adapted into a musical starring renowned child actor Dalton Hartwell, and resulting in his five Wilde Award Nominations. *''Push Back the Desks'', MacMillan Publishing Company, 1967.

References

External links

A Touch of Greatness
site for

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Ho ...

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Short Biography
1921 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American educators 20th-century American male writers {{educationist-stub