Duane Doty (1834–November 17, 1902) was an American educator, civil engineer, and administrator that served as

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

of the public school systems in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and who worked for the

Pullman Car Company The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...

as the town manager of their

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

of Pullman,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Early life

Doty was born in 1834 in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. His father was Samuel Doty. Doty attended the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, graduating in 1856.

Career

Educational

Doty was hired in 1864 as superintendent of schools in Detroit. He held this job for ten years. Since the state's only

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...

, the

Michigan State Normal School Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

, was producing an insufficient number of teachers to meet the demand in Detroit, in 1868 Doty launched an experimental teacher training course that was offered to select female seniors at Detroit high schools. Doty also attempted, unsuccessfully, to create a normal school in Detroit. Doty also served a stint as the secretary of the

Detroit Board of Education Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States and high school students in the insular city of Highland Park. The district, which replaced the original Detr ...

. Doty was a staunch

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. In 1868, 1870 and 1874, Doty was the party's nominee for Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction. In 1874, his candidacy was also backed by the Independent Reform Party. In January 1875, Doty joined the book buying firm of E. B. Smith & Co. He resigned as superintendent. Later in 1875, Doty moved to Chicago to serve as assistant superintendent of

Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. ...

, a job he was appointed to by the

Chicago Board of Education The Chicago Board of Education serves as the board of education (school board) for the Chicago Public Schools. The board traces its origins to the Board of School Inspectors, created in 1837. The board is currently appointed solely by the mayor ...

on September 14 of that year. From 1877 until 1880, he served as

superintendent of Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools is headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) appointed by the mayor of Chicago. Currently serving as CEO is Pedro Martinez. This job is equivalent to a superintendent, and, before 1995, the occupant of this office was known ...

. He was appointed in June 1877 after the resignation of

Josiah Little Pickard Josiah Little Pickard (March 17, 1824 – March 28, 1914) was the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin, 1860–1864, and the sixth President of the University of Iowa, 1878–1887. Born in Rowley, Massachusetts, Pickard grew up ...

, who alleged that the Chicago Board of Education had pushed him out in order to appoint Doty, an allegation which Doty denied was true. On June 25, 1880, Doty was removed from office by the Chicago Board of Education, which installed Central High School principal George R. Howland as his successor. When the Board voted on a superintendent Doty had received four votes to Howland's nine votes. In 1885, Doty submitted an application with the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

seeking to be appointed as

United States commissioner of education The Commissioner of Education was the title given to the head of the federal Office of Education, which was historically a unit within and originally assigned to the United States Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior in the United ...

Pullman Car Company

After being fired as superintendent, Doty left the field of education, taking a job with the

. He would serve as the inaugural town manager of the

of Pullman,

. Working as a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

, he surveyed and plotted the layout of the town. He is also believed to have possibly have shaped the vision for the town's schools. His wife, Margarita Doty, was involved in Pullman as well, including being responsible for writing an 1893 guide to the town, which spoke glowingly of it. Doty conducted reports and studies about railroads for the Pullman Car Company. Doty also, anonymously, did publicity work for Pullman Car Company.

Death

Doty died November 17, 1902, at his daughter's home in Pullman. He was survived by his daughter and his son.

Legacy

The

Duane Doty School The Duane Doty School is a school building located at 10225 3rd Street in Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. It is the oldest Arts and Crafts-style school building in Detroit, and likely one of th ...

in Detroit is named for Doty. Doty Avenue, in the Pullman area of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, is named for Doty.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doty, Duane 1834 births 1902 deaths People from Chicago People from Detroit Educators from Illinois Educators from Michigan Educators from Ohio University of Michigan alumni Superintendents of Chicago Public Schools Superintendents of Detroit Public Schools Community District Michigan Democrats Illinois Democrats 18th-century American politicians 18th-century American educators