Manford Byrd Jr. (May 29, 1928 – January 17, 2021) was an American educator and education administrator and former school superintendent. Byrd served as the 21st superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools district from March 25, 1985, until August 1, 1989. Byrd is noted as the first African-American man to serve as superintendent of the district (with the first African-American being a woman, his predecessor Ruth B. Love).

Early life, education and career

Born on May 29, 1928, in

Brewton, Alabama Brewton is a city in and the county seat of Escambia County, Alabama, Escambia County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 5,276. Brewton is located in south central Alabama, just north of ...

, to Manford Byrd Sr. and Evelyn (nee Turk). For high school, Byrd attended high school at Southern Normal High School; graduating in 1946.United Funeral Parlors, Manford Byrd Jr. (1928-2021)
/ref> Byrd graduated from Central College (in Iowa) in 1949, with a bachelor's degree in

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

. He would receive his Master of Arts in education from Atlanta University in 1954. Byrd would later receive a Ph.D. in education from Northwestern University in 1978. Byrd worked as an educator in Quincy, Illinois, in 1949, working there until 1954.

Chicago Public Schools

Career

In 1954, Byrd began working for Chicago Public Schools. Byrd held various roles over the years, including teacher, assistant principal, elementary school principal, high school principal, and an assistant to the general principal. In 1968, Byrd was appointed deputy superintendent. At only the age of 39, this made him one of the highest-ranked African American public sector educational leaders in the United States. Byrd later was made deputy superintendent for instruction and deputy superintendent for pupil services and system-wide reorganization. Byrd was passed over several times for the role of superintendent. Many believed he was not selected due to his race. His family would later recount that he was told he had not been selected due to his lack of the Ph.D. Byrd earned a Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1978. In March 1981, when Ruth B. Love was hired as the district's superintendent, many African Americans, including prominent figures such as

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...

, were critical that the job had not instead been given to Byrd. This sentiment came despite the fact that Love herself was African American. As

Chicago Alderman The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mont ...

Niles Sherman put it, "Ruth Love is not considered black at this moment by the black community".

Superintendency

On March 25, 1985, Byrd was appointed superintendent after the board voted not to renew Love's contract. During his tenure, in 1987, there was a teachers strike which lasted nineteen days, which, as of 2019, was the longest teachers strike in Chicago's history. Byrd was fired as superintendent on August 1, 1989. By this time, many black politicians, such as Jesse Jackson, argued that Byrd had been treated as a

scapegoat In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...

. He was fired because he was seen as resistant to the decentralization plan that the state of Illinois had passed to restructure the school district.

Later career

After leaving Chicago Public Schools he worked in private practice as an educational consultant.

Board memberships and honors

Over the years Byrd sat on the boards of directors for the Chicago State University foundation, Joint Negro Appeal, Mid-America Chapter of the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

, Council of the Great City Schools, Chicago

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

, and the United Church Board of World Ministries. Byrd also was a member of the boards of trustees for Central College and the Adler Planetarium. Byrd received more than 100 awards and commendations recognizing him for excellence in teaching and academic administration. This included honorary doctoral degrees from Central College, Hope College, and the National College of Education.

Personal life and death

Byrd and his wife Cheribelle Byrd were married from March 31, 1956, until his death. Together they had three sons, Carl, Bradley and Donald. Byrd lived on Chicago's South Side. Byrd was a member of

Trinity United Church of Christ Trinity United Church of Christ is a predominantly African-American church with more than 8,500 members. It is located in the Washington Heights community on the South Side of Chicago. It is the largest church affiliated with the United Church ...

, which has awarded a scholarship named for Byrd since 1982. Byrd died on January 17, 2021, at the age of 92, in Chicago.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrd, Manford Jr. 1928 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American educators Central College (Iowa) alumni Atlanta University alumni Northwestern University alumni Educators from Alabama People from Brewton, Alabama Educators from Chicago American school principals 20th-century African-American educators 21st-century African-American educators Superintendents of Chicago Public Schools