Philander Priestly Claxton (September 28, 1862 – January 12, 1957) was an American educator.

Biography

Philander Claxton was born in Bedford County,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. He was educated at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

where he obtained both his Bachelor (1882) and Masters of Arts (1887). He continued his studies at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

, as well as in Germany. Claxton received an honorary

Litt.D. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

from

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

in 1906. He became the superintendent of schools in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

(1883–93) and subsequently he became

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

at the North Carolina State Normal and Industrial College from 1893 to 1902, and in 1896 director of that institution's Practice and Observation School. Professor Claxton was also editor of the ''North Carolina Journal of Education'' (1897-1901) and of the ''Atlantic Educational Journal'' (1901–03). He then moved back to his home state of Tennessee in 1902 to take up the post of Professor of Education at the University of Tennessee, where he taught until 1911. Claxton was a member of the Southern Education Board, which during the early years of the twentieth century worked assiduously to promote interest in public schooling in the South. At the

, he organized and headed the first Department of Education and served as the superintendent (1902–11) of the Summer School of the South which, during a sixteen-year existence, improved the education of over 32,000 teachers in southern schools. He had a distinguished career as the

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 ...

. The

United States Bureau of Education The Office of Education, at times known as the Department of Education and the Bureau of Education, was a small unit in the Federal Government of the United States within the U.S. Department of the Interior from 1867 to 1972. It is now separated ...

became an important branch of the government as under his guidance its role and activities were substantially expanded. As Commissioner of Education under three presidents, Claxton labored through writings and addresses to raise in the public consciousness the connection between improved education and a vigorous and prosperous democracy. He also helped to write the legislation authorizing rehabilitative education for

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

veterans A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

and developed the first plan for federal aid for

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...

. Claxton continued in the academic education world after he retired from the Commission in 1921. He was provost of the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

until 1923 when he moved to

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

to become Superintendent of Schools in

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

. He held that latter post from 1923 to 1929. In 1930, he returned once more to Tennessee where he again became involved in academic education as the President of the Austin Peay Normal School in Clarksville until he retired in 1946. While his role was more directly focused on the improvement of schools at the lower levels — for which he has been hailed as the Horace Mann of the South — he exercised considerable influence on higher education. Two of his public pronouncements perhaps best sum up his concern for issues surrounding teacher education: and

Legacy

The Philander P. Claxton Award was initiated by the Tennessee Conference of the

American Association of University Professors The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership includes over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations. The AAUP's stated mission is ...

in 1986 to honor an individual who had made significant contributions to higher education in Tennessee. The recipient is to embody the highest ideals of the academic profession and of the Association. Claxton also has an elementary school named for him. P.P. Claxton elementary school in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

is named for him.

Claxton, Georgia Claxton is a city in Evans County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,746 at the 2010 census, up from 2,276 in 2000. It is the county seat of Evans County. History The town had its visionary, W.R. Hendricks. In May 1890 there were only a ...

is reputed, by some historians, to be named for Claxton.Claxton Enterprise
Accessed May 23, 2013. Claxton Elementary School in Claxton, Anderson County, Tennessee in 1915 was named in his honor. Still an active school.

References

External links

Austin Peay State University
in ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture''
Claxton Family Papers, 1942-1954
Tennessee State Library and Archives
Philander Priestly Claxton
in ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture''
Summer School of the South
in ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Claxton, Philander 1862 births 1957 deaths Johns Hopkins University alumni People from Bedford County, Tennessee Presidents of Austin Peay State University United States Bureau of Education people University of Tennessee alumni Educators from Tennessee