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Lewis R. Alderman (1872-1965) Lewis Alderman was born in Dayton, October and graduated from University of Oregon in 1898.
"In 1900 Alderman was back in Yamhill County, as principal of one of McMinnville's schools; at the end of the year he was their school superintendent. Then in 1904 he was elected county school superintendent for Yamhill County and he instituted one of the many innovative things that marked his life; a juvenile county fair, with more than 4,000 exhibits and 17,000 people attending. In 1906 he became Superintendent of Schools for Eugene, then a University of Oregon faculty member and in January, 1911 he became Superintendent of Schools for Oregon.
He resigned in 1913, to become Portland's Superintendent of Schools. Benson Tech and night schools for foreign and native born citizens were put into effect. Then a myriad of activities on the national level: working in an education program for our military left in Europe after the 1918 armistice, which resulted in his appointment as Director of Education of the enlisted men in the Navy; in 1924 a leave of absence from the U.S. Navy to assist in making a survey of New York City Schools, which developed into his becoming Chief of the Service Division in the USO Office of Education.
His lifetime of work included everything from assisting children in their learning habits to rehabilitative training of felons, concluding with an adult education program whereby over a million people learned to read and write.
Married to Alice Barber the year after university graduation, they had a daughter and two sons. Mrs. Alderman died when they were living in Washington DC in 1920. Four years later he married Lola Lake, then secretary to one of the U.S. Civil Service Commissioners. Dr. Alderman returned to Dayton in 1942. He died January 31, 1965."
[Source: City of Dayton Oregon Official Website: http://www.ci.dayton.or.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={4A21CC8E-F897-4694-AA53-43F8F33F6A33}&DE={D40F22A9-0FFA-4ED5-B4E5-8A6C9480FDA6}]
The collection contains, scrapbooks, speeches, radio talks on education, correspondence and documents on adult education in the Navy, writings, manuscripts, and publications about adult education, and an autobiography.
The autobiography includes several versions and personal autobiographical data includes awards, certificates, commendations, appointments, news stories, family and personal scrapbooks, and letters.
The scrapbooks concern adult education in the southern highlands in the 1930s.
U.S. Navy material includes correspondence documents concerning the first adult education program within the Navy.
Writings include speeches, radio talks, and other addresses and mostly concern adult education.
Published works contain reports and articles on adult education. There is one manuscript/publication titled The History of Education in Portland, from a WPA adult education Project (1937).