Preliminary Guide to the Washington State University Education College Minutes, Correspondence, Reports, 1906-1965

The early history of Washington State University's College of Education, as revealed in these records, was closely bound to the career of Dean Alfred Alexander Cleveland (b.1876) and the development of primary and secondary education within Washington State. Born in Oregon, Cleveland acquired a Ph.D. in psychology from Clark University in 1906. In 1907 A. A. Cleveland joined the faculty of the, then, state College of Washington as Assistant Professor of Psychology. Between 1908 and 1910 he becamethe first full-time professor and then temporary head of the education department. In those times education and psychology were part of the same department. During the 1917 reorganization WSU was divided into five colleges and four schools. Cleveland's responsibilities then included the deanship of the School of Education and directorship of the annual Summer Session. The records indicate the important role the Summer Session played in enlarging the formal training of primary and secondary teachers in the State of Washington.

Thus from the early years Dean Cleveland was to play an important role in developing education and psychology at WSU. Often in those years he was the only full-time teacher in the department of education. In addition, he served on many statewide educational committees and groups. His students were potent forces within the State of Washington calling for increased attention to quality education for all and adequate teacher preparation. Cleveland served as Dean of the School of Education until his retirement early in 1941.

Dean Cleveland's replacement, J. Murry Lee, came to WSU in January 1941 directly from the faculty of the University of Wisconsin where he had been an active scholar, teacher, and consultant to educational groups. He held a Ph.D. in Education from Columbia University and had experience as a school principal in Los Angeles.

Upon arrival at WSU he proceeded to continue many of Dean Cleveland's policies but he also moved rapidly to help meet the impending war needs of the United States. Lee's first years at WSU were interrupted when he was called to serve in the U. S. Navy from 1943 to 1945. Cleveland temporarily resumed his duties as dean of the School of Education during Lee's absence. However, to ease Cleveland's administrative burden Lee removed the direction of the Summer Session from the Dean's Office. He placed fellow faculty member L. L. Chisholm in temporary charge of the Summer Session. The records show that this new situation produced great strain between the temporary Dean and the temporary Director of the Summer Session.

Upon Lee's return direction of the Summer Session reverted back to the Dean's Office. In addition, Lee began to take up the problems of post-war American education. For example, the program of inservice teacher Preparation was expanded to meet the new demands of returning veterans and the predicted post-war "baby boom." The records show that the WSU College of education actively worked to secure the same objectives it had always sought--quality education for all Washington State citizens through high quality teacher preparation.