13 Facts About Philander Claxton

Philander Priestly Claxton was an American educator and administrator.

Philander Claxton was educated at the University of Tennessee where he obtained both his Bachelor and Masters of Arts.

Philander Claxton continued his studies at Johns Hopkins University, as well as in Germany.

Philander Claxton became the superintendent of schools in North Carolina and subsequently he became professor of pedagogy and German 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 editor of the North Carolina Journal of Education and of the Atlantic Educational Journal.

Philander Claxton 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.

Philander 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.

Philander Claxton had a distinguished career as the United States Commissioner of Education.

Philander Claxton helped to write the legislation authorizing rehabilitative education for World War I veterans and developed the first plan for federal aid for vocational education.

Philander Claxton continued in the academic education world after he retired from the Commission in 1921.

Philander Claxton was provost of the University of Alabama until 1923 when he moved to Oklahoma to become Superintendent of Schools in Tulsa.

Philander Claxton held that latter post from 1923 to 1929.

Philander Claxton, Georgia is reputed, by some historians, to be named for Philander Claxton.