Hutch Tech Class of 1988: July 2013

Chester A. Kowal, Buffalo mayor, 1962–1965
Stanley M. Makowski, Buffalo mayor, 1974–1977
Frank A. Sedita, Buffalo mayor, 1958–1961, 1966–1973
Thomas Matheny, Buffalo Sabres, Database Marketing Manager 2004–Present
Michael Bennett, Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning Choreographer, (Attended for 2 years.)
Charles Clough, Painter
Leonard F. Walentynowicz, Former Assistant Secretary of State
Paul Kropp, Young Adult Author
David F. Smith, Chairman and CEO of National Fuel Gas Corporation
Wallace E. Cunningham, Noted Architect
Anne Rogovin, Author, Educator, and wife of noted photographer Milton Rogovin
Clifford Stoll, Astronomer, inventor, computer security expert.
Harold Arlen, Academy Award winning Composer most famous for writing the music for Over the Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz.

Doing some searches on the school I found the name Earl McGrath listed as a graduate in 1920 ans a US commissioner of Education.

Here is what I found at the President Truman Library:

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hstpaper/mcgrath.htm

U.S. Commissioner of Education, 1949-1953

The papers of Earl J. McGrath consist of microfilmed copies of his speeches, articles, and other public statements and published writings as U.S. Commissioner of Education. The collection documents McGrath's involvement in education policy during the Truman administration; his views on issues affecting elementary and secondary schools as well as colleges and universities during this period; and his support for a program of federal aid to education.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: Three reels of microfilm.
Access: Open.
Copyright: Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other writings in this collection is assumed to remain with the authors of the documents, or their heirs.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1902 (November 16)		Born, Buffalo, New York
1928		B.A., University of Buffalo
1928-42		Member of faculty and administrator, University of Buffalo; fellow at University of Chicago; educational consultant
1930		M.A., University of Buffalo
1936		Ph.D., University of Chicago
1942-44		Lt. Commander, U.S. Navy, in charge of educational services, Bureau of Naval Personnel
1944 (May 12)		Married Dorothy Ann Leemon
1945-48		Dean, College of Liberal Arts, University of Iowa
1946-47		Served on the President's Commission on Higher Education
1948-49		Professor, University of Chicago
1949-53		U.S. Commissioner of Education
1953-93		Administrator and professor at University of Kansas City, Columbia University, Temple University, University of Arizona, and elsewhere
1993 (January 14)		Died, Tucson, Arizona

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of Earl J. McGrath were copied on microfilm in 1958 from original documents in the possession of the McGrath family. They consist of McGrath's speeches, articles, and other public statements and published writings during his tenure as U.S. Commissioner of Education, from 1949 to 1953.

A professor and college administrator, McGrath served on the President's Commission on Higher Education in 1946-47. In 1949, while a member of the faculty of the University of Chicago, he was selected to head the Office of Education, with the title of U.S. Commissioner of Education. Administratively, the Office of Education was part of the Federal Security Agency during this period. It was responsible for collecting statistics and other information pertaining to education in the United States; conducting research and reporting on educational problems; administering grants-in-aid and special programs; and advising state and local school officials, university administrators, and other members of the profession.

McGrath's years as Commissioner coincided with an "educational crisis" in the United States, as public schools struggled to accommodate increased enrollments-a result of the higher birth rates that began in the 1940s-with resources that were widely regarded as inadequate. Many of McGrath's public statements had to do with the urgent need for new schools, more teachers at higher salaries, and a greater commitment of national resources to education. As part of this agenda, he repeatedly advocated a program of federal aid to education, but legislation to this effect was stymied in Congress along with most of President Truman's other "Fair Deal" proposals.

McGrath's public statements and writings also dealt with such topics as the need for foreign language and science instruction in the schools; the future of higher education as many World War II veterans completed their studies under the GI Bill; improvements in elementary, secondary, and vocational education; efforts to combat the spread of polio among schoolchildren; the establishment of junior colleges; developments in teacher-training; and the role of American education in the Cold War struggle against communism. McGrath avoided taking controversial positions on several of the most contentious educational issues of his time. He sidestepped the thorny question of federal aid to parochial schools (see 1949, no. 3). He criticized the requirement of anti-communist loyalty oaths for teachers, but added that teachers should sign such oaths in obedience to public opinion (see 1949, no. 26). And he carefully refrained from involving himself in the furor over racial segregation in the public schools, pointing out that the Office of Education had no authority to interfere with state or local policies (see 1953, no. 5).

The papers of Earl J. McGrath are organized in a single series, the Speeches, Articles, and Public Statements File, and are arranged in chronological order. The accompanying item list contains information concerning each of the approximately 281 documents in the collection. The documents from 1949 and 1950, and the first twenty-three documents from 1951, can be found on the first reel of microfilm. The second reel contains the rest of the documents from 1951, all of the documents from 1952, and the first twenty-two documents from 1953. The last three documents from 1953 can be found on the third reel. More information about Earl J. McGrath and education policy during the Truman administration can be found at the Truman Library in the following collections, among others:

Harry S. Truman Papers: White House Central Files: Official File (especially OF No. 7-C and No. 107).
Harry S. Truman Papers: President's Secretary's Files (especially the General File and the Subject File).
Harry S. Truman Papers: Post-Presidential Papers (especially the Name File, under "McGrath, Earl J.").
Oscar R. Ewing Papers.
Ralph C. M. Flynt Papers.
John D. Russell Papers.