Ella Flagg Young

American suffragette (1845–1918)

Ella Flagg Young (January 15, 1845 – October 26, 1918) was an American educator who served as superintendent of Chicago Public Schools. She was the first female head of a large United States city school system. She also served as the first female president of the National Education Association.

Ella Flagg was born January 15, 1845, in Buffalo, New York Young identified strongly with the women's suffrage movement. Young was a significant influence on John Dewey's thinking when he authored The School and Society. She was first made principal of Scammon School in 1876, and three years later being promoted to principal of Skinner School (one of the city's biggest and most prestigious elementary schools). From 1887 through 1889, Young was a district superintendent Chicago Public Schools. Young was principal of the Chicago Normal School from 1905 until becoming appointed superintendent of Chicago Public Schools in 1909. She took office on August 2. She was the first woman in America to head a large city school system. At the time, the school district had 290,000 enrolled students and owned property worth $50,000,000. It was said that no woman had ever held such an important public office in the United States before. With an annual salary of $10,000, she was paid more than any woman had ever been paid for a public service position. Young's mother died in 1862, and her brother died in 1868. Her father and brother both died within a year of her husband's death. She was the last remaining member of her family line. She left an estate valued at $60,000. On October 28, 1918, Chicago flew its flags at half mast and draped the Chicago Board of Education's board room in black in recognition of Young's passing.

The University of Illinois honored her with the degree of LL. D.

The Chicago Public School system named an elementary school (K 8) in honor of Dr. Young in 1924. The school is located in the north Austin neighborhood and continues to be used as an elementary school. The school is traditional masonry construction, with a central boiler heating system. In 1998, an addition was built to the school almost doubling the usable floorspace, and the masonry was renovated and the windows were glazed.