Willis, Benjamin C.

Biographical notes:

Biographical Note

December 23, 1901 Born, Baltimore, Maryland 1920s Bachelor of Arts, George Washington University Masters, University of Maryland 1930 1934 Principal, Catonsville High School, Maryland 1947 1953 Superintendent of public schools in Yonkers and Buffalo, New York 1953 1966 Superintendent of public schools in Chicago, Illinois 1961 Proposal to purchase aluminum portable classroom units approved by Chicago Board of Education 1962 1963 Protested by Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders for using portable classrooms, or "Willis Wagons" as they were called by protesters, to relieve overcrowding at schools in Chicago's South Side 1963 Helps develop the federal Vocational Education Act 1965 Helps develop the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act 1968 1972 Works as an independent educational consultant 1970 1972 Superintendent of schools in Broward County, Florida 1972 Retires from education August 27, 1988 Died, Plantation, Florida

From the guide to the Benjamin C. Willis papers, 1921-1982, (Hoover Institution Archives)

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