McDonald, Ralph Waldo, 1903-1977

Ralph Waldo McDonald was an educator, legislator, and North Carolina gubernatorial candidate in the Democratic primary elections of 1936 and 1944. He was associated with the extension service and taught in the education and radio departments at the University of North Carolina beginning in the late 1930s and served as president of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, 1951-1961.

From the description of Ralph Waldo McDonald papers, 1936. WorldCat record id: 463333497

Ralph Waldo McDonald (1903-1977) was an educator, legislator, and North Carolina gubernatorial candidate in the Democratic primary elections of 1936 and 1944. McDonald, a native of Gallatin County, Ill., was raised in Illinois and Arkansas and graduated in 1923 from Hendrix College in Conway, Ark. He then was a high school math teacher in Fork Smith, Ark., 1923-1924; principal of the Sunnyside Consolidated Schools, Fayetteville, N.C., 1924-1927; and head of the Department of Psychology and Education at Salem College, Winston-Salem, N.C., 1928-1934. He received a doctorate in educational psychology from Duke University in 1933.

McDonald's political career began in 1934 when he was elected to a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives for Forsyth County, where he promoted improving public education finances and opposed the recently instituted sales tax. In 1936, he ran for governor of North Carolina in the Democratic primary against Clyde Hoey and Alexander H. Sandy Graham. McDonald positioned himself as the antiestablishment candidate and aligned himself with the programs of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt through his campaign slogan, Let's have a New Deal in North Carolina. The first primary resulted in a run-off with Hoey, which McDonald lost among much speculation of voter fraud and electoral misconduct. After his defeat, McDonald campaigned for Hoey. He entered law school at the University of North Carolina in September 1936, but he contracted tuberculosis in 1937 and was forced to abandon his studies. After his recovery, he accepted a position with the extension services and as professor of education and head of the radio department at the University of North Carolina. He campaigned again for governor in 1944, but was defeated by R. Gregg Cherry. Thereafter, he served on various national educational committees, including the National Education Association, the National Commission on Teacher Education and Professional Standards, and the National Education Association's Department of Higher Education. He served as president of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, 1951-1961.

McDonald married Athleen Taylor of Arkansas in 1923. They had a daughter, Athalea.

From the guide to the Ralph Waldo McDonald Papers, 1936, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)