Career As Educator
Glenn began teaching in the schools of Auburn and Evergreen, Alabama before being appointed principal of Paul Hayne School in Birmingham, Alabama in 1899. He was soon promoted to Assistant Superintendent of the Birmingham school district in 1908, and upon the death of longtime superintendent John Herbert Phillips in 1921, became superintendent of that district. As superintendent, Glenn implemented character education programs in the Birmingham schools, among the first such programs in the United States.
Birmingham faced significant growth in the 1920s, and Glenn shepherded a massive school building program for the district. Between 1923 and 1930, Birmingham passed two major bond issues to construct dozens of schools; today, the majority of Birmingham's 70 schools were built during Glenn's 1920s building program. Glenn also pushed for significant expansion of educational opportunities for African Americans, particularly in the area of vocational education, a position which earned him the enmity of the Ku Klux Klan.
In 1937, Glenn was elected president of the National Education Association, and also served as the head of the American Association of School Administrators. Glenn retired as superintendent of the Birmingham schools in 1942.
Read more about this topic: Charles B. Glenn
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