Ella Flagg Young

Ella Flagg was born January 15, 1845, in Buffalo, New York to Theodore and Jane (Reed) Flagg. Her parents were American-born, and of Scottish descent. Flagg was the youngest of three children. She did not attend school until the age of ten, but had, by then, already taught herself how to read and write. After only a few months she dropped out because she wasn't being intellectually challenged and because of the lack of support from her parents. At age 15, she took the certification examination to become a teacher and passed but was told she was too young to be a teacher. She was told she would never make it as a teacher by her mother but persevered and decided to set up her own practicum to test her potential in the classroom. She decided the classroom was right for her. She graduated in 1862 from the Chicago Normal School. She later studied part-time at the University of Chicago under John Dewey in 1895, and received her Ph.D. in 1900. Her dissertation was published under the title Isolation in the School. ==Career==

Young's career as an educator began in 1862. 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. She was the school superintendent who during the 1911 spring break requested all schoolchildren in the Chicago area to organize neighborhood searches for five-year-old Elsie Paroubek, who had disappeared April 8 of that year. In 1913, Young tendered her resignation. After controversy arose, with protest against her departure being led by Jane Addams and others, she was reappointed to the position. Young permanently resigned from the position in 1915. ==Personal life and death==

In 1868, she married merchant William Young. They had no children together. William died in 1873. 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. ==Legacy==

The University of Illinois honored her with the degree of LL.D. Eponymous school 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. ==Publications==

• Isolation in the School (1900) • Ethics in the School (1902) • Some Types of Modern Educational Theory (1902) She also founded and edited The Educational Bi-Monthly, a free journal for teachers. ==See also==