Principal James Harmon Hoose (1869)
Dr. James Harmon Hoose was the first principal in the history of the Cortland Normal School, serving from 1869 to 1891. A New York native, Hoose grew up in Parish in Oswego County on a farm. At the age of 18, he became the schoolmaster at his local school district, serving for one year before leaving to attain a higher education degree at Mexico Academy. After two terms at the academy, Hoose returned to teaching at his local school district. In 1861 he graduated from Genesee College (now known as Syracuse College), where he would later earn his Ph.D. degree. Before coming to Cortland, Hoose served as a math professor at Susquehanna Seminary in Binghamton and Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in Lima; an English professor at Brockport Normal school; and Head of the English Department at Cortland Academy in Homer. He also served as Principal at Pulaski Academy; Sharon Springs; Warnerville Seminary; and at Oswego’s Ward School no. 4. The New York School Journal said of Dr. Hoose that there was no one more superior in his field of work.
Dr. Hoose was known as a man of principle, never waving from his beliefs. A former student of Dr. Hoose, Arthur J. Baldwin, stated “He was unusual in his loyalty to the Normal School and to his ideals as to the teaching profession. He had a profound sense of right. If he thought a matter was right, he would hew to the line without regard to the consequences.” He wanted teaching to be recognized as a profession and teachers to be given more respect. He also believed that Normal School only serve as sites to prepare students for the teaching profession and not as institutions to prepare students for college.
In 1880, Dr. Hoose’s convictions got him involved in a controversy referred to at the time as “the Cortland Case.” On June 28th, 1880, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Neil Gilmour wrote a letter to Dr. Hoose asking for his resignation. Friction between Hoose, the Local Board, and Gilmour developed over Hoose’s position that the Cortland Normal school was a place to solely to train teachers and not to educate village children. Because of his unwillingness to bend or concede authority to the State Superintendent, Gilmour asked Hoose for his resignation. On July 12th, Dr. Hoose was officially dismissed by Gilmour, who named Dr. James M. Cassety as acting principal of the Cortland Normal School. A majority of the Local Board sided with Hoose and refused to recognize Cassety as principal. They appealed the case to the State Supreme Court. In the meantime, Cortland Normal School had two acting principals and a divided staff and student body. On February 7, 1881, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gilmour and Hoose was dismissed. Still, the faculty stood by Hoose. On April 26, 1882, Gilmour’s victory was overturned and Hoose was restored as Cortland’s principal.
This win, however, was not the end of Hoose’s trouble. On May 16, 1891, he was summoned by the Local Board whose members asked for his resignation. The board hoped that he would accept the resignation and leave gracefully, but Hoose refused to resign. There is debate over the Local Board’s rationale for Hoose’s resignation, and some claim it was an act of revenge by William Clark, Cortland Standard editor and new board member. Clark had called for Hoose’s resignation in 1880 and campaigned for his removal in the local newspaper. Reportedly still had held a grudge against Hoose and believed that the Local Board should have more control over the school than Hoose was willing to give. Because Dr. Hoose’s refused to resign, no diplomas were given during his last commencement. The Department of Public Instruction did not recognize the graduates. Instead, Hoose distributed pretend diplomas tied with a ribbon.Ill feelings continued after his forced removal and in 1892 the Local Board banned the use of Hoose’s textbook in the classroom.
Despite being dismissed and leaving the school in a controversy, many continued to hold Dr. Hoose in high esteem. A student told the Cortland Standard that he was “an unusual man” but that “there was something about his methods, his manner, his form of expression, that made a lasting impression upon an inquiring mind.” Years later, the student recalled that Dr. Hoose was “one of the greatest men with whom I have ever come in contact.” In Carey Brush’s book on the Cortland Normal School he states “Despite some undesirable personal traits and a tendency to be lax in administrative affairs, Hoose laid a firm foundation for the future growth of the Cortland Normal School. His advocacy of sound scholarship combined with the proper professional education work foreshadowed present-day programs in teacher education. After Hoose’s departure from the Cortland scene in the early 1890s, Cortland Normal School never again had a spokesman so well known in educational circles.” In 1925, a memorial plaque was erected in honor of him.
Sources: Ralston, Bessie Park Our Alma Mater, Cortland Standard