James Edward Allen Jr. (April 25, 1911 – October 16, 1971) was the

Commissioner of Education of the State of New York The Commissioner of Education of the State of New York is the head of the State Education Department, chosen by the Board of Regents. The Commissioner also serves as the President of the University of the State of New York The University of the ...

from 1955 to 1969 and served briefly as

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...

's U.S. Commissioner of Education. He ordered New York school boards to comply with the 1962

U. S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

order banning prayer in New York schools and began

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

of New York Public Schools.

Biography

Allen was born in

Elkins, West Virginia Elkins is a city in and the county seat of Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. The community was incorporated in 1890 and named in honor of Stephen Benton Elkins, a U.S. Senator from West Virginia. The population was 6,950 at the ...

, on April 25, 1911. His father was a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...

minister and he earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from

Davis & Elkins College Davis & Elkins College (D&E) is a private college in Elkins, West Virginia. History The school was founded in 1904 and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. It was named for Henry G. Davis and his son-in-law Stephen B. Elkins, who were ...

in 1932. He worked for the West Virginia State Department of Education for six years before attending

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, where he earned his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in education in 1942 and his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in 1945. In 1947, he went to work for the

New York Department of Education The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the supervision for all public schools in New York and all standardized testing, as well as the production and administration of ...

. He became Deputy Commissioner of Education in 1950 and Commissioner in 1955. In 1960, he was opposed to school districts drawn up along racial lines and began having local school boards redraw boundaries to end racial disparities in 1962. In June 1962, the Supreme Court banned prayer in New York public schools, an order Allen directed local school boards to follow. In 1969, President Richard Nixon appointed him U.S. Commissioner of Education. Nixon, Richard M. Statement Announcing the Nomination of Dr. James E. Allen, Jr., as Assistant Secretary for Education and Commissioner of Education. February 3, 1969. Online. February 11, 2009.
/ref> His strong support for desegregation caused friction however, and President Nixon removed him the following year. He went from there to the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton. He and his wife died in a plane crash on October 16, 1971, in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

Sources

*Lichtenstein, Nelson et al. ''Political Profiles.'' Volume 3, "The Kennedy Years." pp 7–8. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 1976.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen Jr., James E. 1911 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American politicians Accidental deaths in Arizona American Presbyterians Commissioners of Education of the State of New York Davis & Elkins College alumni Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni People from Elkins, West Virginia United States Bureau of Education people Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1971 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States