John C. Daniels (April 25, 1936 – March 14, 2015) was an American politician who served as the mayor of

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

from 1990 until 1994.

Early life and career

Daniels was born in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

.The Parade of Cities
''

Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...

'', February 1990, pages 30-31 He attended high school at

James Hillhouse High School James Hillhouse High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in New Haven, Connecticut. It serves grades 9–12. Formerly New Haven High School, it is the oldest public high school in New Haven, and is part of the New Haven Publi ...

in New Haven, where he was a standout

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player.Jack Cavanaugh
The Mayor Referees Football And Politics
''The New York Times'', November 18, 1990. He continued his education at

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

, where he had an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

to play football and earned a bachelor's degree in economics, and

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

, where he earned a master's degree in urban studies. Before being elected to the State Senate, Daniels taught in the

West Haven West Haven is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located on the coast of Long Island Sound. The city is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. At the 2020 census, the population of the city was 55,584. Hi ...

School System. In the years following his term as mayor, Daniels returned to teaching in the

Hamden Hamden is the name of several places in the United States of America. It also is a surname. Places *Hamden, Connecticut *Hamden Township, Becker County, Minnesota *Hamden, Missouri *Hamden, New York *Hamden, Ohio *Hamden, Oklahoma Name *Erika Ham ...

and East Haven school systems.

Political career

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, Daniels served in the

Connecticut State Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

. Before he was elected mayor, Daniels served in the

representing Connecticut's Tenth Senatorial District, which included parts of

and

. He also served on the New Haven Board of Aldermen in the 1970s. In 1989, he challenged incumbent New Haven mayor Democrat

Biagio DiLieto Biagio "Ben" DiLieto (November 25, 1922 – November 8, 1999) was Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, from 1980 to 1989, serving as the city's 26th mayor. DiLieto was chief of police in New Haven from 1970 to 1976.Nick RavoMayor of New Haven Won't ...

in the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

. DeLieto chose not to run and, instead, supported his aide, John DeStefano, Jr. Daniels won the hotly contested primary which, in heavily Democratic New Haven, was tantamount to winning the general election. Daniels became the city's first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

mayor. He was easily reelected in 1991. He stepped down after two terms and was succeeded by DeStefano. Among Daniels' accomplishments as mayor was the introduction of community based policing to deal with the growing crime and drug problems in New Haven. Under his administration, the city became a model of community policing and pioneered many police strategies later adopted by larger cities. Daniels was a deacon at the Dixwell Congregational Church (

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

) in New Haven. In 2006, the John C. Daniels Elementary School opened, named in his honor. A city of New Haven public school, it is operated as an interdistrict

magnet school In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. Normally, a student will attend an elementary school, and this also determines the middle school and high school they attend unless they mo ...

providing

bilingual education In bilingual education, students are taught in two (or more) languages. It is distinct from learning a second language as a subject because both languages are used for instruction in different content areas like math, science, and history. The t ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for students from prekindergarten to grade 8.

Death

Daniels died on March 14, 2015.John C. Daniels-obituary
legacy.com; accessed April 17, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, John 1936 births 2015 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Connecticut Politicians from Macon, Georgia African-American state legislators in Connecticut Democratic Party Connecticut state senators Connecticut city council members Mayors of New Haven, Connecticut Occidental College alumni United Church of Christ members Villanova University alumni Villanova Wildcats football players African-American mayors in Connecticut 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians Hillhouse High School alumni 20th-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly