- William M. Hadley
Infobox Person
name = William M. Hadley
caption = William M. Hadley
birth_date = March 21, 1917
birth_place = Summerdale, AL
death_date = June 29, 1992
death_place = Magnolia Springs, AL
death_cause = Stroke
resting_place = Summerdale AL
alma_mater = University of Alabama
occupation = Teacher, Principal, Superintendant
spouse = Wilma (Polly) Funchess Hadley
children = Carol Joan Hadley, Rita Mable Hadley McNair, John William Hadley
parents = Joseph William and Pauline Elizabeth Simmons HadleyWilliam Moore (Bill) Hadley is credited as being one of the primary early proponents of the middle school movement in the United States, and one of the first such schools carries his name.
Bill Hadley, the youngest child of Joseph William and Pauline Elizabeth Simmons Hadley, was born in
Summerdale, AL , onMarch 21 ,1917 . He married Wilma (Polly) Funchess ofMobile, AL . Both Bill and Polly were students at Daphne Normal School inBaldwin County, AL at the time of their marriage. They both completed their teaching training and began their teaching careers in Baldwin County. Bill began teaching in 1937 and Polly in 1938. In 1942, he joined the Merchant Marines and served until the end ofWorld War II . Polly continued to teach in the Baldwin and Mobile school systems and raised their two daughters. At the end of the War, Bill joined his family in Mobile where he and his wife resumed their teaching careers.In 1948, he returned to the
University of Alabama where he completed his B.S. and M.A. degrees. His wife was a principal and teacher inTuscaloosa County , providing the means for her husband to complete his graduate degree in 1949.William Hadley accepted a position as State Supervisor of Education in the Alabama State Department inMontgomery, Alabama in the Spring of 1949. Through the State Department of Education he was recommended for and received a full fellowship by the General Education Board of theRockefeller Foundation toTeachers College, Columbia University ,New York City ,New York in the fall of 1949. He was employed as a full time instructor on the staff of Teachers College during the academic year of 1950-51. He also completed his Doctoral Dissertation during that year.Bill and Polly had three children: Carol Joan Hadley, born
September 17 ,1937 inFoley, Alabama ; Rita Mable Hadley, bornAugust 8 ,1939 inMobile, Alabama ; and John William Hadley, bornFebruary 13 ,1951 in New York City, New York. In June 1951 Bill accepted an Associate Professorship at theUniversity of Texas at Austin , and he moved his family there. After 13-1/2 months at the University, he accepted the Superintendency of Schools inAlice, Texas and two years later moved toMidland, Texas as Superintendent of Schools there. The University of Alabama offered William the opportunity to make a study of the professional teaching personnel inJefferson County, Alabama (including the city of Birmingham) on a contract basis. He accepted, completed the study, and then accepted his last professional post as Superintendent of Schools, Dist. #41, inGlen Ellyn, Illinois (1956-1974).William Hadley underwent
open heart surgery in 1973 and retired on total disability in June, 1974. He was honored at his retirement by having an annual (perpetual) scholarship given in his name by the Glen Ellyn Schools, and a multi-million dollar experimental middle or Junior High School named in his honor, William M. Hadley School, located inGlen Ellyn, Illinois . The school is credited with being one of the first of its kind in the United States.Bill and Polly moved to their retirement home in
Magnolia Springs, Alabama onJuly 1 ,1974 , where he lived until his death onJune 29 ,1992 .
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