OFFICE OF EDUCATION AND DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE;

Background

For almost a century the United States valued education enough to dedicate a special governmental office to it. The Office of Education was formed in 1867 in President Andrew Johnson's administration and was under the Department of the Interior. In 1939 the office came under the Federal Security Agency. Although the Office of Education had no direct administrative authority over the various state educational agencies, it did have specific tasks. The office conducted educational research and collected statistics and other facts about education; it administered federal grants-in-aid for vocational training in a variety of fields; and it helped in program planning with respect to school standards in administration, instruction, teacher training, and supervision. Its legal mandate was to "aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country."

A New Secretary

On 1 April 1953 President Eisenhower created the cabinet-level Department of Health, Education, and Welfare when he signed Joint Resolution 223. Sworn in on 11 April, Oveta Culp Hobby became the first secretary of HEW. During the decade she and two other secretaries dealt with a variety of crises in education.

Chaotic Year

During 1954 Hobby struggled to meet the demands of desegregation and shortages of both teachers and classrooms while struggling to distribute effectively the newly licensed Salk vaccine to protect the country's children from polio. It was a chaotic time for the new department, and Hobby resigned after a year. On 13 July 1955 President Eisenhower named Marion B. Folsom to replace her.