Who Was J. H. Putman?

Dr.  J.H. Putman, 1866-1940

John Harold Putman made enough of an impression that he caught the attention of famous portrait photographer, Yousuf Karsh.

Putman

Karsh

Dr. J.H. Putman, Chief Inspector of the Ottawa Public Schools, 1910-1937


"A man of massive build with beetling eyebrows, he dominates an assembly physically as well as mentally. . ."1

"To the young teacher there was in Dr. Putman's appearance something of the menace of an approaching thunderstorm. Many tales of Dr. Putman's inspections are still heard, depicting a gruff, blunt man who came into the classroom, sat at the teacher's desk and so surrounded himself with a newspaper that he was not to be seen at all. However, there was no doubt that behind the newspaper barrier not a word, nor a tone, nor an inflection was missed."1

"Underlying all Dr. Putman's reforms was his insistence upon the good teacher as the crucial factor in the educational situation. The outstanding teacher was, he felt, without price . . ."1

By S. Fraser

On October 19, 1961—twenty-one years after his death—J.H. Putman's name was immortalized when His Excellency, Major-General Georges Vanier, Governor-General of Canada, officially opened J.H. Putman Intermediate School. Constructed in 1960, the new school was located in the city’s west end near the present Highway 417 Maitland exit.

The school’s name remained unchanged until amalgamation of the Ottawa and Carleton boards of education in 1997 brought about a new name: J.H. Putman Public School.

Who was J.H. Putman? What distinguished him so that a world renowned portrait photographer (Yousuf Karsh) would capture his image, and a Governor-General would dedicate a school in Putman's honour many years after his death?


Dr. John Harold Putman, (1866-1940) was described by his contemporaries as a reformer, whose influence on educational philosophy spanned over 40 years. During this time, Dr. Putman made a name for himself in academic circles. Described by his daughter, Irene, as an "Educationist," one of his early published articles, entitled "Modern Educational Movements", appeared in the April, 1918 edition of the Education Review. He was the author of many articles and several books throughout his life


In 1887, at 21 years of age, Dr. Putman was a schoolteacher in South Grimsby, Ontario. By 1894, he had become second assistant at the Ottawa Model School. Between 1910 and 1937, he had worked his way up to Chief Inspector of Public Schools in Ottawa. It was during this period that his reform measures took flight, including recommendations that led to the introduction of intermediate schools in the Capital in 1929. 


His ground-breaking work on education reform led to an important appointment. In 1924, while serving as a school inspector in Ottawa, J.H. Putman and Dr. G.M. Weir, professor of education at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, were named co-chairs of a royal commission into public education in British Columbia. According to the Encyclopedia of British Columbia, “The Putman-Weir Commission held more than 200 public hearings and visited 150 schools. This resulted in an emphasis on child-centered learning and cooperative classroom work, creation of junior high schools for grades 7-9, increased emphasis on manual training and domestic science, the use of IQ testing and measures to improve the standard of teacher education and to encourage students to remain in school longer. The commission is considered a high-water mark of progressive educational thought in Canada during the inter-war period.”


Following his work with the Putman-Weir Commission, and after he returned to Ottawa as Chief Inspector of Public Schools, Dr. Putman's interests turned to politics. In 1937, after an unsuccessful bid to become Ontario's Minister of Education, he resigned from the Ottawa Public School Board to run in a provincial election.


Following his unsuccessful foray into politics, Dr. Putman toured Great Britain and Scandinavia from May 1st to July 3rd, 1937, two years before the world was at war, and three years before his death. During that visit, he attended the 1937 Coronation of King George VI and visited many schools. In a 98-page book entitled “Schoolmasters Abroad, a 1937 Diary” (Clarke, Irwin & Company of Toronto, 1937), Dr. Putman commented on the social, geographical and political outlook of 1937.


In 1969, the late Dr. Putman’s daughter, Irene, along with academic H.R. Cummings, privately co-published a 17-page paper entitled John Harold Putman: Ottawa Educationist. The work consists of "Life With Father" by I. Putman and "Dr. J.H. Putman: 1866-1940" by Cummings.

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Karsh Photo Credit: 1Cummings, H.R. & MacSkimming, W.T. "Dr. J.H. Putman, 1910-1937." The City of Ottawa Public Schools, A Brief History, The Ottawa Board of Education, ©1971


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