Papers of Henry Wyman Holmes

Henry Wyman Holmes (1880-1960), first dean of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, worked at Harvard University from 1907 to 1947 in various positions, including instructor, professor, and Chair of the Division of Education, culminating in his service as the first and longest serving Dean of the Graduate School of Education from 1920 to 1940. He received his Harvard AB in 1903 and his AM in 1904, and then became the principal of Brookline’s Edward Devotion School from 1904 to 1906. Holmes later became the head of the English Department at Boston’s High School of Commerce. In 1907, he returned to Harvard as a lecturer in education, becoming an assistant professor in 1910 and a full professor in 1917. In 1912, he assumed chairmanship of the Division of Education, a position he maintained until 1920, when he became the first Dean of the newly formed Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Holmes held this position until 1940, making him the longest serving dean in the school's history.

During Holmes's tenure as Dean, he established the Master of Arts in Teaching in 1936, which was jointly administered by the Graduate School of Education and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The program eventually became a model for teacher training programs in other colleges and universities across the country. Holmes resigned as Dean in 1940, but continued teaching until 1947, when he became professor emeritus. He died in 1960.