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Hugo Newman Legacy

Dr. Hugo Newman, Educator

Dr. Hugo Newman, former Assistant Superintendent of Schools, and the last principal of the former New York Training School for Teachers died on October 18, 1951. He was 84 years old. Born in the city of New York, Dr. Newman received a B.S. degree from City College in 1885 and a Master of Pedagogy degree from New York University.  He entered the public school system as a teacher in 1887 and served at Public Schools 9, 19, 86, and 10 in Manhattan. In 1901 Dr. Newman was named principal of Public School 33 in the Bronx and taught in Central Evening High School and Harlem Evening High School.  He was the principal of Morris Evening High School from 1900 to 1914.

29 Years at Training College

Dr. Newman served as principal of the New York Training School for Teachers.   This training school later became the New York Teachers Training College from 1914 until its discontinuance in 1933.  He helped the architects as a pedagogical counsel in the design of the new building, formerly, the High School of Music and Art, on Convent Avenue and West 135th Street. In 1933 he was named a district superintendent, a title later changed to assistant superintendent.  He was in charge of School Districts 18, 19, and 20 in the Bronx.  He retired in 1937. Dr. Newman lectured widely on education topics and he taught a course on the methods of teaching at the Bronx Teachers Association.  He was the author of “Laboratory Experiments in Physics,” in four volumes and he was a contributor to many educational periodicals.

Inventor & Musician

Dr. Newman invented many pedagogical devices, among these a convertible laboratory table for science rooms, a mechanical device for teaching numbers and phonics, devices for presenting statistical school facts, a schoolroom transom adjuster, and an automatic slide changer for optical lanterns. A teacher of music for many years, he was an organist in various city churches and a director of choruses and orchestras.  He also composed music for the piano. Dr. Newman was a member of Emile, the National Education Association, City Teachers Association, Principals Association, State Science Teachers Association, Bronx Society of Arts and Sciences, and New York Academy of Public Education.

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