Thomas D. Bailey
{{short description|American superintendent (1897–1974)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
File:Thomas D. Bailey (1897-1974) portrait.jpg
File:Thomas D. Bailey (1897-1974) with motto.jpg
Thomas D. Bailey (October 31, 1897 – August 10, 1974){{cite web |last1=Kerce |first1=Red (Benjamin L.) |title=Thomas D. Bailey, Superintendent of Public Instruction (photograph)|url=https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/45004 |access-date=27 December 2020 |date=1953}} was an American superintendent. He served as Florida Superintendent of Education from 1949 until 1965.
Bailey was born October 31, 1897, in Lugoff, South Carolina.{{cite news |title=Thomas D. Bailey (Democrat) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66132076/thomas-d-bailey-democrat/ |access-date=27 December 2020 |work=Tampa Bay Times |date=6 October 1960 |pages=81}}{{Open Access}} His education started in the public schools of South Carolina, and he got his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1919 from Wofford College in Spartanburg. He then went on to obtain a master's degree in education from the University of Florida.
He married Miss Burness McConnell and they had two children together, Mrs W. C. McNab and A.L. Shealy Jr.
Bailey is credited with a handbook on Florida public school bus transportation. He also oversaw the publication of a guide to secondary school mathematics education in Florida, a guide for art education (1965), a guide for science education in Florida's secondary schools, and Biennial Report of the State Department of Education for 1948 to 1950,{{Cite web|url=https://famu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/search/catch_all_subjects_mt:(Education)?page=2|title=View All Items | famu.digital.flvc.org|website=famu.digital.flvc.org}} A collection of his addresses from 1950 until March 1963 was published as Trails in Florida Education.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mS9NAAAAYAAJ&q=thomas+d.+bailey+florida|title=Trails in Florida Education: Selected Addresses Compiled from Those Delivered by Superintendent Thomas D. Bailey During the Period January 1950 Through March 1963|first=Thomas David|last=Bailey|date=September 22, 1963|via=Google Books}}
He opposed having Gay educators,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vn7NsQ2ljVYC&dq=thomas+d.+bailey+florida&pg=PA98|title=And They Were Wonderful Teachers: Florida's Purge of Gay and Lesbian Teachers|first=Karen|last=Graves|date=September 22, 2009|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=9780252076398|via=Google Books}}{{Cite journal|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00131940701308197|title=Doing the Public's Business: Florida's Purge of Gay and Lesbian Teachers, 1959–1964|first=KAREN|last=GRAVES|date=April 9, 2007|journal=Educational Studies|volume=41|issue=1|pages=7–32|via=Taylor and Francis+NEJM|doi=10.1080/00131940701308197|s2cid=144821966|url-access=subscription}} and was a supporter of segregation.
He also causes controversy by planning to increase religious training within public schools even though he claimed that it was not his intention to go against "the traditional separation of church and state".{{cite news |title=State of the State - Bailey stirs up controversy... |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66131274/state-of-the-state-bailey-stirs-up/ |access-date=27 December 2020 |work=Tallahassee Democrat |date=23 October 1955 |pages=6}}{{Open Access}}
He is pictured in 1951 along with a plaque showing his motto "No man stands so straight as he who stoops to help a child.".{{cite web |title=Superintendent of Public Instruction Thomas D. Bailey with a motto - Tallahassee, Florida. (photograph)|url=https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/70375 |website=Florida Memory |access-date=27 December 2020 |date=March 1951}}
In 1955, he testified before a United States Senate committee on funding for school construction. He spoke about inadequate school buildings to meet the demand of Florida's growing population.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3CIwAAAAMAAJ&q=thomas+d.+bailey+florida|title = Florida State University Studies|year = 1953}}
He was selected to wield a shovel at the groundbreaking ceremony for Florida Atlantic University.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kGzqeUrf9OoC&dq=thomas+d.+bailey+florida&pg=PT23|title=Florida Atlantic University|first=Donald W.|last=Curl|date=October 9, 2000|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9781439610831|via=Google Books}}
He died August 10, 1974, from a heart attack while at the Waynesville, North Carolina County Club.{{cite news |title=Obituary for Thomas D Bailey Bailey (Aged 76) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66130712/obituary-for-thomas-d-bailey-bailey/ |access-date=27 December 2020 |work=Florida Today |date=13 August 1974 |pages=4B}}{{Open Access}} At the time of his death it was noted that he had served as the Florida Superintendent of Education for longer than any other person in the role.