Between the two of them, father and son spent almost a century as educators—and one-third of that century at the top as superintendent of the Fort Worth school system.
One generation of students knew M. H. Moore as superintendent. A later generation knew J. P. Moore as superintendent.
M. H. Moore was born in 1871 in a log cabin on his father’s farm near Bedford. (Photo from 1930 Poly High School yearbook.)
He was named after his father, Milton Harvey Moore.
In 1940 Central High School Principal R. L. Paschal wrote a profile of Moore. Paschal wrote that Moore received his elementary and high school education at Bedford College, which was a high school-level institution with preparatory college courses located on land that Moore’s father had donated.
He graduated from Sam Houston State Normal College in 1894 and taught in rural schools of Tarrant and Hood counties.
In 1894 Moore was an officer in an organization of teachers in the county’s school system. Another officer was Duncan McRae (1845-1912), who served as chairman of the county school board and superintendent of county schools before having a school named after him in 1917.
In 1895 Moore was elected president of the county teachers organization. By then he was teaching in the Marine community on today’s North Side.
(At the bottom of that list of names is another half of a father-son educator team: W. M. Trimble was the father of Green Berry Trimble.)
While Moore was teaching at a Marine school in 1895 he and his wife Pearl had a son: Joseph Preston Moore.
A year later Moore was principal of North Fort Worth’s school. North Fort Worth at the time was an unincorporated town.
By 1899 he was back in the Marine schools as principal of school no. 1.
The 1900 census lists the two future superintendents: M. H. Moore was twenty-nine. Son Joe was five.
That year M. H. began his first superintendency: of county schools.
Four years later he began his second superintendency: of North Fort Worth public schools. North Fort Worth had incorporated in 1902. But in 1909 Fort Worth annexed North Fort Worth. Moore then became principal of North Side High School.
In 1914 the Fort Worth school board created the position of assistant superintendent and hired Moore for the job.
A year later, in 1915, the school board, which included George C. Clarke, Dr. Clay Johnson, and Charles E. Nash—promoted Moore to his third and ultimate superintendency.
All superintendents who serve as long as M. H. Moore did leave their stamp on the school system.
For starters, Paschal wrote, during Moore’s tenure libraries were added to each high school.
Moore also began Fort Worth’s junior high school system. In the autumn of 1918 the tenth and eleventh graders of Fort Worth High School on Jennings Avenue were sent to the new senior high school building on Cannon Street, and the eighth and ninth graders of Fort Worth High were retained at the Jennings Avenue building, which became a junior high school.
Fort Worth, Paschal wrote, was the third city in Texas to open a junior high school; the first was Houston in 1912; the second was Austin in 1916.
When Moore became superintendent in 1915 the local tax for schools was 47 1/2 cents on $100; the next year it was increased to 50 cents. The tax increase allowed the board to raise teachers’ salaries.
Moore’s administration also hired the school system’s first attorney—Sidney L. Samuels—to tend to the legal aspects of the purchase of school sites, the sale of bonds, and other business.
When Moore took office the position of school system physician had been eliminated. Moore reinstated the position and provided nurses for schools.
He even got involved in lunch.
Paschal wrote: “Before 1925 the principals of the schools had charge of the lunch departments; the board furnished a lunch room and kitchen. The financial risk was the principal’s. Most of them made some money, which they expended for books for the library. In 1925 the board took over the lunch rooms and provided a supervisor.”
Moore also hired a dietitian to oversee school lunch menus.
Also during Moore’s tenure the Reserve Officer Training Corps program was begun.
In 1931, at age sixty, Moore resigned, citing only “extensive changes in personnel, organization, and curriculum” being considered by the school board.
He had been superintendent sixteen years.
When Moore had begun his tenure Fort Worth had twenty-six schools (just one high school) and fourteen thousand students. When Moore ended his tenure Fort Worth had fifty-seven schools (including ten high schools) and thirty-four thousand students.
That’s because Moore’s tenure fell during a time of tremendous growth in Fort Worth’s population.
For example, during the “Greater Fort Worth” annexation binge of 1922 these suburbs—and their schools—became part of Fort Worth: Polytechnic, Riverside, Diamond Hill, Washington Heights, Arlington Heights, Mistletoe Heights, Van Zandt, South Fort Worth, and the TCU addition. Then came Sagamore and Oak Lawn in 1925, Forest Hill in 1926, and Handley in 1928.
After his resignation in 1931 Moore remained in the field of education. He worked for the Texas Department of Education as supervisor of vocational rehabilitation, which met the educational needs of students with physical challenges.
According to Paschal, Moore had often said he hoped to die at his work. In 1938 Moore was stricken at his desk and died.
Milton Harvey Moore is buried in Bedford Cemetery.
Superintendent Moore (Part 2): The Son
