James H. Van Sickle

James Hixon Van Sickle (October 24, 1852 – February 12, 1926) was an American educator. He worked as superintendent of schools in Denver, Colorado, Baltimore, Maryland, and Springfield, Massachusetts.

Early life James Hixon Van Sickle was born on October 24, 1852, in south Livonia, New York. He graduated from the New York State Normal School at Albany in 1873. He studied at Williams College for a year in 1876. He later graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1896 with a Bachelor of Arts and in 1898 with a Master of Arts. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Career After graduating, Van Sickle taught and worked as a principal of grade schools in New Providence, New Jersey, Caledonia, New York, and Cook Academy in Havana, New York. He also taught at a college preparatory academy in New York. Van Sickle moved to Denver, Colorado. He worked as principal of a grammar school for eight years and then worked as superintendent of schools of the north side schools in Denver for nine years. He gave lectures during the summer session at Chicago, Yale and Cornell on school administration. His time as superintendent in Baltimore is noted as providing more uniformity to the school system and improving school administration and staffing. Van Sickle served as president of the Southern Educational Association in 1909. He was a member of the American School Peace League from 1908 to 1913. He wrote several papers on educational subjects and was the editor of several textbooks used in public schools.

Awards and legacy Van Sickle received an honorary PhD at the University at Albany (State University of New York), in 1905. According to the Baltimore Bulletin of Education, Van Sickle should be attributed for spearheading the creation of a department of education at Johns Hopkins University.