Neil C. Macdonald

Neil Carnot Macdonald (March 17, 1876 – September 8, 1923) was an American educator from North Dakota. He served as the tenth North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1917 to 1918.

Early life Neil C. Macdonald was born on March 17, 1876, in Ontario, Canada. His parents were Neil R. and Isabelle (McLeod) Macdonald. The Macdonald family immigrated to the United States in 1885, settling in Cavalier County, Dakota Territory.

Education and early career A local school had not yet been organized, so for grade school, Neil had to leave the family farm. He resided and attended school in Langdon. At the age of sixteen, Neil was awarded a North Dakota teaching certificate after completing the county superintendent's teacher's examination, and he began teaching in Cavalier County. He spearheaded an initiative to improve educational opportunities for rural students, and he called this "A Square Deal for the Country Boy."

Superintendent of Public Instruction In 1915, Superintendent of Public Instruction Edwin J. Taylor announced he would resign at the end of his term. Macdonald announced his candidacy and received the endorsement of the Nonpartisan League (NPL).

In the election of 1916, Macdonald defeated W. E. Hoover by more than 35,000 votes. Having grown up in rural North Dakota and experienced the hardships of rural education directly, he made rural schools a priority of his administration. Publicly, Macdonald focused on the qualification issue, but in private he was much blunter toward Nielson. In a September 1918 letter, he wrote, "They have a Miss Nielson after me; a dear, fat old maid, who is making a campaign on three issues, namely: One, that she is a woman, second, that she is poorly educated, and therefore anything and everything can teach school if she is elected, third, that she and her friends are against the League, and fourth that she is a Scandinavian; all of which is true except the last one, for it happens that her father and mother were born in Scotland. She is trying to work the nationality racket." It was an opportune time, as Langer had been growing dissatisfied with the NPL. On October 29, 1918, Langer issued a statement validating her as a legitimate candidate, having met all of the necessary criteria. This was just the boost Nielson needed. Macdonald lost by more than 5,500 votes. With this victory, Nielson was the only candidate to win a statewide position during the 1918 election who was not endorsed by the NPL.

However, Macdonald was not ready to give up. He hung onto the claims that Nielson did not meet the necessary requirements. In early January 1919, Nielson and her staff arrived in Bismarck at the Capitol to move into the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. However, Macdonald and his wife Kathrine, who also served as deputy superintendent, refused to leave the office and relinquish their duties.

After the supreme court ruling, the Macdonalds were escorted out of the state superintendent's office by Governor Frazier, along with the sheriff of Burleigh County. Macdonald made one final attempt to maintain control of the office. He demanded Nielson surrender the position to him. Nielson responded with, "I certainly do not intend to do so." The vendetta between Macdonald and Nielson seemed unlikely. They both had a lot in common: humble origins, Scottish ancestry, and a passion for education. Political ideology may be their main difference. Supporters of Macdonald claimed, the "state had replaced a dynamic leader and nationally recognized authority on rural education with a state superintendent who was not even a college graduate and hence could not qualify for the state’s highest teacher’s certificate. It was a misfortune for both the rural schools and the farm boys, whose welfare was so close to Macdonald's heart." This new board replaced the previous Board of Regents and Board of Education, which were abolished, and the board also stripped powers away from the newly elected state superintendent. However, others viewed the board as a political power grab of the NPL. Upon its creation, a majority of the board, four of the five members, did have ties to the NPL. In one article, published in December 1920, in Philadelphia's Public Ledger, Taft confused Macdonald with Charles Emil Stangeland, a one-time consultant of the North Dakota Board of Administration who, in 1919, recommended a number of controversial books for the state library to purchase. Taft accused Macdonald of putting controversial books into the hands of schoolchildren. Taft later apologized and a retraction was published, but the damage had already been done.

In the early 1900s when Neil was employed as the superintendent of Lidgerwood, his wife Kathrine worked as a teacher and principal of the high school. Kathrine was a qualified school administrator, but this appointment was viewed by some as nepotism.

Macdonald was a long-time friend of North Dakota Governor Lynn Frazier.

Death On September 8, 1923, Macdonald died unexpectedly of uremic poisoning in Montana while traveling to accept the role of dean at Seattle Pacific College. He is buried in Hannah Cemetery in Hannah, North Dakota.

In 1926, three years after his death, Neil C. Macdonald was posthumously honored in Bismarck for his work in the North Dakota education system.