John Williams Bulkley was descended from the Rev. Peter Bulkeley, an emigrant from Bedfordshire, England, in 1636 and one of the early settlers of Concord, Massachussetts. One branch of the family spread into Connecticut, in which state, at Fairfield, John Bulkley was born.
It was his father's intention that his son on leaving the common school should take up an occupation of a mechanical nature. Intellectual pursuits appealing more to the youth, however, John betook himself to Clinton, New York, where he entered upon a study of the classics and mathematics with a view to entering Hamilton College in an advanced class.
Although intending to enter the ministry on graduation, he was forced to make a temporary digression in favor of a sea voyage to restore his health which had become impaired during his studies. In 1825, after his return, Bulkley took up "school keeping" but only as a temporary expedient.
After teaching for six years in his home town, Bulkley was called to Troy, New York, where as teacher and principal he was so successful that his services were sought by numerous academies and public schools.
In 1838 he accepted a position in a new public school in Albany, New York. Williamsburg secured his services in 1850 and when Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Brooklyn united into a single municipality, he was chosen as the first superintendent of schools. It was Bulkley's fortune to spend his most productive years during the period commonly known as the American "common school revival, " a period during which education was becoming popularized and a professional consciousness was being developed among teachers. His early reports as superintendent of schools in Brooklyn were definite attempts to stimulate his board of education and his community to espouse the cause of educational improvement.
He early advocated teacher training and Pestalozzian object teaching. His chief contribution, however, lay in his activities in organizing teachers' associations.
He assisted in projecting the convention at Syracuse in 1845 which launched a New York state teachers' association, the first of its kind in the country.
As the first president of the association and as president again in 1851 he continued his leadership of the convention.
In 1873 he was made assistant superintendent of schools. This unusual demotion seems to have been made because of his advanced age and in lieu of dismissing so old and tried a public servant. In 1885 he declined reelection for the triennial period on account of failing health, and three years later he died at the age of eighty-six.
While John Bulkley was still in Troy, he aided in the organization of the Troy Teachers' Society, one of the first in the state. He was one of the eleven original founders of the National Teachers' Association, now the National Education Association. He served this great organization as its first secretary and fourth president.
He was a member of the Troy Teachers' Society.
