Background
Hunter was born at Ardglass, Ireland in 1831, of a family in comfortable circumstances the members of which had been prosperous farmers and daring sea captains for generations. He was son of John and Mary Ewart (Norris) Hunter.
Hunter was born at Ardglass, Ireland in 1831, of a family in comfortable circumstances the members of which had been prosperous farmers and daring sea captains for generations. He was son of John and Mary Ewart (Norris) Hunter.
He was educated in the private schools of the village and at Dundalk Institute and Santry Science School, Anglican boarding schools of neighboring towns. Although he was enthusiastic about his studies and ranked high in his classes, he did not enjoy boarding-school life. At Dundalk, where discipline was maintained by corporal punishment, he found the masters brutal and the boys cowardly. Santry suited him better. For one thing, no corporal punishment was permitted there, a prohibition which he considered sufficient reason for the higher tone of the school. He never forgot the experiences of these years, considering them, as he often said, a great influence in shaping his later educational theories.
In 1849 he left Santry to become a teacher in the Callan School, which was under the supervision of the Ossary Diocesan Church Education Society. There he taught for seven months at a small salary, supplementing his income by acting as parish clerk. His career at the Callan School was a brief one. Thoroughly in sympathy with the "Young Ireland" party, he worked and wrote for the independence of Ireland. In his newspaper articles, he expressed views on the Established Church and the relations between England and Ireland which so incensed the government that the principal of the school, and the constable of the town as well, advised his leaving Ireland.
On February 3, 1850, he sailed for New York, where he arrived after forty-one days a lad not yet nineteen whose worldly possessions consisted of a few dollars and a box of books, but with a good education and a great courage. Absolutely unknown, he found it difficult to secure employment, and for days walked the streets seeking work of any kind. Finally, he succeeded in getting a position for a three months' trial as teacher of drawing in the Thirteenth Street School, later known as Number 35, and ever after associated with his name. He worked his way from this subordinate position to the principalship of the school (1857), by sheer force of character and remarkable teaching ability.
Number 35 under him became known throughout the city, not only for its scholarship but also for its discipline. Many of his "boys" became leaders in all walks of life, and always to his training did they attribute much of their success. The Thomas Hunter Association, organized in 1897 and composed of the graduates of the school, bears eloquent testimony to this fact. Great as was his influence within the doors of Number 35, it was equally great outside. He it was who, with other educational pioneers, advocated reforms in methods of teaching; who insisted upon the abolition of corporal punishment; and who worked for tenure of office for teachers, for properly trained teachers, and for adult education. While engaged in his usual school work, Hunter's attention was called to those people who for various reasons were not able to attend the regular school sessions, but were eager for an education. For these, he first organized special classes and, in 1866, founded the first evening high school in New York City.
He gradually became interested in secondary education for girls, for whom there was in New York City no public education beyond the grammar grades. He was acutely conscious also of the need for properly trained teachers. With the aid of the board of education, he worked upon the problem, and after overcoming much opposition, succeeded in starting in 1869 the Normal and High School, the name of which was changed in 1870 to Normal College of the City of New York. In the service of this institution he spent the rest of his life, adding first one year and then another to its course until, in 1902, it gained full collegiate rank. Then, in 1906, satisfied with his achievements, he resigned as president. In 1914 the board of education, in compliance with an overwhelming demand, gave the Normal College its present name, Hunter College of the City of New York. With others he edited Home Culture, A Self-Instructor and Aid to Social Hours at Home (1884); and A Narrative History of the United States for the Use of Schools (1896).
His wife, Annie McBride, whom he married in 1854, died several years before him, as did his only son. Three daughters survived him.
