List of Superintendents of Public Instruction of Wisconsin

Number of Superintendents of Public Instruction of Wisconsin by party affiliation

Party	Superintendents
None	9
Republican	6
Democratic	5
?	3
Liberal Republican	1
National Union	1
Independent	1

This is a list of people who have held the position of Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin. Political party affiliation is indicated by shading for superintendents elected prior to 1902, when partisan elections for this office were ended. Since 1902, superintendents have been elected on a non-partisan basis.

#	Superintendents	Party	Took office	Left office
1	Eleazer Root	Independent[1]	January 1, 1849[2]	January 5, 1852
2	Azel P. Ladd	Democratic[3]	January 5, 1852[2]	January 2, 1854
3	Hiram A. Wright[note 1][4]	Democratic[5]	January 2, 1854[2]	May 29, 1855[2]
vacant			May 29, 1855	June 26, 1855
4	A. Constantine Barry[note 2][4]	Democratic[4]	June 26, 1855[2]	January 4, 1858
5	Lyman C. Draper	Democratic[6][note 3]	January 4, 1858[2]	January 2, 1860
6	Josiah Little Pickard[note 4][8]	Republican[9]	January 2, 1860[2]	September 30, 1864[2]
vacant			September 30, 1864	October 1, 1864
7	John G. McMynn[note 2]	National Union[10]	October 1, 1864[2]	January 6, 1868
8	Alexander J. Craig	?	January 6, 1868[2]	July 6, 1870[2]
9	Samuel Fallows	?	July 6, 1870[2]	January 4, 1874
10	Edward Searing	Liberal Republican[11]	January 4, 1874[2]	January 7, 1878
11	William Clarke Whitford	Republican[12]	January 7, 1878[2]	January 2, 1882
12	Robert Graham	Republican[13]	January 2, 1882[2]	January 3, 1887
13	Jesse B. Thayer	Republican[14]	January 3, 1887[2]	January 5, 1891
14	Oliver Elwin Wells	Democratic[15]	January 5, 1891[2]	January 7, 1895
15	John Q. Emery	Republican[16]	January 7, 1895[2]	January 2, 1899
16	Lorenzo D. Harvey	Republican[17]	January 2, 1899[2]	January 5, 1903
17	Charles P. Cary	?	January 5, 1903[2]	July 1, 1921
18	John Callahan	none[18]	July 1, 1921[2]	1949
19	George Earl Watson	none[18]	1949	1961
20	Angus B. Rothwell[note 4]	none[18]	1961	July 1, 1966[18]
21	William C. Kahl[note 2]	none[18]	July 1, 1966[18]	1973
22	Barbara Thompson	none[18]	1973	1981
23	Herbert J. Grover[note 4]	none[18]	1981	April 9, 1993[18]
vacant[note 5]			April 9, 1993	1993
24	John T. Benson	none[18]	1993	2001
25	Elizabeth Burmaster	none[18]	2001	2009
26	Tony Evers	none[18]	2009	incumbent

Notes

1. Died in office.
2. Appointed to fill unexpired term.
3. Draper also appeared on the Reform Democratic ticket.^[7]
4. Resigned from office.
5. Lee Dreyfus served as "interim superintendent" during this period, but was never officially superintendent.

References

1. "School Superintendant. (sic)" (PDF). Independent American and General Advertiser. Platteville, Wisconsin. November 4, 1848. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
2. Anderson, William J. (1929). William A. Anderson, ed. The Wisconsin blue book, 1929. Madison, Wisconsin: Democrat Printing Company. p. 155. Retrieved 2008-06-10.
3. "State Democratic Nominations" (PDF). The Kenosha Democrat. Kenosha, Wisconsin. November 1, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
4. "The Appointment of Mr. Barry" (PDF). Daily Argus and Democrat. Madison, Wisconsin. June 20, 1855. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
5. "Democratic State Nominations" (PDF). Appleton Post-Crescent. Appleton, Wisconsin. November 5, 1853. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
6. "Democratic Nominations." (PDF). The Daily Wisconsin Patriot. Madison, Wisconsin. November 2, 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
7. "Reform Democratic Ticket." (PDF). The Daily Wisconsin Patriot. Madison, Wisconsin. November 2, 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
8. "General Election Notice." (PDF). The Waukesha Freeman. Waukesha, Wisconsin. October 4, 1864. p. 1. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
9. "Republican State Ticket." (PDF). The La Crosse Daily Republican. La Crosse, Wisconsin. November 1, 1859. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
10. "National Union Nominations" (PDF). The Waukesha Freeman. Waukesha, Wisconsin. October 25, 1864. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
11. Wisconsin Blue Book. 1877. p. 446.
12. Wisconsin Blue Book. 1881. p. 492.
13. Wisconsin Blue Book (PDF). 1882. p. 527.
14. Wisconsin Blue Book (PDF). 1887. p. 483.
15. Wisconsin Blue Book (PDF). 1893. p. 306.
16. Wisconsin Blue Book (PDF). 1895. p. 662.
17. "Harvey, Lorenzo Dow 1848 - 1922". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
18. Barish, Lawrence S. (ed.) (2007). "Chapter 8: Statistical Information on Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2007–2008 (PDF). Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. p. 723. ISBN 978-0-9752820-2-1. Retrieved 2008-06-07.