lawyer, educator, author, b. Glasgow, Scotland. He migrated to the U.S. and to Wisconsin with his widowed mother in 1850. After graduating from Brown Univ. (A.B., 1856), he taught school in Milwaukee for several years, and in 1864 received an LL.B. from the Albany (N.Y.) Law School. He practiced law in Milwaukee (1864-1873), but after 1873 devoted his interests primarily to public education. He held various positions in the Milwaukee school system, and from 1874 to 1883 served as superintendent of public schools in Milwaukee. In this capacity he advocated the teaching of modern languages, mechanical training, the kindergarten, and adult education, and was known as an early advocate of progressive education. He also served as regent of the Wisconsin state normal schools (1878-1883). In 1883 he left Wisconsin, and from 1883 to 1890 served as superintendent of public schools in Philadelphia. In 1891 he was appointed president of the newly established Drexel Institute of Art, Science, and Industry in Philadelphia, and served in this capacity until shortly before his death. He was a trustee of the Univ. of Pennsylvania (1885-1897), and was the author of numerous manuals and books on education, including Manual of Instruction in U.S. History and Government (1887), and Manual of Public Instruction (1890). Dict. Amer. Biog.; Who's Who in Amer., 7 (1912); [F. A. Flower], Hist. of Milwaukee (Chicago, 1881).

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Sketch of James Macalister as Principal in the Old Fourth Ward School, Milwaukee, Wisc. for details.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]