Adolph Douai
Karl Daniel Adolf Douai (1819 – 1888), known to his peers as "Adolf", was a
Biography
Early years
Karl Daniel Adolph Douai was born February 22, 1819, in Altenburg, Thuringia, in the Duchy of Saxon-Altenburg, the son of a school teacher.[1] The Douai family was of French extraction, having fled to Dresden after the fall of the French Revolution.[1]
The Douai family was poor and Adolph went to work at the age of 8.
Douai was poorly nourished as a child and short of stature, standing just 4 feet 8 inches (1.42 m) tall at age 19.[1]
While at university, Douai found the stipends insufficient and therefore sought to supplement his income by writing. In a short autobiography published at the time of his death, Douai claimed to have authored several novels and two theological papers during his undergraduate years.[1]
Following his graduation from the University of Leipzig, Douai sought admission to the
Douai married Baroness Agnes von Beust on September 26, 1843, in the city of Königsberg. Together they eventually had ten children.
Life in Russia had a radicalizing impact upon Douai and after 5 years in the country he returned to his native Altenburg, convinced that a revolution for
With the coming of the
Texas years
Following his release from prison,
Douai also attempted to establish another school, but the efforts of the
With his first business effort a failure, Douai moved to nearby
Northern years
With the
In 1860, Douai became editor of the New York Demokrat, a position which he soon abandoned to assume the position of Principal of the Hoboken Academy. He taught there for six years, moving to New York City in 1866 to establish a new school of his own.[1] This New York school lost its leased building as part of an expansion of Broadway in 1871, prompting Douai to move to Newark, New Jersey, to accept a post as principal of the Green Street School there. Douai remained in Newark in this position until 1876, at which time a new board of directors were elected who were opposed to him.[1]
After being removed from his position in Newark, Douai accepted an offer to start a new educational academy in Irvington, New Jersey, but no suitable building could be had to bring the project to fruition. This event essentially brought Douai's teaching career to a close.[1]
He was an early and prominent member of the
In the fall of 1877 there was a short-lived plan for Douai to serve as English-language translator of
Death and legacy
Adolph Douai died on January 21, 1888, in New York after having suffered chronic "throat trouble."[1] A public memorial was held January 23 at the Brooklyn Labor Lyceum.[1]
An unpublished typescript of an English translation of Adolph Douai's autobiography resides at the San Antonio Public Library.
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w "Dr. Adolph Douai, the Gifted and Tireless Agitator Dead...," Workmen's Advocate [New Haven, CT], vol. 4, no. 4 (January 28, 1888), pp. 1-2.
- ^ a b c d e Marilyn M. Sibley, "Carl Daniel Adolph Douai," Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, 2010.
- ^ a b Glen E. Lich, The German Texans. San Antonio: University of Texas Institute of Texas Cultures, 1996; pg. 140.
- ^ Marjorie Cook, "New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung," Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Society, 2010.
- ^ Douai was the author of Better Times! (1876), called by historians Frank Girard and Ben Perry "one of the [Workingmen's Party's] first pamphlets." See: Frank Girard and Ben Perry, The Socialist Labor Party, 1876-1991: A Short History. Philadelphia: Livra Books, 1991; pg. 7.
- ^ Karl Marx to Friedrich Adolph Sorge, September 27, 1877, and October 16, 1877. Published in Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Marx-Engels Collected Works: Volume 45. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1991; pp. 276-277; 282-283.
Works
- A Practical and Complete German Grammar. Boston, MA: Crosby, Nichols, Lee & Co., 1858.
- The Kindergarten: A Manual for the Introduction of Froebel's System of Primary Education into Public Schools; and for the Use of Mothers and Private Teachers. New York: E. Steiger, 1872.
- Better Times! Chicago: Executive Committee, Workingmen's Party of the United States, n.d. [1876].
- "Labor and Work," Workmen's Advocate [New Haven, CT], vol. 3, no. 17 (April 23, 1887), pg. 1.
- "Testimony to the United States Senate on Behalf of the Socialist Labor Party of America," in Report of the Committee of the Senate upon the Relations of Labor and Capital and Testimony Taken by the Committee: In Five Volumes: Volume II – Testimony. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1885; pp. 702–743.
Further reading
- Justine Davis Randers-Pehrson, Adolf Douai, 1819–1888: The Turbulent Life of a German Forty-Eighter in the Homeland and in the United States. New York: Peter Lang, 2000.
- Paul Mitzenheim, "Adolf Douai: Vermittler Fröbelscher Ideen nach den USA und Japan." In Helmut Heiland and Karl Neumann (eds.): Friedrich Fröbel in Japan und Deutschland. Weinheim, Germany: Dt. Studien-Verlag, 1998.
- Carl Wittke, Refugees of Revolution: The German Forty-Eighters in America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1952.
External links
- Bibliographic Listing of Adolph Douai's Autobiography, San Antonio Public Library, San Antonio, Texas. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
- "Douai, Carl Daniel Adolph" in the Handbook of Texas Online