Kellie McGarrh’s Hangin’ in Tough: Mildred E. Doyle, School Superintendent

In the tradition of Southern school superintendents, Mildred E. Doyle was a former athlete, a jock, and a good old boy politician in a tailored suit. She was also a great character - courageous, mischievous, and contradictory - both beloved and considered odd. In Doyle’s biography, McGarrh analyzes issues that interest educational historians and feminist scholars: women’s struggles to attain and retain administrative positions; differences in the ways men and women supervise and lead; and the impact of homophobia on those who are not stereotypically masculine or feminine. Kellie McGarrh’s Mildred E. Doyle was characterized by ambiguity, contradictions, and paradox, and her life served both to confirm and confound generalizations about women leaders.