Adelbert Althouse

---

title: "Adelbert Althouse" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1869-births", "1954-deaths", "governors-of-guam", "united-states-naval-academy-alumni", "american-military-personnel-of-the-spanish–american-war", "united-states-navy-personnel-of-world-war-i", "recipients-of-the-navy-cross-(united-states)", "american-educational-reformers"] description: "United States Navy Captain" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelbert_Althouse" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary United States Navy Captain ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Adelbert Althouse
birth_date
birth_place	Channahon, Illinois
death_date
image	Adelbert Althouse.jpg
order	29th
office	Naval Governor of Guam
term_start	December 14, 1922
term_end	August 4, 1923
predecessor	John P. Miller
successor	Henry Bertram Price
order1	27th
office1	Naval Governor of Guam
term_start1	February 7, 1922
term_end1	December 8, 1922
predecessor1	James Sutherland Spore
successor1	John P. Miller
nationality	United States
alma_mater	United States Naval Academy
allegiance	United States
branch	[[File:United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg United States Navy
rank	[[File:US-O6 insignia.svg
commands	USS Brooklyn
battles	Spanish–American War
World War I
mawards	Navy Cross
::

|honorific-prefix = |name = Adelbert Althouse |birth_date = |birth_place = Channahon, Illinois |death_date = |honorific-suffix = |image = Adelbert Althouse.jpg |caption = |party = |order = 29th |office = Naval Governor of Guam |term_start = December 14, 1922 |term_end = August 4, 1923 |predecessor = John P. Miller |successor = Henry Bertram Price |order1 = 27th |office1 = Naval Governor of Guam |term_start1 = February 7, 1922 |term_end1 = December 8, 1922 |predecessor1 = James Sutherland Spore |successor1 = John P. Miller |nationality = United States |alma_mater = United States Naval Academy |nickname = |allegiance = United States |branch = [[File:United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg United States Navy |serviceyears = |rank = [[File:US-O6 insignia.svg|20px]] Captain |unit = |commands = USS Brooklyn |battles = Spanish–American War World War I |mawards = Navy Cross

Adelbert Althouse (May 23, 1869 – May 17, 1954) was a United States Navy Captain who served as the 27th and 29th Naval Governor of Guam. Prior to his Governorship, he served on ships in the Navy and participated in both the Spanish–American War and World War I. He earned the Navy Cross for his actions commanding and serving as Chief of Staff for the Commander and Chief of the United States Asiatic Fleet during the World War. As Governor, he focused on reforming the island's education system. He modeled a new system after that of co-educational California but also outlawed the speaking of the Chamorro language at schools in an effort to improve the English language skills of the local children. Most of his education reform took place in his first term.

Life and legacy

Althouse was born in 1869 in Illinois. He died on May 17, 1954. In 1930, the Navy named a Guamanian school, the Adelbert Althouse School, after him.

Naval career

Althouse entered the United States Naval Academy on May 21, 1887, graduating in 1891.

As a lieutenant, he served as a watch and division officer aboard . During this time, he participated in the Spanish–American War. In 1901, the navy assigned him to .

During World War I, Althouse served as chief of staff to the commander in chief of the United States Asiatic Fleet and commanded , for which he received the Navy Cross.

Governorship

Althouse served two terms as Naval Governor of Guam; he served his first term from February 7, 1922, to December 8, 1922. During his first term, he made significant changes to the Guamanian education system. In an effort to promote the spread of English among local children, he burned a large number of Chamorro-English dictionaries and banned the use of Chamorro in the classroom and on playgrounds. Due to a shortage of classrooms, classrooms were made co-educational. He based the new system on the educational system of California and demanded that teachers stick to a rigid syllabus. His second term took place from December 14, 1922, to August 4, 1923.

References

References

1. (1909). "Herrinshaw's National Library of American Biography". [[American Publishers Association]].
2. "Valor Awards for Adelbert Althouse". Military Times.
3. (9 November 2007). "Photo #: NH 987". [[Naval History & Heritage Command]].
4. (7 April 2006). "US Navy Officers: 1798-1900 -- "A"". [[Naval History & Heritage Command]].
5. (1900). "Stations". United States Congressional Serial Set.
6. (11 October 1901). "Fire Directed at the Colon". [[Boston Evening Transcript]].
7. (11 October 1901). "Commander of Indiana Was Not Notified by Schley That Cereva Was Coming Out-Try at Colon". [[Pittsburgh Press]].
8. (1908). "The Navy". Navy Publishing.
9. (10 August 2010). "Naval Era Governors of Guam". [[University of Guam]].
10. Clement, Michael. (29 September 2009). "Language Policies". [[University of Guam]].
11. Rogers, Robert. (1995). "Destiny's Landfall: A History of Guam". [[University of Hawaii Press]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::