Dr. Roland Bird Daniel was s well respected educator and superintendent of the Columbus school system for 31 years. He came to Columbus in 1909 to become superintendent. Daniel Junior High was named in his honor.

Daniel was born 27 Dec 1866 in Liberty County, Georgia and died 30 Oct 1955 at the age of 88. He was the son of Dr. Abram Bird Daniel and Sara Shepard. He graduated with a BA from Emory in 1891. Emory awarded him an honorary Phi Beta Kappa membership and the University of Georgia awarded him the LLD in 1928. He and Eva Sam Turk of Livingston, Alabama were married in 1899. She died in Sept 1930. He then married Epsie Campbell in 1935. He and Eva had 4 children; Frances, Mildred, Evelyn Allison and Julien Turk. Frances married Thomas J. Anderson, Mildred married Maurice Loridans, Evelyn married Kyser Cox and Julian married Lucy Mizell. The Daniels had 7 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. He was a member of St. Paul’s Methodist Church, the Rotary Club., and a partner in the development of the Morningside subdivision. He published a bulletin on vocational education and served as the chairman of the Food Rationing Board during WWII.