Daniel Alexander Grout (b. St. Thomas, Ontario, January 5, 1862 - d. February 27, 1929 ) was a school teacher and principal and school board administrator. He is now predominantly known for possibly inspiring the "Grout"-related graffiti of Reed College.

Career

Daniel Grout graduated from St. Thomas Normal School in 1884. After three terms as a teacher he was made principal of schools in Sparta and Aldboro, Ontario . He traveled to Oregon in 1890 and graduated from the University of Oregon's law school.

Grout first served in Portland as the principal of North Central School from 1892 to 1895. He was the principal of the Atkinson School until 1896 and was then made principal of the Park School. He continued working at Park until 1906 when he was made Portland's assistant superintendent. He became superintendent in 1918 and held that office until he retired in 1926.

Soon after his retirement, the school board named a new elementary school in his honor, which still exists today at 3119 SE Holgate Boulevard in Portland.

Graffiti

For a time, it was proposed that Grout Elementary was the source of the grout-related graffiti at Reed College, and that, by extension, this phenomenon as a whole had originated at Reed. This was contested, and with some reason. But before the case is closed entirely, let us consider the words of a contributor known as Killalusimeno, recorded on February 18, 2005:

"The legend, as I have heard it, is this: at the beginning there was Grout Elementary and there was grout in the tiles, and the two miraculously collided to create a dual-grout phenomenon. Should the legend be maintained, and converted into theology? I don't know. But I do know this: after the grout phenomenon had existed for a certain time, some people, not knowing themselves the true origin of the grout, found the proximity of the school amusing, and this fueled their grout-fiti. So perhaps we can make a leap of faith and say that if Grout exists now, then He has existed from the beginning."