Clara Wolverton Papers

0.5 linear foot (1 document box)

The Clara Wolverton Papers contain materials from her early education beginning in 1892, through Normal School, and her earliest teaching years ending in 1903. It comprises personal items such as her grades book, greeting cards, and notes of affection from her students, as well as professional items such as her teaching contracts and letters of recommendation, and also printed commencement programs and tickets and clippings. There are only a few items after this time period, and they document her involvement in the Red Cross and Botanical Society of Pennsylvania.

There are no materials related to teaching at Trenton Public Schools or attending University of Pennsylvania.

Her collection also initially contained six books, four of which were cataloged and added to the Historical Textbooks and General Collections of Gitenstein Library, and two were deaccessioned due to duplication.

The Clara Wolverton Papers are arranged chronologically in eight series: diaries, correspondence, financials, ephemera, photographs, forms, clippings, and realia in one box. The contents of each folder are arranged chronologically when known.

This collection is open for research.

The items in this collection may be used by patrons who abide by the Archives and Special Collections Use Policy of the R. Barbara Gitenstein Library at TCNJ.

Portions of the collection have been digitized and are available for viewing.

Copyright restrictions apply. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the College Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, Archives and Special Collections, R. Barbara Gitenstein Library, The College of New Jersey, PO Box 7718, Ewing, NJ 08628-0718, email: Ask a Librarian via the library’s website https://library.tcnj.edu/.

• English

Unknown

Separated material in library collection:

"Uarda : a romance of ancient Egypt," by Georg Ebers, 1876; General Collection PT1851.E5 U33 1876
"Simple experiments in chemistry," by John F. Woodhull, 1905; Archives - Historical Textbooks QD43 .W9
"Everyday problems in science," by Charles John Pieper and Wilbur Lee Beauchamp, 1925; Archives - Historical Textbooks Q161 .P5 1925
"General science : with experimental and project studies," by Garfield A. Bowden, 1923; Archives - Historical Textbooks Q161 .B7 1923

TCNJ library catalog: https://tcnj.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COLLNJ_INST/ouchcg/alma999665153305191

Biographical Information

Clara Johnson Wolverton was born on December 3, 1879, in Stockton, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, to Sarah Catherine Cole and Gabriel Wolverton. (Note: Wolverton is also sometimes spelled Woolverton in some sources). At the time of her birth, her parents were in their 40s and had two other surviving children - brothers Harry and Gabriel Jr. Some time in the 1880s, the family moved to Trenton, NJ where her father and brother worked as harness makers. Her earliest schooling is unknown, but she began keeping a meticulous record of her grades and teachers’ names while attending Centennial Grammar School from 1892 to 1894 (the current equivalent of middle school), then Trenton High School from 1894 to 1898, where she majored in English.

In the fall of 1898, she enrolled in New Jersey State Normal School. She was given the nickname “Toddie” by her peers and her favorite occupation was “performing experiments.” According to the school’s Grade and Report Book, she does well academically and is “Quick to understand a child’s point of view and to help, yet her manner seems unsympathetic, due to lack of facial expression. Ernest and shows some good ideas of teaching.” Despite the negative evaluation of her manner and expression, she was immediately placed in a teaching position at Bound Brook Public School just before her graduation in February 1901. For the next two years, she was well-reviewed by her superiors and admired by her students in Passaic County Public Schools in Manchester Township and Haledon Borough. Finally, In 1904, she accepted a permanent position in Trenton Public Schools.

She continued to live with her family in Trenton, which, at times, included her brother Harry and nephew Austin Wolverton. Her brother Gabriel Jr. worked in the insurance business as did Austin. Her father died in the early 1900s, and by 1910, she was living with her widowed mother at 248 Pearl Street in Trenton where she continued to live for several decades. In the 1920s, while teaching, she also attended the University of Pennsylvania and received a degree in education.

According to her obituary, she spent 50 years teaching science at Trenton Junior High School No. 1, which opened in 1916, and was later renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School (closed in 2007). She died May 8, 1964, and was buried in Riverview Cemetery, Trenton, New Jersey.

Abstract

Clara J. Wolverton, born 1879, attended Trenton Public Schools, the New Jersey State Normal School, and University of Pennsylvania. She started her teaching career in Passaic County schools, then taught for approximately 50 years at Trenton Junior High School No. 1. Her collection encompasses materials from her early education documenting her grades and teachers starting in 1892, and first few years of teaching with event programs and student notes until approximately 1903.

DACS, AAT, FAST

Debra Schiff, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, 2024

Kerin Shellenbarger, Project Archivist, 2024