Archives West Finding Aid

Clara McCarty Wilt (February 12, 1858-January 29, 1929) was the first graduate of the University of Washington and the first woman superintendent of the Pierce County School District. Clara Antoinette McCarty was born in 1858 in Steilacoom, Washington. Her parents, Jonathan Warren and Ruth Jane Kincaid McCarty, were two of the original settlers of the town of Sumner, Washington. In 1858, during the treaty wars, her parents evacuated their home in Sumner for Steilacoom, and Clara was born there. In 1870, her family moved to Seattle so that she and her siblings could receive a better education. Clara graduated from the Territorial University in 1876 with a bachelor's degree in science, and received a master's degree in 1879 from the University of California at Berkeley. After graduation, she taught school. In 1880, she was elected superintendent of Pierce County Schools, becoming the first woman to hold office in Washington Territory. She won election three years before women in the territory had the right to vote. She married John Henry Wilt in 1882; the couple had one child, Clara May Wilt. McCarty Hall, a dormitory on the University of Washington campus, is named for her.