Suzanne Cofer graduated from the WSU College of Education in 1971. She taught English at New Century High School in Lacey, Washington from 1992-1998. She has collected genealogy materials from her relatives, who were early homesteaders in the Clarkston, Washington and Lewiston, Idaho areas. Both of her parents, Wanda Haworth and Earl Desilet, attended WSU but did not graduate. Earl Desilet served during World War II. His sister, Maxine Desilet Dickerson, served with the U.S. Foreign Service during the 1940s and 1950s. Suzanne Cofer has preserved both her father’s letters written during World War II and her aunt’s letters from her time in a Spokane business school and in the U.S. Foreign Service.
This collection is comprised of four total series, as arranged by the donor. The first series consists of New Century High School (Lacey, Washington) materials. Prior to its closing in 1998, New Century High School was a successful part of the Schools for 21st Century Project – a Washington State Legislative Initiative that provided millions of dollars for public school reform efforts from 1987 to 1995. This series includes general school information, administrative documents of reform efforts and challenges, interviews with those involved in creating the initiative, the legislatively mandated evaluation of reform efforts, and Suzanne Cofer’s teaching memoir, which includes serval chapters devoted to New Century High School. Cofer worked at the school as a teacher at New Century from 1992-1998.
The second series contains photos, letters, a scrapbook, and other family documents pertaining to Cofer’s father, Earl Desilet, who attended WSU and served in World War II.
The third series is comprised of personal family genealogy research of the Ruark, Jones, and Haworth families (Cofer’s ancestors), who were early homesteaders in the Clarkston, WA and Lewiston, ID areas. This series also includes materials on Cofer’s mother, Wanda Haworth. Like Cofer and her father, Wanda Haworth attended WSU. High resolution scanned photographs of the Leonard and Ruth Haworth family and their homestead ranch outside of Clarkston, short stories, a memoir, yearbooks, and other papers pertaining to Haworth are located in series three.
Series four includes information on Cofer’s aunt, Maxine Desilet Dickerson, who served in the U.S. Foreign Service from 1949 to 1956. She worked as an executive secretary to high-ranking embassy officials and ambassadors in Berlin, Munich, Caracas, and Rangoon. This series is comprised mainly of letters from Maxine Desilet Dickerson to her parents, as well as from her husband, Denver Dickerson. The letters begin in 1936 when she was a student at business school in Spokane. Denver Dickerson was the last political appointee of President John Kennedy prior to his assassination. He served as Lt. Governor of Guam for five years, during which Maxine Desilet Dickerson was the official social hostess for both her husband and the Governor.
This is an unprocessed collection. Any arrangement reflects either a pre-existing order from the records' creators or previous custodians, or preliminary sorting performed by staff.
Some material in all four boxes of this collection are restricted and require MASC staff review prior to researcher use. Please contact the repository for details.
Copyright restrictions apply.
[Item description]
Preliminary Guide to the Suzanne Cofer Collection of the Desilet, Ruark, Jones, and Haworth Families, 1840-2021 (MS 2022.24)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Suzanne Cofer donated this collection to the Washington State University Libraries in 2022 (MS 2022.24).
Pioneer Settlers of Grand Mound Prairie, Thurston County, Washington Typescript, 1934 January 25
Memories of a Pioneer, circa 1935
Pioneer History of the Pacific Northwest, undated
Clarkston, Washington, History Typescript, circa 1927
Preliminary Guide to the Old family (Johnson and Crawford families) papers, 1865-1947
World War II Collection, 1941-1965
George L. Converse Diaries, 1944-1952
Washington State University College of Education Records, 1958-1975
Bob (Robert P.) Weatherly Papers, 1885-1995
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Contains RESTRICTED material. MASC Staff review needed prior to researcher use.
Contains RESTRICTED material. MASC Staff review needed prior to researcher use.
Contains RESTRICTED material. MASC Staff review needed prior to researcher use.
Contains RESTRICTED material. MASC Staff review needed prior to researcher use.