WAUWiltClaraMcCartyPHColl1510.xml Guide to the Clara McCarty Wilt Photograph Collection circa 1860-1929 Wilt (Clara McCarty) Photograph Collection Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries © 2018 (Last modified: 4/11/2018)

Seattle, WA 98195

University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections PH1510 Clara McCarty Wilt Photograph Collection circa 1860-1929 14 photographs (1 folder) ; sizes vary Collection materials are in English. Photographs of Clara McCarty Wilt and her family and friends. Wilt was the first graduate of the University of Washington and the first woman superintendent of the Pierce County School District

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.

Photographs of Clara McCarty Wilt and her family and friends. Other people in the photographs include her brother, Charles Chester McCarty; her father, Jonathan Warren McCarty; her mother, Ruth Jane McCarty ; her friend, Mrs. Shurtleff-Way, and a group of friends from the YWCA.

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Entire collection can be viewed on the Libraries Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator is required to view original photographs. Contact Special Collections for more information.

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Status of creator's copyrights is unknown; restrictions may exist on copying, quotation, or publication. Users are responsible for researching copyright status before use.

Donor: Elizabeth Evans Erickson, 1980. The papers were transferred to the Manuscripts Division.

Processed by Melanie Kay, 2018.

Material Described Separately:

Clara McCarty Wilt Papers (Manuscript Collection 3509)

Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington) Photographs

1 1 Jonathan Warren McCarty and his wife Ruth Jane McCarty 1868 1 2 Charles Chester McCarty and Clara Antoinette McCarty 1868

Jonathan and Ruth McCarty were their parents.

1 3 Copy of a photograph of Clara McCarty 1868? 1 4 Clara McCarty at age 16 1874 1 5 Clara McCarty 1879 Jones Rolofson & Co. Elite Photographic Studio, San Francisco 1 6 Clara McCarty 1879 Peterson & Bro., Seattle, Washington Territory 1 7 Clara McCarty 1879? Green Studios, Oakland 1 8 Clara McCarty 1879? Green Studios, Oakland 1 9 Clara McCarty and her friend Mrs. Shurtleff-Way 1879? Green Studios, Oakland 1 10 Clara McCarty Wilt 1882 Frank G. Abell Photography, Portland

Clara McCarty was married to John Henry Wilt in 1882.

1 11 Clara McCarty Wilt between 1880 and 1890? A. Jackson, Tacoma 1 12 Clara McCarty Wilt 1910s? Hartsook, Tacoma 1 13 Clara McCarty Wilt 1920s? Zausmer 1 14 Clara McCarty Wilt and YWCA friends 1920s?

Clara McCarty Wilt is the second from the left.