Clara Antoinette McCarty Wilt (1858–1929) was the first graduate of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

and the first woman

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

of the Pierce County School District.

Early life

McCarty was born on February 12, 1858, in

Steilacoom, Washington Steilacoom () is a town in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 6,727 at the 2020 census. Steilacoom incorporated in 1854 and became the first incorporated town in what is now the state of Washington. It has also become a ...

. She was born to Jonathan Warren and Ruth Jane Kincaid McCarty. Jonathan and Ruth were two of the original settlers of the town of Sumner, Washington. They were married on January 7, 1855, in the Sumner area. Clara was the second of five children: Charles C., Laura Candace, Mary Estelle, William W., and Frank Truman. In the years following their marriage, Jonathan and Ruth, along with Ruth's family moved to

Fort Steilacoom ''For the adjacent park, see Fort Steilacoom Park'' Fort Steilacoom was founded by the U.S. Army in 1849 near Lake Steilacoom. It was among the first military fortifications built by the U.S. north of the Columbia River in what was to become the ...

when Sumner was threatened by Indians. While in

, Ruth had Clara in 1858. In 1859, Clara's family went back to their settlement to find it completely destroyed by the Indians. They started a new farm, and Clara's father worked as mailman servicing

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and other places around the area, as well as keeping up the farm. In 1869, when Clara reached her preteens, she and her family moved to

so that she and her siblings could receive a better education. There, Clara's father worked in the meat business, continued his work as a mailman, and hauled coal from Lake Union to the bay.

Family

Clara married John Henry Wilt (1852–1907) on July 13, 1882. Together, they had one child, Clara May Wilt.

Accomplishments

Clara was a woman of many firsts. She is even recognized for purchasing the first

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...

in Pierce County.

University of Washington Graduate

In 1876, Clara Antoinette McCarty Wilt graduated from the Territorial University, now known as the

, at the age of 18. She was the first person to successfully graduate from the University, let alone the first woman graduate. She graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in science. At the time, the Territorial University was located in what is now downtown

, wedged between 4th and 6th Avenues on the west and east and Union and Seneca Streets on the north and south. In 1861, the first University building had four floors, and thirty-five rooms. Tuition was twenty two dollars a quarter when Clara attended the University. After graduating from the University, Clara taught in various schools, and then she attended the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

. In her honor, McCarty Hall, a

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

on the current UW campus is named after her.

Superintendent of Pierce County Schools

On November 2, 1880, Clara was elected

Superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

of Pierce County Schools. With this achievement, she was the first Superintendent of Pierce County Schools, as well as being the first woman to hold office in the

Washington Territory The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

Later life and death

In her later years, Clara was very involved in her community, including working as a

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

secretary, typing for the County Court, and acted as secretary in her church. She was also involved in her local historical society. She died on January 19, 1929, at 71 years of age.

References

Sources

*"Descendants of Joseph Kincaid." Genealogy.Com. 2007. The Generations Network. 11 June 2008 . *"Historic Timeline." Town of Steilacoom. 11 June 2008 . *"History of Sumner, WA." 2006. City of Sumner. 11 June 2008 . *"History." Welcome to the University of Washington. University of Washington. 11 June 2008 . *Krohn, Thirza. "Faculty and Students in the Early Years At the U." University of Washington: a Pictorial History. 20 November 2007. University of Washington. 11 June 2008 . *Krohn, Thirza. "Territorial University." University of Washington: a Pictorial History. 20 November 2007. University of Washington. 11 June 2008 . *Kueter, Vince. "Seattle Through the Years." The Seattle Times 13 November 2001. 11 June 2008 . *Lange, Greg. "University of Washington Graduates First Person, a Woman, in July 1876." HistoryLink.Org. 5 November 1998. History Ink. 11 June 2008 . *Long, Priscilla. "Clara McCarty is Elected Superintendent of Pierce County Schools on November 2, 1880." HistoryLink.Org. 17 January 2003. History Ink. 11 June 2008 . *"Origins." Town of Steilacoom. 11 June 2008 . *"Our History." Town of Steilacoom. 11 June 2008 . *"Place Names." Town of Steilacoom. 11 June 2008 . *Ryan, Amy M. The Sumner Story. Sumner, WA: Sumner Historical Society, 1988.

External links

HistoryLink Essay: Clara McCarty is elected superintendent of Pierce County schools on November 2, 1880HistoryLink Essay: University of Washington graduates first person, a woman, in July 1876.
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarty Wilt, Clara Antoinette 1858 births 1929 deaths American women academics Women of the Victorian era University of Washington alumni American pioneers Women in Washington (state) politics People from Steilacoom, Washington People of the Washington Territory