Adelaide Lowry Pollock

Pamela Miles May 23, 2019 Presented to QAFC

Adelaide Lowry Pollock

March 14, 1860 – May 3, 1938

This isn’t a scheduled paper on our topic this year, but as archivist, I discovered a fascinating and notable Queen Anne Fortnightly member from the past that I thought the group would enjoy getting to know. I am delighted to share some life stories of Adelaide L. Pollock.

Adelaide Lowry Pollock’s life was one of service: she was a pioneer teacher, a civic leader, a Red Cross worker, a lecturer and an author, a “woman of varied talents and interests.” She was a world traveler, and a lover of birds and poetry. I first became interested in Adelaide Pollock when I came across her photograph and some written material about her in the Fortnightly Archives. It was evident from newspaper articles that I found that she was a well-known member of the Seattle community in the early 1900’s, but I had never heard of her. Have any of you heard of her?

Adelaide was an honorary member of Queen Anne Fortnightly beginning in 1905-06. She became a regular member in 1920-21 and remained so until her death in 1938. The 1938-39 yearbook has an entry “Remembering Miss Adelaide L. Pollock.”

Adelaide Lowry Pollock was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa March 14, 1860, but crossed the plains in the early 1860’s with her parents, the David Pollocks, her brother, Harry, and her sister, Marie. This was a covered wagon trip to Oregon Territory, where they settled.

Adelaide’s first college training was at the College of Notre Dame in San Francisco, then at San Jose Normal where she got a diploma. She entered Stanford in 1898 and received her A. B. in 1901. Then, in 1905, she received her M.A. from the University of Washington.

In 1888 Adelaide began teaching in Seattle under Julia Kennedy, Seattle’s first woman School Superintendent. Adelaide taught at the Madison Street School at 23rd and Madison, at the old Central School. She has the distinction of being the first woman principal in the public schools in Seattle, in 1901 at Queen Anne School, or West Queen Anne Grade School as we know it on 5th Ave. W. She was always interested in the success of working women and their advancement, especially in education. She felt that Julia Kennedy did not receive proper support and recognition, and Adelaide wanted to help women administrators succeed. Due to this concern, she was the prime mover in founding an organization known as the Council of Administrative Women in Education, in 1910. The initial meeting was held in her home and she was the first president of the organization. This group eventually became a national organization and was later subsumed under the umbrella of the National Education Association (in the 1980’s). She would have been 50 years old by that time of its founding.

During her life in Seattle, Adelaide worked with Boy Scouts, taking them camping, and teaching them about birds (you can read about this in her book). As a member of the Mountaineers Club, she regularly led troops of Scouts up the slopes of Mt. Rainier. She taught Sunday School and served with groups that she felt were character building.

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Adelaide was a founder and charter member of the Women’s University Club and was active in it until her death. She gave lots of talks there about birds, her trips, and other topics. For the State Federation of Women’s Clubs she was Vice-Chairman of the Conservation of Birds, and Chairman of Civil Arts. She was a member of Plymouth Congregational Church, the D.A.R., Phi Beta Kappa, Daughters of Pioneers, and the National League of Pen Women (women writers), as well as an active member of Fortnightly.

In 1918, Adelaide resigned her principalship after almost thirty years of service in the Seattle schools. She went to France with our Expeditionary Forces. There, she served under the Army Educational Commission and the Red Cross, teaching citizenship in American Army camps. Adelaide said that she “followed her boys.” This change was probably motivated by patriotism, but she must have had some source of income besides her teaching salary, which wasn’t large, possibly from her family, in order to retire at the age of 58. She also traveled extensively in Europe, South America and Japan in 1900, where she visited schools.

After her return from overseas service, Adelaide devoted herself to community service. She was involved with various civic enterprises and women’s club work (this was when she became a regular member of Fortnightly). For six years she was a member of the zoning committee of the Seattle City Planning Commission.

An avid member of the Seattle Audubon Society, Adelaide wrote and lectured about birds. She observed birds closely and studied birdsong and bird behavior. One of her books, Excursions about Birdland, was published in 1925 and republished in 1930 as Wings over Land and Sea. I have a copy of the first book, which I will pass around, after I read an excerpt. Its chapters discuss the behavior, songs and habitats of various birds of the northwest, like thrushes, seagulls and cedar waxwings. The stories she tells are intended to encourage people, especially children, to observe and learn to know our feathered friends. The Audubon Society in “Love and appreciation of Miss Pollock’s tireless work for the care and protection of birds, and as an educational force in this field,” presented a tree in “Recognition Lane on the Federal government Aviation Field at Sand Point, Seattle, Washington.” This tree bore Miss Pollock’s name.

After her retirement, Adelaide continued to be a female pioneer and a founder of organizations for women educators. She was the president of the Washington Pioneer Teachers Association from 1931-1932 and wrote a history of women administrators.

One of the most interesting stories I learned about Adelaide was that along with Ida B. Culver, also a Seattle Public Schools teacher, and also born in Iowa, together they founded the Seattle Educational Auxiliary in 1928. At that time, although women teachers dominated the profession, they were not allowed to marry and they did not make very much money, because school boards found they could pay women teachers much less than men, and there were no pension programs.

Recognizing the need for assistance in housing for retired and convalescent teachers from the Seattle Public Schools, Pollock, Culver and other Seattle teachers and administrators met on October 8, 1928, to form an organization for this purpose. The auxiliary bought a large three-story house with a view, at 1004 Queen Anne Avenue in 1933. It became known as the Seattle Auxiliary Residence, which was to offer comfort at a reasonable price and to be a place for teachers to meet and entertain. It was

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remodeled to accommodate 11 women and a housekeeper. Culver, who was a shrewd investor, died on January 25, 1936, after a heart attack and left most of her sizeable estate to the Seattle Education Auxiliary. The members of the Auxiliary, in honor of their benefactor, named the facility the Ida Culver House. It eventually became too small and moved to Ravenna. Adelaide lived at Ida Culver House on Queen Anne until she died on May 3, 1938, while visiting a friend on Vashon Island.

Not only was Adelaide strong, capable and dedicated, she also enjoyed sewing, knitting and cooking. Her friends spoke of her as never idle and a deep fearless thinker who stood for her convictions. She loved poetry and recited it from memory to her friends. Her book chapters each begin with a poem by Nina Moore. She had an amazing capacity for being a friend.

Adelaide Pollock’s accomplishments deserved recognition, but after her death she was forgotten by women and by her community. No school was ever named after her, and even the schools where she taught are no more. As one writer put it, “Adelaide Pollock is lost to history both because she was female and because she was an educator.” I think it is fitting that we honor her memory be hearing her story.

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1. Display photo of Adelaide Pollock

2. Read paper

3. Read two passages from the book Excursions about Birdland; p. 2, first paragraph; p. 102, first paragraph; note the photo of the author on p. 132; note the poem at the beginning of each chapter. Pass the book around.

4. Read poem by Adelaide Pollock about Fortnightly from 1934.

Written by Pamela Miles May 23, 2019

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