People: Mary Hurlbut Cordier

MARY HURLBUT CORDIER: SCHOOLWOMEN OF THE PRAIRIES

'Although the conditions have changed remarkably in the past 100 years, the essential character of successful teachers has remained the same. They genuinely care about the education of children, almost feel it is their life's mission.' So says Mary Hurlbut Cordier, M.A. '58, who ought to know.

Cordier has authored Schoolwomen of the Prairies and Plains (University of New Mexico Press, 1992), a narrative history of women teachers from 1860s to 1920s in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, the three states boasting the highest literacy rates. Drawn from diaries, letters, oral histories and other original sources, the book offers a fascinating glimpse of their struggles and triumphs and adds to what she fondly calls 'the professional heritage of women teachers.'

Mary retired in 1990 after teaching at Western Michigan University for 27 years but remains highly active. 'These women were largely homemakers, but they also cleaned out the barns and faced very difficult circumstances,' she says.

Born and raised in Iowa, Mary came to Michigan in the 1950s and has stayed since. She credits MSU with launching her career. 'My master's degree at MSU game me not only the credentials but also the confidence to go on,' she says. 'I enjoyed my courses very much.'

Mary became interested in the history of teaching when she and her husband were vacationing in Steamboat Springs, CO. While visiting a museum there, she stumbled on a plaque dedicated to a woman who was the county superintendent of schools from 1896 to 1922. 'We all know about the scarcity of women in administrative positions, even today,' she says. 'When I saw that, I knew I had to find out more about her and other women teachers. I can recall when teachers were regarded as saints, or as mediocre--'those who can't, teach.' Neither of them described me. I wanted to know, 'What are teachers, anyway?' 'What is my heritage?''

Now, thanks to her research, many other teachers can find that missing historical link.