Part I of 2 parts.
Over the years, while walking up and down Main Street from Edmonds’ town center, I have passed by the Frances E. Anderson Leisure and Cultural Center hundreds of times, and I have also attended events there on a number of occasions. But until recently I had not given much thought about who Frances Anderson was and why the center was named for her. I remember hearing that she had been a revered educator many years ago, but that was about all I knew.
Finally I became curious and started to research who she was — and why the City of Edmonds thought so much of her that they named the center after her.
Here is a glimpse back in time as it relates to Frances Anderson and her legacy.
The Early Years
Frances Anderson was born in Drummond, Montana on Nov. 16, 1890. When she was two months old, her parents and her older brother Lorne moved to the Anacortes area, along with their uncle. Her father and uncle worked for the Great Northern Railroad, and both had been transferred to Anacortes. While they were living there, Frances’ younger brother Otto was born. Over the next three years, the family was transferred to Snohomish, and then to Edmonds in 1894 as the railroad continued to expand.
When the Anderson family arrived in Edmonds, the city had built a new grade school three years earlier. The land had been donated by George Brackett, and the new school was located at the corner of 7th Avenue and Main Street. It was set back south from Main Street approximately 100 yards and had open space on all sides so the children could play. A long walkway led from Main Street up to the front stairs and into the school’s entry on the second floor. It was grander than the previous one-room school house, but it still didn’t have running water. The bathrooms were outside, and a single wood-burning stove was used to heat the entire building.
Frances entered the first grade at age 5 in fall of 1896. The school provided education from first through the eighth grade. It is estimated that there were as many as 35 students in the school when Frances arrived, and Frances in her personal notes identified Mary Jones as her first-grade teacher.
When asked many years later what she remembered about the schoolhouse and her early childhood education, she replied with a twinkle in her eye:
- “Things were pretty primitive in those days. The only heat in the school came from a pot-bellied stove around which we would huddle. And if you needed to the go to the bathroom, it was a quick dash to the outdoors facility – rain or shine
- I also remember getting a ‘switching’ when I was in the first grade.
- I always did like excitement. I remember I had a schoolmate – a girl with whom I would play dolls. But just as soon as she would leave, I would put the dolls away and rush outside to play with the boys.
- As students we enjoyed the long walks along the tide flats as we looked for clams, cockles, mussels, sea worms, barnacles, sea biscuits and other sea life.”
Rural schools at the turn of the century often did not have full school years. In some cases, classes were only available three months during the year due to the lack of certified teachers and grade-appropriate teaching materials. The weather was also a factor as small children couldn’t make it to school due to the muddy roads, rainy/cold weather and the lack of heat in some school buildings.
The photo above of the Edmonds Grade School students at the end of 1901 shows an arrow pointing to 10-year-old Frances, standing amongst the older students. Possibly due to educational interruptions, Frances — although a good student — probably was only in the second or third grade.
Frances in an oral interview for the Edmonds Historical Society stated that she was in the sixth grade in 1905 when her uncle purchased 80 acres of land and a house in Richmond Beach. Frances and her family moved in with him, but Frances and her brothers did not want to attend the one-room schoolhouse in Richmond Beach. With their parents’ permission, they walked the “tracks” for four miles each way back to Edmonds to attend school to complete the school year.
Frances did, however, attend school in Richmond Beach the following year, but reentered the Edmonds School District when her family moved back to Edmonds at the start of her eighth-grade year. Sadly, in the spring of that year (1907) her father was killed when he was struck by a train while working on the railroad.
High School and College Years
After finishing the eighth grade, Frances most likely began taking an accelerated two-year high school course in the fall of 1908, which was offered by the Edmonds Graded School.
Author’s note: The name Edmonds Graded School was the official name of the school at that time and it functioned as an elementary school, which offered a two-year high school course that may not have been accredited.
In 1908, there wasn’t an accredited high school in the area. Without that type of high school education, it is doubtful that Frances would have qualified for further education, and for the accreditation needed to become a teacher or school administrator. Fortunately, Edmonds realized it needed a high school, and the cornerstone on the school was laid in November 1909. In May of 1910, the first three students graduated from the high school, although they had spent only a couple months in the school.
During the years following the eighth grade, Frances excelled in organized sports. Photos of the era show her as a member of the Edmonds Athletic Club women’s champion basketball team, and she was recognized as a stalwart on the team. Although there weren’t many sports open to girls at the time, Frances reportedly was also very good at tennis and golf.
Despite her apparent athletic prowess, Frances was never portrayed as a tomboy. She was extremely popular with both the boys and girls in her school, and was described as having a presence that was beyond her years.
In 1911, Frances graduated from Edmonds High School with seven other students. They were the first graduating class to spend a full school year in the new building.
At the graduation ceremony, Frances was recognized as the class aecretary and was one of the featured speakers. Her topic was “Girls in Athletics.”
Author’s note: Interestingly, the graduating classes then had a class motto and a class flower. Frances’ class flower was the red carnation and the class motto was “aus dem hafen in die tiefe” or “from the harbor into the depths.”
In an interview, Frances was asked when she remembered about her experiences in the new high school. She reflected by saying:
- “I was thankful that it provided me with an opportunity to continue my education.
- It gave me an opportunity to be with students from a wide area. In those days if you lived in areas that became Lynnwood, Meadowdale, Mountlake Terrace, Brier and even Esperance, or Martha Lake, their students would have attended Edmonds High School.
- I remember the “wheezy’ bus that those students had to endure on their long bumpy rides to the school.”
In various interviews over the years, the students that went to high school with Frances were asked what they remembered about her. Here are three of their responses.
- “She was the life of the party. She was adventuresome and would try anything.
- She loved to fish. We once rowed out in a canoe, and she dropped the bait and line over the edge of the canoe, then tied the string to her big toe, and laid back and waited for a bite.
- The girls loved her. She had a great sense of fashion and style.”
The year after graduating from high school, Frances took the year off from academic pursuits. In 1912, in her personal notes, she stated that she spent a lot of time recreating with friends and waiting for her younger brother to graduate from high school, so that they could enter the University of Washington together
One of the interesting things about Frances throughout her life was her meticulous keeping of notes, photos and clippings, which she organized in a multitude of scrapbooks. The following photos are from her private collection (courtesy Edmonds Historical Museum) showing some of the activities she and her friends participated in during 1912.
It is clear from Frances’ notes, clippings and photos that she had a large group of friends who often got together to seek out adventures of all types.
In the fall of 1913, Frances and her younger brother Otto, (O.D. Anderson) enrolled at the University of Washington. Frances took physical education classes while participating in a wide variety of sports. She became only the second female student to win multiple varsity letters — earning them in basketball, track and baseball. She reportedly would have won letters in tennis and golf, but their seasons conflicted with the other sports in which she was participating. Frances also stated that she had been interested in the University of Washington’s rowing team, but since she was not a strong swimmer, she decided not to take the risk.
When interviewed later in life, she said that she and her brother had to walk up the hill from the Edmonds bowl in the morning to catch the Interurban car and the train — named “The Owl” — returned her home from Seattle around midnight each day.
After three years of academic and athletic success, Frances learned that Ethel Johnson, assistant head of the University of Washington P.E. department, was leaving to go to the University of Wisconsin (then the Whitewater State Normal School) to head up the P.E. department there. After discussions with her, Frances decided to transfer and complete her education at the University of Wisconsin. Frances graduated two years later, in 1917, with a four year degree and a major in primary education.
— This article was researched and written by Byron Wilkes