Humboldt County Historical Society
School Ma'am: The Letters of Eleanor Ethel Tracy
Alderpoint, California March-June 1903
by Harriet Tracy DeLong
This book, the last in a series depicting the life of a Humboldt County schoolteacher around the turn of the 20th Century, paints a picture of 23-year-old Ethel Tracy's first attempt at teaching in the remote southeast corner of Humboldt County, Alderpoint. Letters sent to family members from March to June of 1903 recount her "practice teaching" stint, undertaken without supervision in a one-room schoolhouse.
Once settled in at her teacher's quarters, Ethel described for her sister, Edith, her living situation and the people with whom she shared the countryside:
"I have a room to myself furnished with a box stand, a cot bed and my trunk. You can imagine me combing by hair before my little mirror, hung on a nail by the handle. Here, I can see my little schoolhouse across on the other side of the river. I am to pay 18 dollars [or room and board] and to do my own washing, etc."
Once settled in, Ethel began her teaching career. "I have [the following] pupils - one sixth grade, one fourth grade, two second grade, and two beginners. They are from 6 to 14 years old. So you see they are pretty evenly scattered around."
Ethel goes on to describe an encounter with a rattlesnake, the arduous daily walk to the schoolhouse and even an encounter with gypsies.