Register of the Stockton (Calif.) School District Truancy & Absence Records, 1912-1917
Processed by Daryl Morrison; revised by Don Walker; machine-readable finding aid created by
Don Walker
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
University Library, University of the Pacific
Stockton, CA 95211
Phone: (209) 946-2404
Fax: (209) 946-2810
URL: http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections.html
© 1998
University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.
Register of the Stockton (Calif.) School District Truancy & Absence Records, 1912-1917
Collection number: Mss160
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
University Library
University of the Pacific
Contact Information
- Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
- University Library, University of the Pacific
- Stockton, CA 95211
- Phone: (209) 946-2404
- Fax: (209) 946-2810
- URL: http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections.html
- Processed by:
- Daryl Morrison; revised by Don Walker
- Date Completed:
- 1994; 1998
- Encoded by:
- Don Walker
© 1998 University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Stockton (Calif.) School District Truancy & Absence Records,
Date (inclusive): 1912-1917
Collection number: Mss160
Creator:
Extent: 0.3 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Stockton (Calif.) School District Truancy & Absence Records,
Mss160, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific
Library
Biography
The public school system of Stockton (Calif.) was organized officially by an act of the
Common Council in the fall of 1852. Nearly fifty years later, Stockton voters approved
formation of a separate high school district encompassing an area larger than the
existing Stockton School District (1900). As a result of enabling legislation passed in
1935, the two systems were automatically unified in July 1936 creating the present
Stockton Unified School District.
The elementary school attendance officer, J. A. "Gus" Workings, (ca. 1863-1944) kept
written attendance and truancy records and also served as a custodian in the Stockton
schools for 27 years. Schools listed in Workings' records include: Franklin; Annex North
Stockton (later Woodrow Wilson); Jefferson; South; Jackson; Monroe; Lafayette; Washington
Grammar; El Dorado; Fremont; Fair Oaks; Lincoln; Weber Grammar; Hazelton; and
Pre-vocational (at Jefferson). Other schools mentioned include: Convent; Brothers;
McGowen Primary; Garretson and Banta Primary.
Scope and Content
Ledger entries include: dates (from January 1912 through March 1917), name of student,
address, school, and cause of absence. A compendium of excuses--absences range from
childhood illnesses, truancy, illnesses of parents, accidents, toothaches, out for the
circus, has no shoes, gone to the City, and so on. Family names of ethnic and religious
groups can be sometimes ascertained from absences on special holidays. The collection
includes some additional notes tallying records and listing truancies.
CONTAINER LIST
BOX 1: STOCKTON UNIFIED SCHOOLS TRUANCY & ABSENCE RECORDS, 1912-17
1.1: LEDGER [273 pp. with entries on numbered pp. 1 through 271; entries include name of student, date, address, school, and
cause of absence]
1.2: ITEMS FOUND BETWEEN PAGES OF LEDGER
-Notes tallying excuses for several months [year not indicated]
-Truants at Lafayette School, 1 p.
-Application for money order [printed form]
-Weber School truant; tally of truants, n.d. [torn note]
-Notes on truants; letter inquiring about lots, n.d.
-The Lea Lecture--illustrated, Yuma Indians, Weber Grammar School, Friday, January 9, 1914; notes on back about a truancy
case [printed adv. card]
-Stockton City Schools Attendance Officers Report [printed card; blank]
-Tally notes for January 1915 [281 cases]
-Truants, Stockton City Schools, Nov 1915
-Truants for Dec 1915 [two students]
-Notes on truants, Lafayette School, March 1916
-List of Truants, June 1916
-Stockton City Schools, Yearly report, Sept. 1915 to June 1916, 1 pg. [total cases 1705]
-Age and Schooling Certificate for Minors, 15 and 16 (July 27, 1916)
-Printed card [as above] filled out for student (March 6, 1917)
