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
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
- 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: 0.25 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 (California) 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.
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)
