1940 Teacher College Board Report Tells Where Aunt Margaret Taught

Virtually any printed material can contain a genealogical clue.

The image in this post is part of the "Teacher College Board of the State of Illinois" from 1940. The image itself was located on Mocavo.com. 

I've known for some time that my grandmother's sister Margaret Habben Hutchison taught home economics both before and after her marriage. I also had determined that Aunt Margaret graduated from what is now known as Western Illinois University in 1940.

According to this report, Aunt Margaret actually graduated on 19 July 1940 and her first teaching position was apparently in Gridley, Illinois-in McLean County.

Alumni magazines, yearbooks and other items published by the college are places where researchers typically think to find this type of employment material. In this case, since Aunt Margaret graduated from a state university her name appeared in this annual report.

I'm pretty Aunt Margaret is listed as "absent" in the 1940 census enumeration of her parents, Mimka and Tjode Habben, in Prairie Township, Hancock County, Illinois. If this information is correct, she would still have been in college at that point in time.

I'll have to do a mental check for other family members during this time period who might have graduated from "Western Illinois State Teachers College" during this time frame for similar materials.

I am doubtful the publications extend to the early 1960s when my mother graduated from the same institution. In her case I know where she taught during her entire teaching career, so while it would be neat to see her name "in print" the information would not be any revelation.