18923 Private and Public School Teachers 



maintained cordial relations with us. About the bay 

 Miss Sarah B. Hamlin in San Francisco and Miss 

 Anna Head conducted excellent preparatory schools 

 for girls. At Nordhoff, in the Ojai Valley above 

 Ventura, Sherman Thacher from Yale was carrying 

 on an interesting experiment. There, under con- 

 ditions peculiar to California, in the upper reaches 

 of an ample river valley almost surrounded by 

 granite mountains, he has developed an excellent 

 combination of study, play, and outdoor life. 



A prominent figure in the rapidly developing 

 public schools of those days was John Swett, city 

 superintendent of San Francisco, an original and 

 resourceful pioneer in education. Miss Jean Parker, 

 a woman of clear mind and beautiful character, was 

 leaving an indelible imprint on the secondary work 

 in the same city. Charles H. Allen, president of 

 the San Jose Normal School, was widely known 

 and beloved as an inspiring leader. To Mrs. Sarah 

 B. Cooper, I have already referred. 1 



Among the school people in southern California 

 at that time, I may mention Edward Hyatt of 

 Riverside, afterward state superintendent. Our 

 acquaintance began auspiciously in the summer of 

 1891. Mr. Hyatt then appeared in my office with An 

 a prospective student and a jar of desert snakes, Auspicious 

 an endearing combination! Ten years later we en- /,<, 

 rolled the first of a continuous Hyatt Family series, 

 eight in number, including Miss Stella McAllister, 

 an adopted daughter; of these, seven have already 

 graduated and one is now in the University, while 

 a ninth has made application for admittance in due 

 time. 



1 See Chapter v, page 122. 



C 453 3 



