Clara Bayliss
1848-1948
Clara Kern Bayliss was born in 1848 on a farm near Kalamazoo, Michigan. Though unusual for women at that time, she graduated from High School. She then went on to Hillsdale College where n 1871, she was the first woman to receive a degree. She met her husband, Alfred Bayliss, at Hillsdale, and they were married in June 1871. He became the School Superintendent in LaGrange, IN, where she taught school for a year. Her daughters were born in 1872 and 1874. During this time she she earned a M.S. degree from Hillsdale (1874).
The family moved to Sterling in 1874, Streator in 1896, and Springfield in 1898 when Alfred became Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction. When Alfred edited "The Child Study Monthly," Clara began editing a section of it called "The Educational Current." She reprinted segments from books and articles by noted educators along with her own comments.She believed that the parents needed to be educated along with the child. Schools and churches should be clubhouses for the community where learning took place. She headed the Education Committee of the Illinois Congress of Mothers. She spoke in many towns about the need for parents and teachers working together. Her work and that of others led to the formation of the PTA.
Alfred was selected as the second president of Western Illinois State Normal School (1906). The family moved to Macomb, IL, where Clara was active in organizing and motivating local women. She established the The Child Culture Center in 1907. She believed that parents must set an example for their children. You cannot live one way and expect your children to be trained in another way.
The statewide meeting of the Illinois congress of Mothers was held in Macomb in 1909 due to Clara's efforts. This also helped to inspire local women. In 1910 she started the Macomb Chapter of the DAR, serving as its first regent.
She was a;sp established as an author of children's books. She started writing in the 1890's. Her focus was on Native Americans because she believed it was important for children to learn to appreciate people of other cultures. During a thirty year period she wrote many books such as "The Cliff Dwellers" and "Old Man Coyote." Many of her books are still available today. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_
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Tragically, Alfred was thrown from a horse and died in 1911. However, she did continue to write, speak. and organize. She was a leader in a local group of women who stated to raise money for the local orphanage in 1911.
Clara also inspired her daughters to social activism. The girls headed the volunteer effort of supervised, instructed play at the orphanage in 1915. Kernie went on to become a social worker and Zoe became Dean of Women at the University of Wisconsin.
Clara died in 1848, just a few days before her 100th birthday. She is buried in Oakwood cemetery beside Alfred and their daughters.