The collection, 1908-1953, and undated, includes personal and professional papers of a teacher from northern Michigan. The collection includes: a portrait of Roxie Mary Mahoney Higgins complete with vital dates, photographs, diploma from Presque Isle County Normal, final exams, student teaching final exams, student teacher lesson plans, teacher created and collected teaching aids, teacher created activities and worksheets for 1st-7th grade students, and State of Michigan Health Education pamphlets,1912-1945. Magazine clippings (copies) include racist depictions of Native Americans. Also included are various teaching publications such as Educator, Instructor, and Children’s Activities for Home and School, and a single issue of American Observer from December 8, 1941. The publications within this collection are retained due to the completeness of the issues as well as the excellent condition. The collection was organized according to size and alphabetically by topic.
Roxie fits within the trend of young rural female teachers, where she would only teach for a year or two. The County Normal training offered reading, handwriting, spelling, composition, arithmetic, and geography courses for future teachers, but not the full four year curriculum training offered by Normal Schools. For most Michigan County Normal students tuition was waved if the student agreed to teach the next year in the county. (This information from Clarke Historical Library’s web page on One-Room School-teachers https://www.cmich.edu/library/clarke/ResearchResources/Michigan_Material_Statewide/One_Room_Schools/Pages/Teachers.aspx accessed on June 28, 2016).
Within the collection are final examinations in courses beyond those subjects she would teach to the young students, such as Rural Sociology. Roxie’s own coursework in preparation for teaching was of a practical nature where she learned lesson planning and classroom management. Roxie’s student teaching evaluation shows that teachers were graded on everything from comportment to appearance as well as execution of lessons (Box 1, folder 1). Within Roxie’s student teaching materials there is a full page example of shorthand script (Box 1, folder 6). Her visual materials are in excellent condition and offer a sampling of beautiful, popular images from the 1930s-1940s, cut from magazines and mounted on construction paper.
One particular addition to this collection is the attendance records for the year Roxie’s sister, Faith, taught and attended Presque Isle County Normal in 1936. This glimpse into the teaching life of Faith T. Mahoney reveals an additional path for female educators.
Processing Notes: Approximately 1 cubic foot of duplicate and acidic materials was withdrawn from the collection. Issues of four journals were separately catalogued. Some material exhibits a strong flavor of patriotism within American History lessons of the 1940s and racist depictions of Native Americans. Boxes 1-2 are .5 cubic ft. letter-sized boxes, Box 3 is .5 cubic ft. legal-size, and Box 4 is a larger, oversized box.
Biography:
Roxie Mary Mahoney was born in Saginaw, Michigan, on October 16, 1922 to parents Daniel J. and Mary (McDonald). Roxie was the third of four children in the Mahoney household in Onaway, Presque Isle, Michigan, including Lois K., Faith T., Roxie M., and Dan M. Daniel J. Mahoney was employed as a manager of a lumber yard. (This information is from the U.S. census records for Michigan, 1930).
One source of extant data shows that in 1934 Roxie married Loncy Londino (born April 15, 1915) in Hancock County, West Virginia. According to this information by 1958, the couple divorced. (There is no supporting evidence for this relationship within the collection.)
In 1942 Roxie earned a diploma from Presque Isle County Normal and taught at a one room schoolhouse in Onaway. Roxie attended Presque Isle County Normal for one year, which was typical for teacher education of the 1930s-1940s. She taught school between 1942 and 1944.
By the 1960s Roxie moved back to Saginaw, Michigan, and married Donald G. Higgins, also of Saginaw. The couple had two children, Ronald and Susan. Roxie was very active in the Music Boosters at Douglas MacArthur High School, 1963-1967. Roxie served on the Saginaw Township Election Board for thirty years and was a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and choir.
Roxie died on April 4, 1996. She was survived by her husband, children, two grandchildren, two sisters, and numerous nieces and nephews. Roxie was buried from St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Saginaw, in St. Andrew Cemetery.
Roxie’s sister, Faith, according to census records as well as social security registration, was born in Saginaw, Michigan, on April 22, 1917, and became a teaching sister within the Dominican Order out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She died on March 1, 1998. (This information is from the collection.)
