In 1966 Tacoma Community College dedicated the Pearl A. Wanamaker Library. Its continuing mission is “to teach and promote information literacy, to collect and provide access to relevant and diverse academic resources, and to provide a welcoming and supportive environment for students, faculty, and staff” . Pearl Wanamaker, who attended the dedication, remarked to a reporter, “I think this day kind of tops off a very interesting life.” His long career in public service was indeed very interesting.
Pearl was born on January 18, 1899 in Mabana on Camano Island to Nils and Johanna Helmen Anderson. His father was Swedish, his mother Finnish. Disabled in a logging accident, “Peg-Leg” Anderson made his fortune selling timber land. The family moved to Seattle when Pearl was young, but returned to Camano Island after his retirement. Nils became active in local politics, serving as Island County Engineer and County Commissioner. He was even elected to the state House of Representatives.
Register at University of Washington in 1915, Pearl hoped to become an electrical engineer but quickly turned to education due to sexism in science. She left school two years later to teach in a one-room school in Mabana. Teachers were in short supply due to many enlisting in the military or joining relief organizations. Many of Pearl’s students were her age.
She attended summer school at Bellingham Normal School (now Western Washington Universitylisten)) and graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in education in 1922. She took a job as a teacher and dorm matron in Jordan, Montana, but soon returned to Camano Island. Pearl won election as Superintendent of Schools for Island County in 1922. The job required her to travel to many schools only accessible by water. During her travels, she was often accompanied by county engineer Lemuel “Lem” Wanamaker. They married in 1927.
Pearl took a year off to be a housewife but didn’t like it. Lem proved her biggest supporter in her career as a teacher and politician. They had three children, Robert (1932), James (1933) and Joanna (1934).
Pearl lost the state House of Representatives election in 1926 but won in 1928, promising to support the construction of the Deception Pass Bridge. This bridge would provide Whidbey Island with its first road connection to the mainland. A Democrat representing District 50 (Island County), Pearl was one of only four women in the House.
Pearl pushed the bridge bill through the legislature only to have it opposed by Governor Roland Hartley. Winning re-election in 1932 as part of a New Deal-inspired Democratic landslide, she was successful in getting the bridge bill passed. Pearl cut the ribbon at the bridge’s dedication on July 21, 1935.
In 1936, Pearl lost his re-election to Monrad Wallgren. She became a lobbyist for the Washington Education Association but was nominated to fill the unexpired term of State Senator LE Twesksbury. She represented District 38 (Island and Snohomish counties) from 1937 to 1940, winning re-election.
After emphasizing education during her legislative career, Pearl was elected Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1940. She would hold the position for 16 years and be the second woman to hold the position. Pearl retained an apartment in Olympia but kept a residence in Coupeville.
Pearl faced many challenges and difficult issues during her tenure as Superintendent of Education. An excellent negotiator (and tornado of arms), she was very successful in getting her bills passed. In his time, the modern school system took shape. During World War II, she was able to balance reforming teacher certification standards and addressing staffing shortages by rehiring retirees and providing emergency teacher certification. She also strongly opposed students leaving school to work in war industries. “We need to keep our young people in school,” she said, “to avoid a ‘lost generation’.”
Wartime migration and the post-war baby boom put additional pressure on school systems. Building new schools costs money. Pearl worked to increase public funding for schools and advocated for federal support. Although a highly controversial proposal at the time, she lobbied for federal aid to schools as a participant in the 1956 White House Conference on Education.
Washington State’s education system was then considered one of the best in the country. Pearl was president of the National Education Association from 1946-1947. She actively participated in national educational events and wrote for national magazines. General Douglas MacArthur even appointed her to the American Education Mission to Japan (1946-1950), studying the schools there for post-war reorganization and demilitarization.
Pearl was able to overcome controversies over the forced consolidation of rural school districts and debates over parochial school transportation. Its biggest controversy turned out to be the reinstatement of a Tacoma school trustee who had pleaded for the Fifth Amendment in a hearing before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Although it was legal procedure, Pearl was labeled a communist sympathizer (which she was not). With this and worries about overspending, Pearl lost the 1956 election for Superintendent of Public Instruction to Lloyd J. Andrews of Spokane.
Despite her loss, Pearl continued her involvement in education, working with Scholastic Magazine. She also served on the Washington State Arts Commission as well as other state and national boards and commissions. Pearl died in Seattle on December 4, 1984.
Pearl Wanamaker was Superintendent of Public Instruction during a time of stress and change. She helped create a strong education system that was among the best in the country. Her long career in public service, both as a teacher and as a politician, shows great dedication to the people – and children – of the state.
