Margaret J. Mitchell. Sociological
work in Chicago, including teaching in Hull House, and research work
of a historical nature among the Indian tribes of the West,
constitute two of the important lines of endeavor in the educational
career of Miss Mitchell, who is now head of the department of history
in the Central State Normal School at Edmond, and is recognized as
one of the leading teachers of history in the Southwest.
Miss Mitchell was
born at Monroe, Iowa, a daughter of Andrew and Mary (Conner)
Mitchell. Her father was a native of Scotland, and a graduate of the
University of Edinburg. Coming to the United States at the age of
thirty, he followed his profession as a
civil and mining engineer both in California and Iowa. Miss
Mitchell’s maternal grandparents and some other forebears were
natives of Virginia, her mother being a cousin of Gen. Robert E. Lee,
and the family was also related to the Harcourts of Virginia. Miss
Mitchell has two sisters: Mrs. M. A. Ebright, wife of a business man
at Redwood Falls, Minnesota; and Miss Lela Mitchell, president of an
abstract company in Albany, Oregon.
After her primary
education in the public schools of Monroe, Miss Mitchell attended the
Iowa Teachers College at Cedar Falls, where she received the Master’s
and Bachelor’s degrees in Education. Her degrees, Ph.B. and M. A.,
come from the University of Chicago, where she emphasized historical
studies. For several years she was a teacher in Iowa high schools,
and for three years principal of a high school in the State of
Washington. On coming to Oklahoma she was selected head of the
history department of the high school at Chickasha, and from there
was called to head the department of history at the Central State
Normal in Edmond. Three of her summer vacations she spent as an
instructor in the University of Chicago.
Miss Mitchell is the
author of some history outlines and syllabi now being used in many
schools. Into her department at Edmond she has introduced a part of
the history course of the University of Chicago curriculum, and is
featuring industrial history. Her teaching stresses current history,
which much emphasis upon economical and sociological phases. Her
department has been made an important aid to debating work among the
students, and has given fundamental instruction in civics through the
holding of organized trials and legislative assemblies. Miss Mitchell
has two assistants regularly in the department, and sometimes more
than that number are required.
She is a member of
the Congregational Church, belongs to the P. E. O. Chapter in Iowa,
and the Cambridge Club of Edmond. She is a member of various
professional and learned societies, including the Oklahoma
Educational Association, the National Educational Association, the
American Historical Association, and the Mississippi Valley
Historical Association. In all of these she has read papers. She has
done three years of research work among the Indians of the State of
Washington and considerable special work in Chicago. Miss Mitchell
has supplemented her other opportunities by extensive travel and
study in several countries of Europe, in Canada, Alaska and Mexico,
and in many parts of the United States.