Clara Kern Bayliss
A middle-aged white woman, wearing a high-collared lacy dress or blouse, and an updo with curls across her forehead
Clara Kern Bayliss, from a 1901 newspaper
Born
Clara Marie Kern

March 5, 1848
Kalamazoo, Michigan, US
DiedMarch 1, 1948(1948-03-01) (aged 99)
Madison, Wisconsin, US
EducationHillsdale College
Occupation(s)Writer, educator, clubwoman
SpouseAlfred Bayliss
Children2, including Zoe Burrell Bayliss

Clara Kern Bayliss (March 5, 1848 – March 1, 1948) was an American writer and educator.

Early life

Clara Marie Kern was born on her family's farm near Kalamazoo, Michigan, the daughter of Manasseh Kern (1809–1892) and Caroline Herlan Kern.[1][2] She was the first woman to graduate from Hillsdale College in Michigan, in 1871. She later earned a master's degree from the same school, in 1874.[3][4]

Career

Bayliss was head of the Education Committee of the Illinois Congress of Mothers.[5][6] In that role, she emphasized the need for physical training and manual skills for all children,[7] declaring that "When a child is reared in such a manner that he considers physical labor menial and unbecoming, he has lost the power of correct judgment; he lives in an unreal world, where all things have fictitious values, and he begins to talk of the 'occupation' of owning money".[8] She also encouraged school libraries,[9] and nature study for children.[10]

A color scientific illustration, from an 1897 book about pond life
An illustration from Bayliss's first book, In Brook and Bayou (1897).

Bayliss was vice president of the Illinois State Teachers Association.[11] In 1907, she established the Child Culture Center in Macomb, Illinois. She was founder of the Macomb chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1910. In 1927 she was elected a vice president of the Society of Midland Authors.[12] She supported the creation of an Illinois state museum, to house and study local archaeological finds, which otherwise were sent to neighboring states.[13] She wrote against "the selfishness of men in public", citing excessive smoking, loud whistling, crowding, and other noisome behaviors.[14]

Books by Bayliss included In Brook and Bayou: or, Life in the Still Waters (1897),[15][16] Lolami in Tusayan (1903),[17] Two Little Algonkin Lads (1907),[18] The Little Cliff Dweller (1908),[19] Old Man Coyote (1908), Philippine Folk Tales (with Berton L. Maxfield, W. H. Millington, Fletcher Gardner, and Laura Estelle Watson Benedict),[20] A Treasury of Indian Tales,[21] and A Treasury of Eskimo Tales (1922).[22] She also wrote about Illinois history for the Illinois State Historical Society,[23] about birds for The Auk,[24] about geography for the School News and Practical Educator,[25] and contributed to The Child-Study Monthly, which was edited by her husband.[26]

Bayliss was the last surviving member of a small group of people chosen to witness the opening of Abraham Lincoln's casket in 1901, when Lincoln's remains were re-interred to prevent vandalism.[27] She was also considered Madison's last surviving Civil War widow.[28]

Personal life

Clara Kern married educator and editor Alfred Bayliss in 1871. They had two daughters, Zoe and Clara.[29][30] Alfred Bayliss died in 1911. Clara Kern Bayliss died in 1948, just before her 100th birthday, at a hospital in Madison, Wisconsin.[31][32]

References

  1. ↑ Leonard, John W. (1914). Woman's Who's who of America. American Commonwealth Company. p. 84.
  2. ↑ D. W. Ensign & Co. (1880). Berrien and Van Buren Counties. p. 533.
  3. ↑ "Clara Bayliss". McDonough County Women's Social Service Memorial. Archived from the original on 2015-11-07. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  4. ↑ "Mrs. Bayliss Dies; Was Near 100 Years Old". The Capital Times. 1948-03-01. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Pioneer of P.-T. A. Movement Succumbs". The Winona Daily News. 1948-03-01. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Congress of Mothers Meets". Chicago Tribune. 1912-02-14. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Attack on School System". Chicago Tribune. 1908-05-08. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (1902-07-29). "Importance of Physical Training". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  9. ↑ "Creating School Libraries". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1901-02-10. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (1899-09-18). "Vacation Studies for Young Naturalists". The Buffalo Enquirer. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Rock Falls News". Sterling Gazette. 1903-12-22. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Local Woman Elected". The Minneapolis Star. 1927-10-31. p. 14. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Shows Need of a State Museum". Freeport Journal-Standard. 1906-07-02. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (1904-10-21). "Selfishness of Men in Public". The Argyle Atlas. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (1897). In brook and bayou; or, Life in the still waters. Appleton's home reading books. Division I, Natural history. New York: D. Appleton and company.
  16. ↑ "Among the Beginners". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1897-06-14. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (1903). Lolami in Tusayan. Bloomington, Ill.: Public School Publishing Co.
  18. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (1907). Two little Algonkin lads. Boston: Educational Publishing Co.
  19. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (1908). The little cliff dweller: a story of Lolami, for the little folks. Bloomington, Ill.: Public-School Pub. Co.
  20. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (2013). Philippine Folk-Tales. Tredition Classics. ISBN 978-3-8495-2018-2.
  21. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (2004). A Treasury of Indian Tales. Fredonia Books. ISBN 978-1-4101-0548-6.
  22. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (1922). A Treasury of Eskimo Tales. Library of Alexandria. ISBN 978-1-61310-931-1.
  23. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (1909). "The Significance of the Piasa". Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society: 114–122.
  24. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (1918). "A Study of the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo". The Auk. 35 (2): 161–164. doi:10.2307/4072844. JSTOR 4072844.
  25. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (March 1922). "Footnotes to Geography". The School News and Practical Educator. 35: 41.
  26. ↑ Bayliss, Clara Kern (October 1899). "The Educational Current". The Child-Study Monthly. 5: 182–192.
  27. ↑ Bridgman, Louis W. (1955-02-06). "Last One to See Lincoln Was a Madison Woman". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ↑ "To Clara Kern Bayliss". The Capital Times. 1947-12-27. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ↑ "Pioneer Educator Dies in Madison, Neared 100". Monroe Evening Times. 1948-03-01. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ↑ "Quietly Wedded at Howe". The Champaign Daily Gazette. 1904-02-11. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ↑ "Writer Dies". The Capital Times. 1948-03-01. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ↑ "Writer, Educator and Pioneer in PTA, Mrs. Bayliss, is Dead". The Oshkosh Northwestern. 1948-03-01. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.


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