Chase Walker
Portrait Image courtesy of Alpine Historical Society
Mary
1831-1899
pioneer of the west
Mary Chase Walker graduated from Framingham Normal School in 1864. She began teaching at the age of fifteen
and with twenty years of teaching experience already, she entered the normal school in 1861 to further her career.
However, there were not many jobs available in New England at the time of her graduation, which coincided with
the Civil War, and so she made the bold decision to move west alone, where she became the first schoolteacher of
California’s very first public school. She traveled to California by boat, becoming violently seasick on the last leg of
the journey. A black stewardess took care of Walker during her illness, an act of kindness which Walker would later
repay. She persevered through the culture shock of the wild west and worked with the children of San Diego county
to educate them. Perhaps her biggest and most egregious bout of culture shock occurred when the black stewardess
from the ship came into town, and Mary Chase Walker lunched with her at a prominent local restaurant. This
innocent act ignited the town; people were outraged. Parents pulled their children out of Walker’s school,
resulting in the school board forcing her to resign from her position. After her resignation, she was courted by
Ephraim Morse, a co-founder of San Diego. He served on the school board, and was one of the people who voted
to have her stay on a