Larson, Jean

Part 1 of 2 was recorded on February 6th, 2019 at Jean Larson’s house in Tucson, Arizona. It covers the following themes:

b. 1934 

• Childhood in Iowa and Illinois. Attending Iowa State. 

• Interest in speech therapy and hearing disorders. Best practices in speech and hearing during the 1950s. 

• Language use in Iowa versus Tucson. 

• Larson’s move to Tucson in 1956 with husband Herb. First impressions of the desert and city, birth of first child at St. Mary’s Hospital, husband’s enrollment at UA. 

• Early teaching experiences. 1C classes and Tucson Unified School District’s approach to Mexican American students. 

• Discipline and student support. 

• Testing. 

• Cultural differences from Iowa: working with Catholic, Mexican American students. 

• Reputation of Tucson Unified School District in the 1950s and organizational culture. 

• TUSD’s decision to move 6th grade from elementary school to junior high school. 

• TUSD’s unwillingness to hire married couples. 

• Getting appointed to be the principal of University Heights Elementary. 

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Part 2 of 2 was recorded on February 13th, 2019 in Tucson, Arizona and it covers the following themes: 

• Work as a guidance counselor and reading instructor at Roskruge, prior to being a principal. 

• The assassination of Martin Luther King and how it affected students and race relations at TUSD. 

• Cultural changes in the 1960s and how it affected Larson’s teaching. Student walkouts. Learning from kids. Tracking. 

• Move from University Heights to Utterback in the early 1970s. 

• TUSD desegregation lawsuit in the 1970s, implementation and long term changes. 

• 1978 TUSD teachers’ strike and social aftermath within schools. 

• Personal experience as a strikebreaker at Food Giant in the mid-1960s, during teaching career. 

• Changes in dealing with non-English speakers over Larson’s career. Rise of bilingualism. 

• Long-term changes in TUSD, teaching culture, finances, school board, enforced distance between students and teachers.