In the Sherman Room archive is a graduation book for Wilda Claire Strong. These books were the predecessors of yearbooks as we know them today. The book contains information about the class of 1907 from Plymouth High School, including photographs, class autographs, notes on teachers and class officers and newspaper clippings of items important to a young graduate at the time.
1907 Graduating Class Plymouth High School
1908 Class Plymouth High School
Plymouth High School in May 1906
Wilda was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio on March 9, 1890. According to the 1900 census, she was in New Haven, Huron County, Ohio living with her grandparents Elija and Emma Strong, and at school in the Plymouth School System. 1907 was a roller coaster year for Wilda. In May, Wilda graduated from Plymouth High School and entered library school at Western Reserve University. A few months later, in September, her mother, Clara Matilda Stoll, died of typhoid fever. The following year in June of 1908, Wilda graduated from Western Reserve University and began working as an assistant in the Public Library in Cleveland. By 1912, she had moved to Boston, Massachusetts and was enrolled at Simmons College. On June 7, 1913, she married Martin W. Peck in Boston. Her father, a dentist, Dr. Hamilton Frederick Strong, killed himself in 1920. Wilda had a daughter in 1924, Wilda Claire Peck, and by 1930 she is married to Joseph William MacKenzie. It’s unclear what happened to her first husband. Joseph died in 1944 and Wilda spent the rest of her life on the east coast, briefly living in Rhode Island and spending the majority of her time in Washington D.C. Wilda Claire Strong died on October 27, 1971 in Washington D.C. and is buried in Tiverton, Rhode Island.
Below is a selection of items from the graduation Book.
Note from Teacher
Sketch of One of Wilda’s Gowns
Souvenir From a Party
The Sherman Room at MRCPL 