Butte County
Biographies
HOWARD PORTER SHORT
HOWARD PORTER SHORT.—Among the most
valuable assets of which Oroville may justifiably be proud are its excellent
public schools, the standard of which has been so much advanced and so well
maintained since the advent of Howard Porter Short, the efficient and popular
superintendent of schools. Born in Milwaukee, April
21, 1874, he was the son of George H. Short, a native of Wisconsin,
where he was first a cabinet-maker and then a farmer. During the Civil War
the father served the cause of the Union in a Wisconsin Regiment, and suffered
from wounds received in action until, in Wisconsin,
he died. The grandfather, George Short, was a native of New
York State, who moved westward
to Wisconsin and, in 1849,
crossed the vast plains by means of ox teams, taking the overland trail and
mining awhile in the Sierras. Professor Short still has the old map used
to guide the grandfather on the plains, and also a part of his diary covering
his experiences in mining. He had reasonable success in digging for gold, and returned east to his family by way of Panama. Then
he resumed farming in Wisconsin, and retired at Waukesha.
Mr.
Short’s mother was Miss Elizabeth Porter before her marriage, and she was a
daughter of Richard Porter, a pioneer who settled in Wisconsin. Her
birthplace, therefore, was the latter state. She is a sister of Charles E.
Porter, of Butte County,
who is located at Central House. Four children
were born to her: Charles, a real estate operator at Oakland;
W. F., a merchant in Minneapolis; Nell, Mrs. Madler, of Piedmont; and Howard
Porter, of this sketch.
Brought
up in Milwaukee and Waukesha, Howard
Porter Short attended the grammar and high schools there, and just before
graduation from the latter came to California and to his
uncle’s, the home of Charles Porter, in Butte
County. His next move was to
Oroville, where he graduated from the high school in 1895, after which he
taught for a couple of years at Central House. Then he entered the University
of California, and for two years took a social
science course, which further prepared him for teaching in Butte
County. He was principal at
Paradise for several years, and then became principal of the Gridley
School.
His
fame as an educator having reached Oroville, he was appointed, in 1908,
principal of the school here; and when the office of city superintendent was
established he was made superintendent and principal of the city schools.
Among
the excellent structures devoted to educational purposes in Oroville is the Bird
Street Grammar School,
a fire-proof building, put up in 1912, with a capacity for six hundred pupils,
and a large auditorium much used in the evening as a social center. It has
sixteen classrooms, and each is well furnished and well adapted to its
purpose. The Ora Vista Primary School has two
rooms, and the East Side Primary
School also has two rooms. After finishing
the fifth grade, pupils go to the Bird
Street School. Twenty
teachers are employed in the Oroville schools, and there is an enrollment of
over six hundred pupils.
That
Mr. Short is decidedly a progressive educator is shown by his record of actual
accomplishment and the indications of his ambition, which must always serve as
a splendid incentive to those who follow where he leads. He has taken several
summer-school courses at the University of California;
he is a member of and a director of the California Council of Education, being
one of three members from Northern California; he is a member of the County
Board of Education, and for two
terms acted as its president. For many years he attended each session of
the National Educational Association, among them, three meetings held on the
Coast, and he is an ex-president of the Butte County Schoolmasters’ Club.
Mr.
Short is a Republican in matters pertaining to national politics, and an
advocate of the Congregational form of worship. He was made a Mason in
Oroville Lodge, No. 113, F. & A. M., and he is also a member and Past
Patron of Amapola Chapter, O. E. S.; he also is a
member of the I. O. O. F., and the Rebekahs, all of
Oroville.
Transcribed 2-17-08
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 741-742, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
©
2008 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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