Dancharthos : Genealogos : Transcribed August 2002

Eleanor A. Thomas (18__-1936?) Obituary

Comments at end.

from [1936? Kansas City?] newspaper clipping --
no date or newspaper name included.
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ELEANOR A. THOMAS DIES.

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Paseo High Teacher in Schools Here Twenty-Nine Years.

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Miss Eleanor A. Thomas, a teacher in Kansas City high schools since 1907, died early today at her home, 1877 East Seventy-sixth street terrrace, after an illness of several years.
Her death ended a period of twenty-nine years spent teaching in three high schools and also terminated a like period of close association with Miss Jane Adams, also a teacher in Kansas City high schools twenty-nine years. Miss Thomas and Miss Adams lived together all the years they taught in the same school.
When Miss Thomas came to Kansas City in 1907 to teach at old Central high school at Eleventh and Locust streets, Miss Adams was an instructor there. The two young teachers became friends, roommates and eventually were partners in buying or building the houses in which they made their home.
They taught at Central six years, and in 1913 when Northeast high school was opened, both of them went there to teach. Miss Thomas taught classes in physiology and psychology and Miss Adams taught Latin. They remained at Northeast until 1926 when Paseo high school was completed and they went there to teach. Miss Thomas taught there until last year when she was compelled by ill health to take a leave of absence. Miss Adams still is teaching at Paseo.
Miss Thomas was born near Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.J.E. Thomas. Her parents and her grandparents were early day residents of that section of Canada.

PHOTO ACCOMPANYING OBITUARY. Caption (in allsmall caps): "Miss Eleanor A. Thomas, Physiology and Psychology Teacher at Paseo High School, Who Died Today. . . . Taught in Kansas City High Schools Twenty-Nine Years."

When Miss Thomas was a girl her family moved to Bessemer, Mich., where she attended grade school. She was graduated from the Michigan State normal school at Ypsilanti about 1900 and went to Hilo, Hawaii, for her health. While there she taught school for several years and was postmistress in a small town near Hilo. Upon her return to the United States she went to Las Vegas, N.M., where she taught classes in social science three years at a state teachers' college.
During recent years Miss Thomas was active in the Gold Star Scholarship Committee which awards scholarships to worthy students in high schools, junior colleges and teachers' colleges. She was one of the first chairmen of the committee and also was active in the Association of High School Women, the group sponsoring the scholarships.
She leaves a brother, W.M. Thomas, Alameda, Cal.; and two sisters, Mrs. J.W. Bolan and Mrs. Claude Messick, both of Westport, Wash.
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TRANSCRIBER'S COMMENTS:

Persons mentioned in the obituary:

Miss Eleanor A. Thomas, deceased.
Miss Jane Adams, companion.
COMMENT: Is "companion" a codeword for lesbian partner? Whether or not a sexual relationship existed between the two women, it is clear that they were "soulmates" whose friendship was unto death, that they formed a household, and as the obituary politely-- and kindly-- states, they were partners. It appears that Eleanor Thomas was greatly respected by the newspaper obituary writer, and that she and Jane Adams' reputation as teachers and community members was much greater than any gossip about their "relationship" could destroy. Or, at least, the writer was determined to only speak kindly of the dead.
Daniel speculates that the writer may have been a student of one or both of the women, and/or knew many former students active in the Kansas City community, for whom regard for the two women was far beyond any aforementioned sexual gossip. It is also to be noted that nowhere does the term "old maid schoolteacher" appear or even appear to be implied. Yet the two women's relationship is hardly ignored, in fact, it is practically the lead of the article, and Miss Adams (although she is not mentioned as a survivor) is treated practically like the surviving spouse. This entire treatment speaks silent volumes not only for the two women's standing in the community, but also for the respect with which teaching was held by the community.

Mr. and Mrs. J.J.E. Thomas, parents.
brother, W.M. Thomas, Alameda, Cal.
Mrs. J.W. Bolan, sister, Westport, Wash.
Mrs. Claude Messick, sister, Westport, Wash.

Cross-Reference

Dear Martha letters of Eleanor's parents, a few published here by Daniel Charles Thomas

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