Nora J. Sterry was an American teacher, school administrator, social worker, and public official in California. She is best remembered today for her work during the

1924 Los Angeles pneumonic plague outbreak The 1924 Los Angeles pneumonic plague outbreak was an outbreak of the pneumonic plague in Los Angeles, California that began on September 28, 1924, and was declared fully contained on November 13, 1924. It represented the first time that the Plag ...

. Nora Sterry Elementary School in west Los Angeles is named in her honor.

Biography

Nora Sterry was born in Emporia, Kansas in 1879, the daughter of Clinton Norman Sterry and Louise (Slocum) Sterry. She had two brothers, Norman Sterry, and Philip Sterry, both "white shoe" lawyers, and a sister, newspaperwoman Ruth Sterry. Her father, Clinton Sterry, had been a lawyer for the

Santa Fe railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at variou ...

. Sterry moved to California with her family in 1898 and started working as a teacher in Los Angeles schools around 1903. In 1924, at the time of the Los Angeles bubonic plague outbreak, Sterry was the principal of Macy Street Elementary School. Under her leadership the school was a model for community-provided

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

and

early intervention Early childhood intervention (ECI) is a support and educational system for very young children (aged birth to six years) who have been victims of, or who are at high risk for child abuse and/or neglect as well as children who have developmental d ...

: it had a

food bank A food bank or food pantry is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distrib ...

, a diaper bank, childcare, workshare programs, and healthcare including a makeshift infirmary and regular dental examinations. There was also a lending library of books and board games that provided educational materials to parents as well as the children. The

Los Angeles Board of Education Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States count ...

did not subsidize any of Macy Street's "extras," rather funding for the extra services came from local charities, local families, local businesses, and from the sale of arts and crafts produced by the kids. When news of the bubonic plague outbreak resulted in a quarantine of the Macy Street district, Sterry was initially prohibited from entering the area. After being turned away by guards despite her protests that she needed to get to the school, she told them that when they saw the American flag raised over the school they would know she had gotten through. On November 3, 1924, at 9 a.m., the flag was raised and Sterry spent the next two weeks within the quarantine zone, feeding the neighborhood from the school food bank as the community rode out a

bubonic A bubo (Greek βουβών, ''boubṓn'', 'groin') is adenitis or inflammation of the lymph nodes and is an example of reactive infectious lymphadenopathy. Classification Buboes are a symptom of bubonic plague and occur as painful swellings in ...

and

pneumonic plague Pneumonic plague is a severe lung infection caused by the bacterium '' Yersinia pestis''. Symptoms include fever, headache, shortness of breath, chest pain, and coughing. They typically start about three to seven days after exposure. It is o ...

outbreak. She is remembered for "having done everything imaginable to improve the unconscionable living conditions in Macy Street" and then "hurled herself into harm's way, sharing the plague dangers of the marginalized community" to which she had devoted more than 20 years of her life. In 1927 she convinced the

Southern Pacific railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

to donate five acres of land for the construction of a children's playground near Macy Street. Nora_Sterry_Elementary_School_LAUSD_California_Los_Angeles_2023_May_02

Nora_Sterry_Elementary_School_LAUSD_California_Los_Angeles_2023_May_02

Sterry served at one time as editor of the '' Los Angeles School Journal''. In 1930, Sterry was transferred to Sawtelle Boulevard School, which was a teacher training school operated by

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

. At the same time she was appointed to the Los Angeles County Board of Education and eventually served as board president. She died at her home on April 13, 1941. After her death, Sawtelle Boulevard School was renamed Nora Sterry in her honor.

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Sterry Family of America (1670–1970)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterry, Nora 1879 births 1941 deaths Schoolteachers from California American school principals Activists from Los Angeles Educators from Los Angeles

Biography

See also

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External links