A Public Spirited Teacher
Posted September 2, 2015 at 5:54 am by Tim Dustrude
Julia Frits Jensen – SJ Historical Society photo
It’s time for this month’s History Column, shared with you from the SJ Historical Society and Museum…
San Juan Island owes much to Julia Frits Jensen (1885-1972). In the photograph on the left, Miss Julia Jane Frits is seen in her 1907 graduation portrait from Bellingham Normal School.
An Orcas Island girl who came to Friday Harbor early in her teaching career, she is known for many things. One is her collection of 50-100 plant specimens collected in 1908 while a student at the Marine Station here. Donated by Julia in 1966, these are the oldest plant specimens in the Friday Harbor Labs collection.
Julia was the sister of longtime Friday Harbor Journal publisher/editor Virgil Frits, the wife of Albert Jensen, and the mother of Nourdine Jensen. She taught two generations of island kids and served as Superintendent of San Juan County Schools.
Words beneath her photograph on the right show the admiration of Friday Harbor High School students, as published in their 1950 annual. Julia was also elected as the first president of the San Juan Historical Society in 1961.
If you have a memory of Mrs. Jensen, please comment here or contact us at the San Juan Historical Society and Museum.
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Categories: Around Here
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