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Highberg, Mary Bower

Last Name: Highberg
First Name: Mary Bower
Dates:
1912 - 2000 (Life/Active Dates)
Biography/History: Mary Elsie Bower grew up in a small house in Spokane, Washington’s South Hill neighborhood; her parents Leroy and Grace Bower both worked in insurance sales. As a young girl, Mary excelled in vocal and piano music, even performing on the radio, and her mother made sure that she was well-dressed, employing Minnie E Lewis to make custom dresses, particularly for Mary’s performances. Mary graduated from Lewis & Clark High School in 1929 and Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA in 1933 with a degree in piano and voice. She taught at Newport WA and North Central High School in Spokane until her 1937 marriage to Ivar Highberg (1911-2009). Ivar, too, had grown up in Spokane and graduated from Whitman College in 1932. When they married, he was teaching mathematics and physics at Whitman, and Mary also began teaching there. In 1947 Ivar took a civilian position with the Navy at China Lake, CA. The family, which grew to include four children, lived in California until Ivar’s 1975 retirement, when the couple moved to Washington’s Puget Sound until their passing. Whitman College music faculty (1937-1960s); active in community music associations and American Association of University Women (AAUW).
Related Participants:
Related Objects:
4126.1 (Dress, Day Dress, ca. 1937)
4126.7 (Dress, Royal Blue Dress, 1930 - 1970)