Calumet Regional Archives

Inventory

1.25 Linear Feet
July 1991
Revised September 1991
Revised August 1994
Revised September 1997

Scope and Content

The Mattie Hannsz Papers offer valuable information on the history of the Gary public schools, particularly Lew Wallace School, from 1926 to 1965. The collection's creator, Mattie Hannsz, taught in the auditorium department at Lew Wallace School for almost forty years. Reports, minutes, programs, and other materials from the Wallace auditorium department provide insight into the objectives and activities of this portion of the famous Wirt curriculum. In addition, the collection contains programs from other area plays and performances. Of special interest is a file from the earliest days of the Gary Teachers Union, providing data on initial struggles to improve salaries. Finally, the Hannsz Papers include programs from the Glen Park Golden Jubilee.

Historical Sketch

Born on April 22, 1898, near New Lisbon, Wisconsin, Mattie Gray Hannsz eventually became one of the longest tenured teachers in the Gary, Indiana Public School System. Graduating from Northwestern University in 1922, she taught at Wonewoc, Wisconsin until offered a position teaching speech at Gary's Lew Wallace School in 1926. She remained at Lew Wallace for the rest of her career, becoming the senior member of the auditorium department and a close friend of Mildred Harter Wirt, auditorium head in the school system. In 1929, she married Arthur Hannsz, an employee of Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company in East Chicago; they had no children.

Around 1966, Mattie Hannsz retired from teaching, but she remained active and lived for another twenty-five years. She died in May 1991 at the age of 93.

Subject Tracings

• Education--Indiana--Gary
• Gary Teachers Union
• Glen Park
• Horace Mann School (Gary, Ind.)
• Lew Wallace School (Gary, Ind.)
• Theater