Josephine F. Wilbor, a teacher educated at the Rhode Island Normal School, worked tirelessly to reform Little Compton’s school system. She successfully fought for graded classrooms and a high school, and unsuccessfully for a central school to replace the town’s ten one-room schools. In 1921, Josephine became town treasurer and tax collector, the first Rhode Island woman elected to positions other than school committee. In these roles, she improved school funding. Tragically, Josephine succumbed to pneumonia at the age of 48. Her death catalyzed the creation of the centralized school she had imagined, named in her honor in 1929.
Biography and image provided by Marjory O'Toole, Little Compton Historical Society
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