Items

• Acorn Great Oaks Grown Letter
  Letter about Joseph E. Hill Public School. The letter was revised in 1950 but the original date was January 20, 1939 (Willis-Lowry, Leslie 2025), represents a short history of the founding of the Hill School.
• Gene's [Georgine E. Upshur [Willis]] Coming Out Party
  This photograph features Georgine “Gene” Elizabeth Upshur Willis and 15 other graduates of Philadelphia High School for Girls in June 1939. They are smiling and dressed up.
• Mrs. Gene Upshur Willis news clippings
  This collection of news clippings are about Upshur family achievements, including: Georgine Upshur and a Y.W.C.A. baby contest, her Philadelphia High School for Girls graduation and coming out parties, and passing of the state mortician’s exam circa 1949.
• National Honor Society news clippings
  A 1938 news clipping about Georgine E. Upshur being elected to the honor society and nomination as the second colored girl in history
• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Public Instruction Bureau of Professional Licensing Pre-Professional Qualifying Certificate
  This certificate from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Public Instruction’s Bureau of Professional Licensing Pre-Professional Qualifying Certificate was granted to Georgine E. Upshur for completion of a four-year secondary school course in 1941. This was a modified certificate given to Black educators.
• The Philadelphia High School for Girls commencement announcement
  The 157th Graduating Class: June 16, 1939. The Girls Normal School, aka, Philadelphia High School for Girls was established in 1848 as the first publicly supported high school for girls in Pennsylvania (Wikipedia contributors, n.d.).
• Invitation to the graduation of the University of Pennsylvania classes of 1943
  This invitation card is part of a collection that also includes “Diary of the Women of the Class of 1943, University of Pennsylvania, The 1943 Almanack” containing inserts of correspondence, documents, and programs related to Georgine E. Upshur’s college education at University of Pennsylvania (Georgine E. Upshur Willis Collection n.d.).