SNGF -- An Ancestor's School Records

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

It's Saturday Night again - 

Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings, is to:

1) Do you have any records of your ancestors' schooling, such as report cards, yearbooks, or photos?

2)  If so, please share one of them and what you learned about your ancestor(s) from the article.  

Thank you to Lisa S. Gorrell for this SNGF idea.

Here's mine:
We have my husband’s mother, Thelma Nilsen, report card for her 7th grade school year.[1] Report cards tell us how teachers thought the student did in each subject, not how much the student learned.

This card is interesting because the citizenship grade is a large as the scholarship grade. I was surprised to see a report card without letter grades, especially in such a high grade level. She had no + in the scholarship section but did have + in responsibility, cooperation, and courtesy to teachers.

This card was issued by the Elim Union Grammar School for the 1938-1939 school year. This suggests there was no junior high or intermediate school. Because the school was located in Merced County, she was attending school in Hilmar, which is located just southwest of Turlock. Her teacher was Everett Fine and she was being promoted to 8th grade and her teacher would also be Everett Fine. This was very likely a small school.

I learned that Elim Union Grammar School was built in 1936 and opened in 1937. She attended in just its second year. It as well as other schools, were built by the WPA.[2] According to the district’s website, the school is still in use. Here is an early photo of the school.[3]

In the school year she attended, I found the names of the teachers. Not only was Everett Fine her seventh-grade teacher, he was also vice principal, and boys P.E. teacher. There was only one teacher per grade.[4] There were 231 pupils attending the school.[5] I found no articles specifically naming Thelma.

One more point noted about the report card. Her grandmother Mrs. Lovisa Lundquist, signed her report card. She lived with her grandmother for a year. Thelma’s mother died on 31 July 1936. Her father sent some of the children out to relatives until he could find support to care for them.  after her mother died. Thelma had six brothers and sisters.

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[1] Report card for Thelma Nilsen, Elim Union Grammar School, 1938-39, Gorrell Family Archive.

[2] Jamie Openheim, “WPA: Elim Elementary,” Merced Sun-Star, updated 1 May 2010; imaged, Merced Sun-Star (https://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/local/article3251307.html : accessed 22 Aug 2026).

[3] “You know you grew up in Hilmar when. . .” Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/240698435961164/search/?q=elim : accessed 22 Aug 2026).

[4] “Elim Classes Under Way Today,” Turlock Journal, 12 Sep 1938, p. 1, col. 3.

[5] “Hilmar High School Enrolls 215 Pupils for Fall Semester,” The Modesto Bee, 14 Sep 1938, p. 12, col. 7. Further down in the article, the elementary schools were listed, too.

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