Tippett, James S. (James Sterling), 1885-1958

James Tippett was born in Memphis, Mo. When he was five, his family moved to a farm inherited from his maternal grandfather and remained there until he was thirteen, when they moved back to Memphis. Tippett began to teach upon graduation from high school, and attended the University of Missouri during the summers to earn his college degree. In 1918 Tippett moved to Nashville, Tenn., to become principal of the Peabody Demonstration School. Four years later, he left to join the Lincoln School at Teachers College in N.Y., as an instructor and special investigator. It was during this time that Tippett began to write books for children. His first book, The Singing Farmer (1927) was inspired by a classroom exhibit of a farm, which brought back happy memories of his childhood. Tippett went on to teach in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and South Carolina, and continued to write books for children as well editing educational textbooks. Some of his other titles include: I Live in a City (1927), I Go A-Traveling (1929), I Spend the Summer (1930), Busy Carpenters (1930), Toys and Toymakers (1931), A World to Know (1933), Henry and the Garden and Stories about Henry (1936), Shadow and the Stocking (1937), Sniff (1937), Counting the Days (1940), and Abraham Lincoln (1951). He also wrote a series called Understanding Science. The collection given to the library does not contain all of his work. In 1939 Tippett and his wife Martha moved to Chapel Hill, where he remained a visiting professor of education at UNC until his death in 1958. He continued to write books for children, as well as short stories, poems, and essays on education. In 1972 his name was added to the North Carolina Educational Hall of Fame.

From the description of James Sterling Tippett papers, 1924-1966. (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 429908578

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