Colby, Josephine, 1878-1938

The Colbys, a New England family, settled at Colby's Landing, California, where Josephine Colby was born on April 14, 1878. Colby was tutored at home, then attended high school in Berkeley. She earned a bachelor's degree in 1899 from the University of California, and studied in Chicago at the American Conservatory of Music. Colby was married briefly to Louis Kramer, from 1921-24. She resided at Brookwood Labor College in Katonah, New York, and owned a cottage in Nantucket, Massachusetts which she sometimes leased in the summer.

Colby was dubbed "Polly" by her colleagues and students, ostensibly because there was already a Josephine (Bennett) at Brookwood. Previously a high school teacher in Oakland and Fresno California (1915-19), and an instructor at Chicago Labor College (1921), Colby was an instructor of basic English grammar, structure, and composition. These skills were particularly vital to Brookwood students, many of whom were of foreign origin and limited educational backgrounds. In her twelve year tenure (1922-34) at Brookwood, Colby served as one of the faculty directors on the Brookwood Board of Directors, taught daily classes, advised individual students, and worked on a manuscript titled "Grammar for Workers," which was never completed. Colby also directed the Brookwood Players and the school chorus.

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