Before the mid-20th century, Washington voters elected county school superintendents to oversee schools. These officials enforced school regulations, organized records, held annual continuing education for teachers, appointed district directors, mediated inter-district conflicts, and oversaw teacher and student examinations. Cassandra Messegee Brown was the third woman to hold this office in Thurston County.
Cassandra Messegee Brown: From the Aegean to Washington State
Cassandra Mary was born on November 10, 1878 to George Demosthanes Messegee (1837-1911) and Catherine Frazer Messegee (1857-1947) in Tacoma. While Catherine had been born in Brooklyn, George was from the Greek island of Samos, then a semi-autonomous principality of the Ottoman Empire that wanted to be part of newly independent Greece. That didn’t happen until 1913.
George became a sailor, eventually making his way to the West Coast. While the Northwest chilly waters were half a world away from the sunny Aegean, he captained steamships on the Columbia River and Puget Sound, including notable steamers like the Elizabeth Anderson and Fleetwood. George married Catherine in 1878.
The family soon moved to Olympia. Cassandra attended the Washington School. An active student she was made second vice president of the Epworth League, a youth group at the Methodist Church in 1897. Her mother operated a hat shop for a few years.
Cassandra graduated from Olympia High School in 1897. Of the 10 graduates, eight were girls. At the ceremony, held in the Olympia Theater, she gave the speech “Greece Not Defeated.” “Herself a Greek,” the Morning Olympian noted, “…[Cassandra’s] oration was spirited and her delivery inspiring.”
Cassandra Messegee, Washington State Teacher
After attending the University of Washington for two years, Cassandra became a teacher. She taught at the Fairview School (between Tenino and Littlerock) from 1901 to 1905.
Cassandra moved to Walla Walla County to teach at a rural school for the 1905-1906 school year. But she struggled to find a place to board. She turned to assistant Walla Walla County superintendent of schools (and future State Superintendent) Josephine Preston for help. Tough and resourceful (she had survived both a 1903 trainwreck and 1916 shipwreck), Cassandra wanted to move a portable cookhouse from a nearby farm to the school and live in it with her little brother Leonidas. Preston agreed.
The cookhouse was moved to the schoolyard. Twenty feet long, it had a canvas roof and partially screened sides. Preston later called it the first “teacher cottage” in Washington. It was a fine place to live, until it rained. Cassandra bought some waterproof roofing, but the walls still leaked. She left Leonidas back home after Christmas. Preston later used Cassandra’s example to promote funding housing for rural teachers through district sponsored teacher “cottages.”
Cassandra taught third grade at the Baker School in Walla Walla in September 1906, which had a reputation for being an ideal school set in one of the most desirable parts of the city. No more leaky cookhouses for her!
She visited home often. Her father was walking her to the train station after Christmas 1911 when he collapsed on the street, dead from heart failure.
Historic Deputy Superintendent of Thurston County Schools
Cassandra continued at the Baker School until the end of the 1917-1918 school year. She moved back to Thurston County to work as deputy superintendent of Thurston County schools. And when Superintedent Fred Brown resigned in October 1919 to start work as Thurston County engineer, Cassandra was appointed to fulfill his unexpired term.
Besides her regular tasks she helped establish more school lunch programs and assisted special programs such as Red Cross survey of Thurston County community resources. Facing a teacher shortage, she visited Bellingham Normal School to recruit educators.
It was a lot of work, but she still had time to join the Woman’s Club of Olympia and become a charter member of the local chapter of the Business and Professional Woman’s Club—both in 1920.
On April 29, 1920 Cassandra married the man she replaced in office, Fred Brown (1868-1946). They were married at her brother Marion’s Tacoma home. The bride, the Morning Olympian reported, “wore a becoming traveling suit [dress] of French blue silvertone with a large black hat.” Cassandra became stepmother to Frank’s five children. His first wife Cora had died in 1916.
Although Cassandra officially resigned from office, she remained over a year until her replacement, C.L. Carroll, was able to start working. She quit in June 1921, after issuing the years’ eighth grade diplomas.
Cassandra Brown Remained a Teacher, Always
Cassandra remained highly active in her community. She joined the Thurston Tuberculosis League and oversaw the county section of the 1927 Christmas seal fundraising campaign, later serving on the executive board. She also was a “member at large” for the Thurston County Parent Teacher Association.
As her children grew, she could re-dedicate herself to education. Fred became Superintendent of Thurston County schools again. In 1928 Cassandra administered seventh and eighth grade exams at Nisqually and the next year math tests at Cattail. Although married women teachers were unusual, she taught at Bush from 1929 to 1931.
The couple moved to Yelm in 1929, where Fred served five terms as superintendent of Yelm Schools. She actively campaigned for school levies and remained community-minded. Cassandra was a member and leader of the Order of the Eastern Star in Yelm. She was also active with the Daughters of the Pioneers, who continue to run the Crosby House Museum in Tumwater.
Cassandra died April 23, 1972 at the Evergreen Convalescent Center. By then the duties of county superintendents had passed to intermediate districts, which cover multiple counties. As a teacher, administrator, clubwoman and political campaigner, Cassandra’s active life was dedicated to education and helping children.
