Namesake for Everett’s newest park was a pioneering educator

The city took almost 2 years to name the 1.4-acre space next to the new Everett Family YMCA.

Emma Yule (Courtesy of Everett Public Library)

Emma Yule (Courtesy of Everett Public Library)

EVERETT — Goodbye, nameless grassy patch between Colby and Rucker avenues next to the new YMCA.

Hello, Emma Yule Park.

The Everett City Council last week voted 5-0 to name its newest park after the city’s revered pioneering public school teacher. Council member Jeff Moore and Scott Murphy were absent from Wednesday’s meeting. Yule joins fellow educator Viola Oursler as the only women to have Everett parks named for them.

Early designs for the 1.4-acre space show a pathway from the adjacent streets to benches, exercise equipment, picnic tables, playground features and an open field. The Everett Family YMCA is just north of the park.

In public comment prior to the vote, several people supported naming the park for Yule.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

“This is, after all, commemorating the 100th year of women having the right to vote,” said Paula Townsell, whose parents live a few blocks from the planned park. “We’re a little bit tipsy on knowing who the Colbys, the Hewitts, the Ruckers, the Rockefellers, the Carnegies are around this city. But we don’t know who Emma Yule is, and we need to know her.”

Choosing Yule for the posthumous honor was a long process that began in 2018. The first request for names yielded 140 suggestions, including an inevitable “Parky McParkface,” which was in the top 10 but never a serious candidate.

The City Council focused on three names, as recommended by the historical and parks commissions. Other leading options were Arthur Grossman and Glacier View Neighborhood. Grossman was a beloved family practice doctor and obstetrician as well as a cycling teacher and champion for the YMCA. He lived with ALS, commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease, until he died in December 2018. The park is in the Glacier View Neighborhood, named after its scenic sights of the Cascade Range.

Previously Grossman was the parks commission’s top recommendation to the City Council. Yule had a late surge of support from several prominent historians in the Everett area.

Councilmember Liz Vogeli said she understood people’s attachment to Grossman, who delivered generations of children.

Emma Sarepta Yule was the first teacher at Everett’s schoolhouse in December 1891, according to the Snohomish County Women’s Legacy Project, a collection of biographies about the county’s foremothers. She was 28 when she came to the then-booming logging town, thousands of miles from her family home in Iowa.

When she started, there were 26 students. Nettie Boucher, another teacher, joined Yule a month later. They were paid $60 a month, historian Larry O’Donnell wrote.

Yule was appointed to be the principal in February 1892, but just five months later was assigned as the “position next to principal.” The title of principal ultimately was given to Professor J.W. Shepherd.

By 1900, the school system had an average daily attendance of 1,032 students.

“It’s an interesting story from the perspective of what women were able to do at that time,” Everett Public Library historian Lisa Labovitch said. “She had a really impressive career.”

Yule taught for almost a decade before moving to Juneau, Alaska, then Japan and the Philippines, where she taught at a university. Her time abroad led to her writing about the history of Japan and the Philippines, including “In Kimono Land,” “Stories of Japanese History” and “Far East Miscellany,” according to an archived memo.

“Her name is still out there and her scholarship is still out there,” Labovitch said.

About 50 former Everett High School students, and many others, celebrated Yule’s return to Everett with a banquet at the Monte Cristo Hotel in 1929, O’Donnell wrote.

“The thing that really struck me is that she seemed to be so important to her students,” Labovitch said. “The students loved her, they talked about the huge impact that she had. … It was clear that she was a role model and left an impression on people.”

Yule retired to Los Angeles in the 1930s, and died in her home there April 16, 1939. She was buried back in Everett at the Evergreen Cemetery, next to her beloved nieces Alice and Clara Rigby, who moved to the city shortly after she did.

Yule’s will left more than $20,000 from her estate to the University of Washington as the Emma Sarepta Yule Fund. It still exists, Labovitch said, as directed in her will to aid girls and women, “who are partially or wholly self-supporting” and attending UW.

The City Council has said it will revisit its park-naming process. Several council members said they’d like to see one dedicated for Grossman.

Ben Watanabe: bwatanabe@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3037. Twitter: @benwatanabe.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Aaron Weinstock uses an x-ray machine toy inside the Imagine Children Museum on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Imagine Children’s Museum $250k grant reinstated following federal court order

The federal grant supports a program that brings free science lessons to children throughout rural Snohomish County.

Snohomish County 911 Executive Director Kurt Mills talks about the improvements made in the new call center space during a tour of the building on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New 911 center in Everett built to survive disaster

The $67.5 million facility brings all emergency staff under one roof with seismic upgrades, wellness features and space to expand.

Everett
Five arrested in connection with Everett toddler’s 2024 overdose death

More than a year after 13-month-old died, Everett police make arrests in overdose case.

Madison Family Shelter Family Support Specialist Dan Blizard talks about one of the pallet homes on Monday, May 19, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Madison Family Shelter reopens after hiatus

The Pallet shelter village, formerly Faith Family Village, provides housing for up to eight families for 90 days.

Helion's 6th fusion prototype, Trenta, on display on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Helion celebrates smoother path to fusion energy site approval

Helion CEO applauds legislation signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson expected to streamline site selection process.

Everett Historic Theater owner Curtis Shriner inside the theater on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Historic Everett Theatre sale on horizon, future uncertain

With expected new ownership, events for July and August will be canceled. The schedule for the fall and beyond is unclear.

The Mukilteo Boulevard Homer on Monday, May 12, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Homer Hedge’: A Simpsons meme takes root in Everett — D’oh!

Homer has been lurking in the bushes on West Mukilteo Boulevard since 2023. Stop by for a selfie.

Pat Cronin and Jamie Lyon look over a zoning district map draft of Everett on display during an Everett Planning Department open house at Everett Station on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett to release final draft of comp plan

The city will release the draft of the planning document on May 30, staff said. It will likely go to a vote before the council in June.

Traffic moves across the US 2 trestle between Everett and Lake Stevens on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Washington climate goals jeopardized by U.S. Senate vote

The U.S. Senate revoked waivers allowing Washington to mandate strict vehicle emission standards

The Everett City Council on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett City Council approves apprenticeship ordinance

The new ordinance builds upon state law, requiring many city public works contracts to use at least 15% apprentice labor.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Stanwood in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Stanwood nears completion of deployable floodwall

The new floodwall will provide quick protection to the downtown area during flood conditions.

Cars drive along Cathcart Way next to the site of the proposed Eastview Village development that borders Little Cedars Elementary on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 in unincorporated Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Former engineer: Snohomish County rushed plans for Eastview development

David Irwin cited red flags from the developers. After he resigned, the county approved the development that’s now stalled with an appeal

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.