Rue Randall Clifford

Rue Randall Clifford (January 16, 1887 – October 26, 1964) was an American educator and clubwoman. She was active in supporting library and sports opportunities in South San Francisco.

Rue Randall Clifford
A young woman with light skin, dark hair parted and drawn back; she is wearing glasses and a high-collared white blouse.
Rue Randall Clifford, from a 1911 newspaper.
BornJanuary 16, 1887
San Francisco, California
DiedOctober 26, 1964
San Mateo, California
NationalityAmerican
OccupationEducator

Early life

Rue Randall Clifford was born in San Francisco, the daughter of M. H. Clifford and Mary Randall Clifford. Her family owned dairy farms in the Bay Area.[1][2] She earned a bachelor's degree at the University of California in 1909.[3][4]

Career
South San Francisco High School girls' basketball team, with coach Rue Randall Clifford at center of back row. From the school's 1917 yearbook, at Internet Archive.
South San Francisco High School girls' basketball team, with coach Rue Randall Clifford at center of back row. From the school's 1917 yearbook.[5]

Clifford was a musician[6] and soprano singer and gave concerts as a young woman.[7] She was hired to teach at South San Francisco High School in 1912, as one of the school's first three teachers, and eventually became the school's Dean of Girls. She started and coached the school's track teams, built the soccer, basketball, field hockey, and volleyball programs, directed the school musical and the glee club, and wrote the school song.[1][8] "She has been a perennial committee-of-one to see practically every local football practice and game, to praise the players, to award weekly athletic awards, and to banquet the players at the end of the season", noted a local newspaper when she retired in 1955.[9]

Clifford was a charter member of the South San Francisco Women's Club, and active in the American Association of University Women branch in San Mateo.[10] She rode horseback to collect signatures for a Carnegie grant, to build a library in South San Francisco; Grand Avenue Library opened in 1916. She served as secretary of the library commission for almost forty years. She was co-chair of the South San Francisco Hospitality House during World War II, and she was active in the San Mateo County Historical Association.[1][11] She donated her grandfather William Edgar Randall's diaries of the Gold Rush era, and other Randall family papers, to the Bancroft Library in 1955.[2]

Clifford was an advocate of prohibition, and in 1932 objected when the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors when they supported legalizing wine and beer.[12]

Personal life and legacy

Clifford was known as a loyal follower of the University of California football team.[11] She died in 1964, aged 77 years, at a rest home in San Mateo.[13] In 1986, she was inducted into the San Mateo County's Women's Hall of Fame. In 2018, she was inducted into the California Library Hall of Fame.[14]

On January 13, 2018, the city of South San Francisco marked Rue Randall Clifford Day, at the library she helped to open.[1] The football field at South San Francisco High School is named Clifford Field, in her memory.[15][16]

References
  1. "Rue Randall Clifford Day". Library News | City of South San Francisco. January 18, 2018. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  2. Livingston, D. S. (1995). A Good Life: Dairy Farming in the Olema Valley : a History of the Dairy and Beef Ranches of the Olema Valley and Lagunitas Canyon, Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California. National Park Service, Department of the Interior. pp. 146–151.
  3. The Blue and Gold. Class of '75. 1909. pp. 78, 402, 403.
  4. "Good Choruses in Senior Class Play". The San Francisco Call. 1909-05-11. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-05-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. South San Francisco High School (1917). The Iris - 1917. p. 31 – via Internet Archive.
  6. "A Farewell Party". The Fresno Morning Republican. 1905-07-30. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-05-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Miss Rue Clifford, Berkeley Girl Who Will Hold Concert; Sorority Member to Give Recital". The San Francisco Call. 1911-01-20. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-05-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Who's Who in the High School: Miss Rue Randall Clifford". The Enterprise. p. 6. Retrieved May 31, 2020 – via Internet Archive.
  9. "South City to Honor Teacher for 43 Years". The Times. 1955-06-11. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-05-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "University Women Have Fine Program in Parish House". The Times. 1936-09-15. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-05-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. South San Francisco. Arcadia Publishing. 2004. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-7385-2921-9.
  12. "Board Gets Its Wrist Slapped for Wet Vote". The Times. 1932-01-04. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-05-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Rue Clifford, Teacher, Dies". The Times. 1964-10-27. p. 25. Retrieved 2020-05-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Malady, Anissa. "Local hero recognized by the California Library Association", Tales from the Stacks.
  15. Kamala (2016-03-02). "South San Francisco Honors Women's History Month: Rue Randall Clifford". Everything South City. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  16. Clifford, Jim. "What's in a name? Today, a great deal". San Mateo Daily Journal. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
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