Witthar, Nora M. Papers

Teacher in the Netherlands under the Fulbright Program.

The papers of Nora M. Witthar consist of her typewritten diary, which describes her experiences as a chemistry teacher in the Netherlands under the Fulbright program.

Size: Less than one linear foot (approximately 250 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: No donation of copyright was received with this collection. Records created by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyright interest in other documents in the collection presumably belongs to the creators of those documents or their heirs.
Processed by: Randy Sowell (2024).

Nora M. Witthar was born on September 15, 1903. She taught chemistry at William Chrisman High School in Independence, Missouri for many years. In 1950-51, she served as a teacher in the Netherlands as part of the Fulbright program. Witthar died on April 19, 1986.

The papers of Nora M. Witthar consist of her typewritten diary, which describes her experiences as a chemistry teacher in the Netherlands under the Fulbright program. Witthar was teaching at William Chrisman High School in Independence, Missouri when she was selected to participate in the program. Her diary covers the period from November 1950 to November 1951, and includes an account of her trip to Europe, her observations on life in the Netherlands a few years after the end of the Second World War, and her comments on the students, teachers, administrators, and average citizens she encountered during her tenure at the Spinoza Lyceum in Amsterdam. The diary also provides a detailed account of Witthar’s travels through other European countries during her year abroad, with references to major tourist attractions, damage from the war, the educational and economic systems of the countries she visited, the customs of the people, the effects of the Marshall Plan, and the reactions of Europeans to ongoing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.

While in the Netherlands, Witthar and the other Fulbright teachers were introduced to Prince Bernhard, the husband of Queen Juliana. The prince was aware that Margaret Truman had once been one of Witthar’s pupils at William Chrisman High School, and he asked her if Margaret was a good student. (Witthar assured him that she was.)

Witthar’s diary was originally opened for research at the Truman Library as part of the General Historical Documents Collection (GHDC No. 117). President’s Personal File 1170 of the Harry S. Truman Papers includes a letter Witthar wrote to Bess Truman in 1947 concerning the retirement of four longtime teachers at Chrisman High School, and a letter President Truman sent her in reply.