Nora McCaffrey

Nora McCaffrey
McCaffrey, from a 1929 newspaper
Born
Nora Moss

September 25, 1879
near Fort Bridger, Wyoming, U.S.
DiedNovember 25, 1958 (age 79)
Carmel, California, U.S.
Other namesNora Law, Nora Hamilton
OccupationsWriter, clubwoman, educator

Nora H. Moss McCaffrey Law Hamilton (September 25, 1879 – November 1958) was an American writer, educator, and clubwoman, based in Berkeley, Oakland, and Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

Early life and education

Nora Moss was born in a log cabin near Fort Bridger, Wyoming, the daughter of William Cartier Moss and Josephine Curtis Moss. Her father was a Union Army veteran of the American Civil War, and a teacher in Wyoming and California. She graduated from Kern County Union High School, and from the University of California, Berkeley.[1]

Career

McCaffrey taught English in the Oakland public schools from 1918 to 1945; she also advised student publications, sponsored a stamp collecting club,[2] and did publicity for student events.[3][4][5] In the 1940s, she wrote a column about the residents of Carmel-by-the-Sea for The Spectator, a weekly newspaper.[6] She also wrote columns for the Seaside News-Sentinel, Carmel Pine Cone, and Monterey County Herald,[7] and contributed to "The Educational Whirl", a humor feature in an education journal.[8][9]

During World War II McCaffrey was a counselor in a YWCA farm labor camp for girls near Hollister.[10] She received an award from the Monterey Peninsula USO, for meritorious service, for her weekly stint playing cards with servicemen. She was a member of the California Writers Club[11][12] and the Berkeley Short Story Club,[6] and publicity chair of the Carmel Woman's Club.[13]

Publications

  • "Mrs. Hamlet's Soliloquy" (1924, poem)[14]
  • "License Plates Motivate Letters" (1938, article)[15]
  • "Class Parties and 'West Enders'" (1939, article)[16]
  • "Yellowstone Park Diorama is Section of Wyoming's Exhibit at Exposition" (1939)[17]
  • "The Educational Whirl" (1939, 1940, humor)[8][9]
  • "Stamp Club Asks for New Members" (1951)[18]

Personal life

Moss married three times. She had two children with her first husband, James E. McCaffrey; a son Edwin, who died in 1941, and a daughter Joellyn.[19] Her second husband was Robert E. Law; they divorced in 1937.[20] Her final husband was retired sheriff Robert Hamilton; they were childhood friends in Wyoming, but only married in June 1958.[21] She died in November 1958, at the age of 80, in Carmel.[3] Her nephew Stanley McCaffrey was president of the University of the Pacific from 1971 to 1987.[1][22] Her papers are in the Berkeley Historical Society.[23]

References

  1. 1 2 Johnson, Hal (1951-11-13). "So We're Told: Stan's Aunt Nora". The Berkeley Gazette. p. 17. Retrieved 2026-04-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "Collect Stamps". Oakland Tribune. October 2, 1933. p. 7 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  3. 1 2 "Nora Hamilton". The Berkeley Gazette. 1958-11-27. p. 35. Retrieved 2026-04-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Hoover Herald". Oakland Tribune. 1931-08-28. p. 26. Retrieved 2026-04-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Clawson School Flag Winners". The Oakland Post Enquirer. 1929-05-11. p. 3. Retrieved 2026-04-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 "Grandma Takes Up Reporting". The Berkeley Gazette. 1948-12-16. p. 6. Retrieved 2026-04-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Social Fare". The Berkeley Gazette. 1952-10-13. p. 6. Retrieved 2026-04-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 Law, Nora Mccaffrey; Roberts, Cecil W.; Nixon, Robert B.; Lyle, Frederick G.; Lawrence, Grace (January 1939). "The Educational Whirl: A department of satire and sharp comment". The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas. 13 (5): 298–298. doi:10.1080/00098655.1939.11475158. ISSN 0009-8655.
  9. 1 2 Roberts, C. W.; Burkhard, Russell V.; Nixon, Robert B.; Preston, Effa E.; Walker, Samuel; Lonn, Frank A.; Vasché, Joseph Burton; Ward, Douglas S.; McColley, Walter S.; Dexter, Maude; Reynolds, R. Elizabeth; Law, Nora McCaffrey (1940). "The Educational Whirl". The Clearing House. 14 (5): 286–287. ISSN 0009-8655.
  10. ↑ "100 Girls Aid Apricot Harvest". Oakland Tribune. July 17, 1944. p. 6 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  11. ↑ "Pine Needles: Writers Club Dinner". Carmel Pine Cone: 8. November 22, 1956 – via Internet Archive.
  12. ↑ "Writers to Hear Lincoln Expert". Oakland Tribune. March 12, 1939. p. 8 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  13. ↑ Johnson, Hal (1951-11-14). "So We're Told: Jimmy's Aunt Nora". The Berkeley Gazette. p. 19. Retrieved 2026-04-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ McCaffrey, Nora Moss (1924-11-09). "Mrs. Hamlet's Soliloquy". Oakland Tribune. p. 40. Retrieved 2026-04-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ McCaffrey Law, Nora (December 1938). "License Plates Motivate Letters". The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas. 13 (4): 239–240. doi:10.1080/00098655.1938.11475140. ISSN 0009-8655.
  16. ↑ Law, Nora McCaffrey (February 1939). "Class Parties and "West Enders"". The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas. 13 (6): 368–368. doi:10.1080/00098655.1939.11475180. ISSN 0009-8655.
  17. ↑ Law, Nora Moss (1939-07-26). "Yellowstone Park Diorama is Section of Wyoming's Exhibit at Exposition". Casper Star-Tribune. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-04-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ Law, Nora (1951-01-12). "Stamp Club Asks for New members". Pacific Grove Tribune. p. 3. Retrieved 2026-04-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "Deaths: Edwin M. McCaffrey". Monrovia News-Post. 1941-03-11. p. 3. Retrieved 2026-04-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "Divorce Suits Filed". San Francisco Chronicle. 1937-11-28. p. 85. Retrieved 2026-04-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ "Childhood Friends Wed; He is 89, She 79". The Sacramento Bee. 1958-08-07. p. 37. Retrieved 2026-04-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ "Pine Needles: Nora Law's Nephew Chosen". Carmel Pine Cone. November 22, 1956. p. 8 – via Internet Archive.
  23. ↑ "Archives Report" (PDF). Exactly Opposite. 41 (2): 7. Spring 2023.
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