R. Peter Woodard was an influential educator in Yuma, Arizona. He was born in Hereford, Arizona in 1915. He graduated from Bisbee High School in 1931, and received teaching degrees from Arizona State College in Flagstaff, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and Arizona State University in Tempe. He began his life in Yuma teaching at Sunnyside School before serving a three- year stint in the military during World War II. He returned to Yuma upon his release from service and took a teaching position at Fourth Avenue Junior High School. Soon afterwards Pete became Superintendent of Yuma School District 1, a post which he held for 26 years from 1948 to 1975. In 1980 he was named Yuma’s Man of the Year. He died in 2007 at the age of 92.
This collection documents the District 1 Yuma Elementary Schools. The scrapbooks primarily contain news clippings but also include photographs, correspondence, and memorabilia. The dates of the material coincide with the dates that Peter Woodard served as superintendent of the school district.
