John Neiuber at the Claremont Courier:
Like so many things, change is a process not an event. It is the cumulative contributions of many that bring about change, that alter attitudes and gain acceptance. In Claremont, we find the contributions of women to be many and that should be worthy of our attention. Few small towns have had someone document those contributions such as Judy Wright (1939-2012) did in her book Claremont Women: 1887-1950. Wright’s book celebrates these women and how they influenced and shaped the city, but Judy Wright herself requires our attention for her accomplishments. Judy Wright was born on March 25, 1939 in Provo, Utah to Della Jones and Roald Faye Campbell. At the time, her parents lived in Preston, Idaho where Mr. Campbell was the superintendent of schools. The family later moved to Salt Lake City. Judy attended the Stewart School which was associated with the University of Utah where her father was on the faculty. Judy attended Brigham Young University and graduated from the University of Utah. The family later moved to Columbus, Ohio and then to Chicago, Illinois where her father was a professor. While in Chicago Judy met her husband, Colin Wright, and returned to school for her teaching credential. She was married in 1962 and taught second grade in Evanston, Illinois. The young family, with son Campbell, moved to Evanston where she became involved in numerous community activities. The family came to Claremont in 1972 when her husband became a professor of economics at Claremont McKenna College.
…
Wright also completed and published the first edition of her book, Claremont – A Pictorial History in 1980. Wright told the LA Times in 1981 that the book was a pointed response to an architect who was hired to survey the town and concluded that it had few preservation-worthy buildings. When the second edition of the book was released, the LA Times named it one of the best nonfiction books of 2000. In 2007 she published Claremont Women: 1887-1950. Judy liked to say that men built the seven Claremont Colleges but that women built the town. … Judy Wright, a true icon of the community. Volunteer, activist, civic leader and author. Or as the LA Times simply called her: “Ms. Claremont.”