Bedford North Lawrence High School - Reflections Yearbook (Bedford, IN)

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HISTORY Authors: Steve Griffith Liz Dunihue Judy Skeen

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THE FIRST SCHOOL BOARD Mrs. Madden Mr. Madden Mr. Friedley Mr. W.C. WInstandley 20 In 1871 the Bedford Graded Schools were organ- ized, and the people little dreamed of how great an organization it would become. Several attempts were made to establish a graded school before this, but they met with little success. Be- cause of low attendance, lack of system, and the short time m which they were kept open, the schools were prevented from attaining any great efficiency. At last an attempt to establish a graded school for the ben- efit of the civil township proceeded so far that the foundations for such a school building were placed on the site of what is now the area occupied by Bedford High School. This movement created great dissatisfaction among the residents outside the township and the im- mediate vicinity. It finally resulted in the incorporation of the town. The school building became the property of the town and was finally completed m 1871. It was a six room building, with a seating capacity of around three hundred. The entire cost of the building and the equipment was about S27.000. School opened m Sep- tember. 1871. and at one o ' clock November 24. 1871. the building was destroyed by fire. This disaster re- sulted in a total loss, as there was no insurance. At a crowded meeting of the town held on the evening of the same day, the trustees were instructed to build at once a larger school building. As soon as the debris of the old one had been cleared away, work was be- gun on the new building, which was completed m 1873. The school opened in September of that year. Between the years 1871 and 1885 there developed a strong and healthy youngster — Bedford High School. The enrollment had not increased much, but it was keeping pace with the community and with general Bedford s ■ ■ , School 1871-1931 trends of education of the day. In this period com- paratively few people in the community considered a high school education necessary, except those who were going to college. In 1874 the first graduating class of Bedford was composed of six members. Then in 1875 there was graduated a class of five members. All of these mem- bers had entered high school in the fall of 1871, The first two classes, ' 74 and ' 75, pursued their course of study together, with the exception of Latin, which only the class of ' 74 had. Until the organization of the public schools in Bedford, there were only free (district schools) and private schools. Consequently, the pupils were not accustomed to the system and discipline, and it was quite difficult for the pupils to adjust themselves to the new order of things. But, under the efficient leader- ship of Professor James H. Madden, the first super- intendent, and his wife, order was soon brought out of chaos, and the public and parents were ready to assist in every way they could. They took great pride in everything connected with our early schools. In 1876 the school was becoming more organized. The commencement exercises of the class of 1876 were held in the Town Hall. There were seven grad- uates, all girls. This was the first class to be com- posed entirely of girls. Many of these graduates were descendants of the pioneer residents of Bedford. The class of 1877 was the fourth and largest class to graduate from B.H.S. up to this time. The group of eleven consisted mainly of girls, as did many classes at this time since the boys had to work to help support families. The boys and girls rather evened out, though,