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

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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,

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HISTORY Authors: Steve Griffith Liz Dunihue Judy Skeen

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Lottie Rariden Mrs. E.R. Dunn Josle Frances Malott Some members of the first graduating class- 1874 IVIr. E.B. Tfiornton in the class of 1878-79. There were six girls and five boys. One of its graduates was Edward Rector, who later ranked as one of the leading patent lawyers in the country. From this, he advanced to a teaching po- sition at DePauw University. Another prominent grad- uate was Frances M. Stalker, who became well known as an educator. He was one of the most respected and popular professors of the State Normal School at Terre Haute. The classes of 1880-81 were combined and grad- uated with the latter in 1881. The class was duly proud of its members since it surpassed the preceeding classes and also the classes for the next twenty-nine years. There were twenty-five in the class, twenty-two girls and three boys. One of the most notable members of this class was Miss Mollie Brown, who started her teaching career in the rural schools in the latter part of 1881. She also held the position of principal of the graded schools for many years. The school year 1889-90 was noted for the occu- pation of the temporary high school building near the east end of what is now Seventeenth Street. This hous- ing difficulty was due to the crowded condition of the old building. It did not prevent the classes that fol- lowed from becoming, as one of its members puts it, valiant and smartest of all. They have never ceased to honor B.H.S. for all she gave them. For the next seven years, Bedford progressed slowly, but definitely. There is little recorded in this period, 1890-97, that can be found. Nevertheless, the next few years proved that B.H.S. did excel in scholar- ship as well as in enrollment and culture. All of the classes between 1897 and 1902 held their commencement exercises in the old town hall al- though they attended classes in the former grade build- ing that was destroyed by fire in 1962. The old town hall was above the Stone City Bank which presently stands. Miss Clara Friedley made these years outstanding as a member of the faculty. Perhaps no one fully real- ized her worth when she first entered B.H.S. as a friend, teacher, and woman. She proved to be an efficient head of the history department and a leader in all ac- tivities of the school. Maybe it should be remembered that one of the outstanding events of the year 1904 was that the girls of the class wore trains on their dresses at commence- ment exercises much to the astonishment of the public. Professor J.B. Fagan was superintendent of Bed- ford Public Schools from 1907 until 1917. During these years, the school prospered greatly under his leader- ship and many awards were bestowed upon the school system because of his tireless work. The Comet , a small publication similar to the PIONEER, was presented to the school. It was intro- duced by Howard Sproull and Clyde Hodges, Miss Georgia Mitchusson came to Bedford High School in 1910. Her presence in the faculty leaves its memories in the school today. She worked with the senior class for most of her career here and was head of the English Department. The Old high school building was no longer used by the high school after 1911. The PIONEER was proudly presented by this class for the first time in 1911. This started a series of books which have brought many honors to B.H.S. The high school building that stands today was Bedford Higfi School BHS as it stands today. 21