Edison Institute High School - Yearbook (Dearborn, MI)

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Page Eight HERALD The Wayside Inn Schools. MARYiS LITTLE LAMB The school system of the Wayside Inn group in South Sudbury, Massa- chusetts, consists of three schools. The one which undoubtedly has an especially strong attraction for visitors is the Redstone, or Mary Lamb School, which is widely known because of the famous poem concerning one of its pupils of iong ago, the first stanza of which fol- ows: Mary had a little lamb, Its fleece was white as snow, And everywhere that Mary went, The lamb was sure to go. The Mary of this world-famous poem was an actual personage, and the inci- dent of her pet lamb following her to school really happened. r Mary Elizabeth Sawyer was born March 22, 1806, and died December 11, 1889. When a little girl she attended the Redstone School of District No. 2, at Sterling, Massachusetts, and on the day When her pet lamb followed her to school, John Roulstone, a student pre- paring for the ministry, visited the school and so witnessed the scene which he later put in verse. The poem as it appears today, however, had three stanzas added to it and was iirst printed by Sarah J. Hale in her book of verse. It was the first stanza of this poem that Thomas Edison spoke into the first phonograph. The schoolhouse where the incident took place was purchased in 1926 by Mr. Ford and removed to the estate near the Wayside Inn at South Sudbury. The Redstone Schoolhouse has had a varied history. Built in 1798, it con- tinued in use as a school until 1856. Although known throughout the country- side as the old Redstone Schoolhousefy it was really an ordinary wooden build- ing of the familiar country school type, painted red. Its name was taken from the fact that it stood on a rising called Redstone Hill. When its educational career ended in 1856, the building saw various uses until eventually it became part of the Baptist Church society,s barn and garage at Sterling. Here in 1926, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford discovered it, brought it to Sudbury, and restored it to its original use. NM WAYSIDE INN BOYSi SCHOOL In the month of March, 1928, two Boston buses opened their doors and thirty boys looked for the first time on a school in which they were to be the first students. The main purpose of the school was the development of character and the preparation of boys for their future careers. When school opened in the fall of 1929 the Solomon Dutton House was secured as a dormitory and the number of boys increased to between forty and. fifty. The first graduating class, that of 1929, consisted of Bernard Mallory, Michael Gonet, William Pereen, Ru- dolph Saracusa and Joseph Kuriger. In June, 1930, Leon Gooch, David Sobel, Frank Calbert, William Graham and Hyman Selingman were graduated, and in the following year J oseph Oche- dowski, Louis Seligman, Michael Bolesky, Thomas Margellar, William Bridges, Charles Barkhouse, George Hill and Earl Stoddard. During the summer of 1933 there was developed a complete agricultural four-year course. The present staif consists of Mr. Young, headmaster; Mr. Rorstrum and Mr. Curtis teaching agriculture, with Mr. Thompson and Mr. Sefton carrying the academic subjects. NW SOUTHWEST SCHOOL About the year 1800 the town of Sudbury, Massachusetts, constructed a school just off the Boston Post Road west of the town to accommodate the children living in that vicinity. For one hundred years the original structure stood until finally it was moved three- quarters of a mile east and converted into a residence which sometime later was accidentally destroyed by fire. This school had existed under several names, Peakham School, Wayside Inn School, and Southwest School, any of which might easily have identified it. After the purchase of the property containing the school site, the old foun- dation was located by the position of four poplar trees and upon it was erected the present structure designed as nearly as possible the same as the original. The fall of 1930 saw the first pupils, comprising the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades in the new building. The twenty-three children who attended all came from the town of Sudbury, and two of them walked a mile and a half to school the first day, the others being carried in the station wagons. The first enrollment was as follows: Ivan Stone, Robert Spiller, Barbara Morton, J osephine Torrey, Lucretia Richardson, Jane Way, Doris Seymour, Barbara King, Eleanor Goulding, Vir- ginia Bowry, Yvette Harrington, Made line Torrey, Esther Miller, Thomas Winship, John Merrill, J ohn Bunker, Ralph Stone, Parker Bartlett, Donald Bowry, Virginia Ellms, Ruth Stone, Eleanor Stone. Of this number John Merrill and J ohn Bunker were from the Wayside Inn Boys, School, and later four more joined them, namely, Francis J ohnson, William Roby, Albert Niedbala and Francis Quirk. The first graduates were Esther Miller and Madeline Torrey. When the school reopened in Septem- ber, 1931, after the summer vacation, Mrs. Jane Bennett became teacher, and still holds that position. The 1932 graduates were Ruth Stone, Virginia Ellms, Virginia Bowry, Yvette Harrington, Robert Spiller, J ohn Winshjp and Ralph Stone. June, 1933, brought diplomas to J ane Way, Elizabeth Kirkland and Earnest Little, all three of whom passed the Sudbury school examinations with high honors. mm . By means of head-phones and special mlcrophone, a scientist claims to have heard the sound made by worms gnaw- ing in apples. MN Dogsy teeth are used as money in many parts of New Guinea and through- out the South Sea Islands. mm In England they sell eggs by weight as well as by count. SOUTHWEST SCHOOL Lombardy poplars form a stately setting. MARY LAMB SCHOOL where a universally known classic was inspired. 2 WAYSIDE INN BOYSl SCHOOLS where character is built and practical training is given in good citizenship.

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H E R A L D Page Seven Youth is Cultivated uvvvuvudvvvvv ..............................nn......... ....... from Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford I have been asked to write a few words for the first number of your new school paper. TOWN SCHOOL, MACON There 15 one rule in our school a pyeasam retreat. which is the basis of every other rule, and that is-help one another. Everybody help each other. It is simple, isnlt it? But when we do that we prevent a lot of things going wrong. One of the best life-lessons you can learn in this school is to help one another. In our school every boy and girl has something to do which makes the school better for every other boy and girl. WORK HARD. Work is easy when you do it with all your mind. To put it off, or only half do it, makes it twice as hard. PLAY FAIR. Let all your fun be free of what is mean or harsh. Say no word you will not like to think about when you grow up. Do no act that you would not like your schoolmates to remember about you in years to come. School day memories last a long time. STONE SCHOOL PENNINGTON With the children is Jerome Travis, their teacher. vIvIvIIIIIVVYVVIYIIIIvIvvlvlvlvl'lvvvav'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIV yuvuvyy.... -vrvv WILLOW RUN whose very name suggests rural delights. Let all that we build into our memory of this school, be good and pleasant and useful. MILLS SCHOOL and its quaint. old-fashioned stoop. HENRY FORD Message B ROWNVILLE mind wander When trying in its setting of tall trees. to read an assignment or do a problem. Don't study with the radio going and don,t try to work where others are playing. Try to know your subject and if llII'YvyIIIIVVIIIIVYYVIYIIIIIIIIIVIYVIIIIIIvlvlvIvlvvivvvvl'IIIIIvIvllxlvle you get stuckeseek help. GEORGIA SCHOOLS -EDSEL B. FORD The two schoolsiabove and on left- are situated near Cherry Hill plantation, Ways Station, Georgia. Light and sunshine are characteristics of their Southern en- vironment. IIvavavivvvvervvvvuv vvv

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HERALD Page Nine A Brief History of Our Schools LOCAL AND DISTRICT SCHOOLS In the month of May, 1932, the Edison Institute began an experiment among more than 200 children attending rural schools near Ford-owned farms in southern Michigan. Plots of ground near the schoolhouses were tilled and planted and turned over to the children to care for during the summer vacation and bring to harvest. Each tract was to be an experiment table whereon the child would watch the plants spring up in tiny shoots of green, unfold into blossom, and finally come to fruit. The value of destroying the weeds and cul- tivating the plants was one thing quickly learned. The need of keeping steadily on the job was another. Families of the children were given whatever produce was grown on their plots, so that each pupil was able to provide a supply of vegetables to supple- ment the home table. The schools are located in southern Michigan within a radius of 100 miles of Dearborn. Three are in Dearbornethe Greenfield Village Scotch Settlement, Town Hall and Clinton Inn schools. Three are in or near Macon-ePenning- ton, Town and Mills schools. The Brownville, Academy, Comfort and Centennial schools are near Tecumseh, and the Willow Run and Rawsonville schools are not far from Ypsilanti. WILLOW RUN In 1849 a school was erected on the banks of Willow Run Creek which became known as the Willow Run School. It was a small frame structure designed to accommodate twenty-eight pupils. The teacher was selected from among the better educated persons of the district. The books were furnished by the parents. Pencils and ink were homemade, and the pens were made from goose quills by the teacher. When after ten years the enrollment had grown from twenty-eight to forty- four, and the pupils were jammed in every corner and round the teachers desk, Charles Cady called a meeting of the board at which it was decided to build a larger school. At the end of the summer term of 1859, as the last child left, the building was hoisted upon skids and dragged by twenty-one yoke of oxen to the extreme bank of the creek. Work was ims mediately started on the present school; which was copied from the W. W. Har- wood School of Ypsilanti, built in 1830 and said to be the first itLittle Red School in the district and perhaps in the state. In 1888 there came to this school Frank Cody tnow superintendent of Detroit schoolsy for his first assign- ment as a teacher. In June, 1926, upon the completion of a near-by consolidated school, the key was turned on the faithful old door lock and the Willow Run School was closed. In the fall of 1931, Mr. Ford caused building and grounds to be re- stored and on September 9, the old hand bell announced the resumption of classes. There was present a little band of old- timers and the old lot rang again with echoes of laughter and shouts of joy from the sun-bonnet girl and the bare- footed boy,n whose ffgrandpappyti got his tischoolin, at Willow Run. Frank Cody was present for the day and once more taught the school. NM RAWSONVI LLE About the year 1825, Amariah Raw- son came to the Huron River Valley and settled on a large tract of land, building a log house for himself and family on the south bank overlooking the stream. In time he constructed a frame house across the road and opened a store. As more settlers came into the valley, a thriving town sprang up which was called Michigan City. The town spread along both sides of the river and boasted of three blacksmith shops and two general stores. The old log school was replaced with a new brick building erected about 1860 by the same man, it is thought, who built the school at Willow Run. By that time the name of the town had been changed to Rawsonville. School has been kept continuously in this district except for two or three years When the number of children was so small that it was decided to let them all attend Willow Run. mm OLD STONE PENNINGTON The first pioneer settler between Tecumseh and Saline in the Raisin River Valley was John Pennirgton, a Quaker, who came in 1828 and built a log cabin along the banks of the Macon Creek. In time the spot became known as Penningtonis Corners and later as Macon. A log school provided a means of education in the early days, with winter and summer terms. In the old minute book of School District No. 1, Township of Macon, is a record of meetings as far back as 1841, and the name of John Pennington appears as director. In 1851 it was decided to build a new school, and Michael Hendershot was given the contract for a stone building to cost $450. The old school was sold for $31.50. One of those who attended and learned the three Ris here was Jerome Travis, the present teacher. The in- terior arrangement of the new school was unique, the pupils' desks facing the stove and the teacher's platform from three directions. The stone school was being used as a storage warehouse when Mr. Ford came upon it while putting in his acreage near Macon. He restored it to its original purpose. School was reopened on Sep- tember 28, 1931, at a reunion attended by nineteen of the thirty-one living mem- bers of the first classes, who sat in their old places and answered roll call. Four surviving children of the twelve born to John Pennington and his wife were there, as were nine grandchildren. Classes resumed work on October 12, with Jerome Travis behind the desk as teacher. After the assassination of Abra- ham Lincoln, Alfred Graham, a 16-year- old pupil, wrote a poem, The Death of Abraham Lincoln, for one of the boys, Jerome Travis, a 12-year-old, to recite. The poem now hangs framed on the wall of the restored school. At one time the Baptist minister, J ohn Maynard, taught the village school and while so doing preached his regular Sunday sermon. It was he who gave the bell now in use in the old schoolhouse, to Miss Susan Langhan, who in turn gave it to Mr. Ford when he recon- structed the building. TOWN SCHOOL, MACON The Town School, Macon, was built because of the need for increased capac- ity and also because the old stone school was cold in winter? Isaac Hen- dershot was the builder, and the grounds were landscaped with ever- greens from Israel Penningtonis nursery. Joseph Morgan was director of the school at the time of its construction in 1866. Silvanus Travis as moderator hired his son, Jerome Travis, to dig the holes for planting the trees which still stand on the grounds. Young Travis was also paid 62V; cents a cord for saw- ing wood for the school and in 1872 served as its teacher. The building was remodeled in 1931 through the co-operation of Mr. Ford. mm BROWNVI LLE The old Brownville schoolhouse, abandoned many years ago only to be restored by Henry Ford, was reopened on Monday, January 23, 1933. The school is operated as a tfone room schoolhouse,u with classes from the first to the twelfth. Mrs. Charles Snedecor, who has in her possession the old hell that once called the children of the Brownville school together, was present on the first day of school and had the honor of ring- ing the first bell. Pupils of the Ford school at Macon also attended and pre- sented a program at the morning session. The Brownville School was completely rehabilitated and to the observer today, presents the same appearance it did 40 years ago, with its oil lights, box stove and whitewood seats and desks. The building is of brick. mm CENTENNIAL A difference of opinion arose in the year 1871 over the proposed division of the original school district which was composed of pupils attending in the old brick building which then stood on the site on which the Centennial schoolhouse now stands. After the argument over location and districting, those living east of the old brick school pulled it down in 1876 and erected a new buildings on the site, which is named in honor of the year of its erection the Centennial School. Through the co- operation of Mr. Ford, the school was reopened for instruction in September, 1932. Mrs. Jennie Nyland Tallman, who taught the classes thirty-five years Concluded on page 10