Lorraine High School - Yearbook (Lorraine, KS)

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O. School Hlstor The big white frame building of the first consolidated school in Kansas will never stand as a tourist attraction as does the little red schoolhouse moved from this state to Knott's Berry Farm in California. The principal reason is that the local citizens were too busy mak- ing history to be concerned with the preservation of a building. However, records of the event were preserved in books, letters, pictures, historical societies, and in the minds and hearts of those individuals who sought and worked for better schools during the last quarter of the past century. One such individual was H. L. Steinberg, who, when asked about the con- solidation several years later, said, My own experiences as a schoolboy were, to a great degree, responsible for the interest with which I worked for the organization of the Lorraine Union School . ' LORRAINE UNION SCHOOL ORGANIZED Steinberg knew the one-room rural school well, for he attended one and taught in two in Minnesota before coming to Kansas where he served on the board of yet another. He knew their inadequacies- the lack of plan- ning, heat, d i s c ip l ine , facilities, and teacher preparation. His own advanced educa- tion, totaling less than two years, was obtained at an academy in Monee, Illinois, where Professor E. Janzen was principal. In the spring of 1877 Steinberg came to Kansas and bought a tract of land about one mile northeast of what is now Lorraine. The first school in this district, Steinberg said, was a sod building on the northeast corner of the land we oc- ,Q e 7 cupied. L at er a fone- I roomj frame building was erected on the north side of the road, where the school work of that dis- trict was carried on un- til the year 1898. It was my privilege to have been a member of the school board during all those years. In this capacity it was possible for me to gain further . . . knowl- edge of the one-room school . . . Land itj caused me to think of ways and means of remedy- ing the difficulties in which we were constantly involved. 'k A magazine article telling of a consoli- dation of schools in Ohio was brought to the attention of Steinberg and others, and the idea of consolidating the schools of Green Garden Township was conceived. Informal dis- cussions followed, and it was generally agreed that such a consolidation would be educationally sound and that the town of Lorraine should be the site of any proposed school building. Several interested persons, including Steinberg, went to Ellsworth and discussed the idea of consolidation with Edward T. Fairchild, the county superinten- dent. Fairchild liked the idea and went to Topeka where he sought the'introduction of a bill making it legal to consolidate school districts. The legislature passed such a bill in 1897. i,?'ii5i3i. LORRAINE UNION SCHOOL - Organized June 8, 1898 First Consolidated School in Kansas fQuotations are from a paper prepared for the Kansas State Historical Society by Mrs. Paul Peters, Jr., who, in 1942, interviewed H. L. Steinberg, then 87, about the school consolida- tion of 1898. 1

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Dedication To the graduates of Lorraine Union and Rural High Schools this work is sincerely dedicated. Acknowledgments Much time, thought, perserverance, and searching went into the preparation of this yearbook. Hundreds of individuals were called upon to write a letter or make a call, to supply a picture or recall a name, to make an inquiry or to submit data. Each worked with enthusiasm. Vernon Splitter, who copied hundreds of photographs, and Margie Schmidt, who planned and assembled this yearbook, are to be commended for their roles in making this pictorial work possible.

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Shortly after the bi11's passage, aformal meeting of the patrons of the Green Garden school districts was called, and Steinberg, who was made chairman, led the discussion as to the feasibility of consolidation. Opposi- tion developed, and the plan was defeated. The idea did not die, however, and on June 8, 1898, most of the districts of Green Garden Township were consolidated, forming School District No. 26. Members of the board of education for the newly organized s choo 1 district were H. L. Steinberg, John Franz, and R. W. Cook. W. S. Bean, an experienced teacher in the Lo rr aine area, became the first principal of the new Lorraine Union School. The white, four-room, frame struc- ture was opened for school on October 10, 1898, with Valeria C. Anderson teaching the intermediate grades and Johanna Janssen, the primary grades. The first term, eight months in length, closed on May 30, 1899. Thus, the first consolidated school west of the Missis- sippi River proved to be sucessful. HIGH SCHOOL PROPOSED In the fall of 1899, Wilbert A. Ward be- came the school's second principal. His end-of-year report reads as follows: Eras- ers are badly needed in all the rooms. Some good music charts and an organ would not be a bad investment. A good library, containing about twenty feet of shelf room, Should be HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL TEAM OF 1916-17 Played on a Dirt Court placed in one of the rooms, and an annual appropriation of S5 to S10 would be splendid encouragement to the library fund. Teachers should follow the course of study outlined by the State Board. The county superintendent permits all who make 9073 in any subject, at a regular county examination, to use such grades to- ward graduation the following year. I would recommend that a ninth grade be formed for next year for those CCar1 A. Teubner, Edgar Steinberg, Minnie Steinberg, Emma Mohney, and Mamie Henryb who have passed the County Graduating Examination, and those having credits toward graduation should be allowed to substitute ninth grade subjects for those accredited. This step should be taken with a view to maintaining at least a two years' high school course. Respectfully, W. A. Ward. The following course of study was suggested for the proposed ninth grade: civil government, English rhetoric, algebra, physics, physical geography, and possibly bookkeeping or German. The next year W. S. Bean, the school's f i r s t administrator, again assumed t h e duties of principal and served in this ca- He thus pacity for three years, 1900-03. became the first principal of the two-year high school which began in the fall of 1900. In 1902, Emma Mohney Murphy Cmother of Flor- ence Murphy Schachtb and Edgar Steinberg Cson of H. L. Stein- bergl became the first graduates of the high school. 1 n t he fall of 1903, D. L. Katter- john accepted t h e principalship and held that position from 1903 to 1909, except for the school year 1906-07, when J. C. Anderson was principal. During Katterjohn's admin- istration a th ir d year, beginning in the fall of 1904, was added to the high school. All but one of the 1904 grad- uates, al ong with Edgar Steinberg Cclass of 19025 en- rolled for and com- pleted the third-year and thus be- course came the class of 1905. STANDING: Ernest Kiley, Art Becker, Albert Kruse, Victor Groth, Edward Janzen 2 SEATED: Elmer Rolfs, Lee Henry, Robert Hein