Midwest City High School - Bomber Yearbook (Midwest City, OK)

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pw--W A continuous flow of Kwai' ,O ,A l,L ,,A.,A.,, . Q 1 Q Midwest City residents went to and from work at Tinker Field ten years ago. ,,M.i.,..w N-.. 11 - gs if W-A ,ff-., M , ,s,4 WM I uv' I I ll u ' 4 g I L . X un ., W IQMMHIJUL I I I I I I 1' I I I I I I I I T I I I I I I I I I I I E I I I I I I Q ' I I I I I I we Fll I I I I, I I I I I 42,45 444 r V 4V -47 f',' .f :wi Qsiausnw.. V-If mf Chart shows school system growth, i942 to I 1 1' W, ..- ,-. , W. .W . , ' 15? 1la55z7 'm: ui 1 Today Midwest City covers nearly 30 square miles and has a population of 65,000, with citizens from all 50 states and many foreign countries. ln just 25 years, the city has de- veloped one ot the premier school systems ot the nation. One ot today's Oklahoma employing dents, the opened in industrial giants and the largest single industry in is Midwest City's neighbor, Tinker Air Force Base, 35,000 workers. Dedicated to the health ot resi- first unit of Midwest City Memorial Hospital was l962, the hospital now has a T75-bed capacity. A modern public library is open daily, and all faiths are repre- sented in the city's 36 churches. Midwest Citians enioy parks and playgrounds, a modern YMCA, and nearby lakes. 1958. Flag raising at first city hall drew residents, U , 1 ! 3 3 on ZQKQT Construction of Midwest City's first Bell Telephone Company building neared completion in 1956. The MWC city hall was expanded and remodeled in T966 to accommodate the increasing number of employees necessary to operate the growing city.

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Mayor Marion C, Reed donated money to UNICEF on the Halloween of 1954, 1 3 ' -. -.. ,ssl V Kid V, 4 Midwest City's citizens helped celebrate its tenth anniversary in 1953. W, Superintendent of Schools Oscar V. Rose snacked in a local cafe in 1945. Tinker AFB Made Midwest City First of the Model Cities From a maze of twisted, muddy roads, wheat fields and potato patches, Midwest City rapidly developed into a clean, modern, progressive city across the road from Tinker Field, which has also made tremendous strides. The majority of Midwest City's 65,000 residents were not even born when the city was founded in the undeveloped farm lands 25 years ago. The year 1942 was full of turmoil with World War ll. When the Oklahoma City area was men- tioned as one of the possible locations of new war defense plants, an energetic young former newsman and professor, W,P. Bill Atkinson, noted that the proposed installation would employ 4,000 people. Atkinson searched ownership maps and discovered a spot he thought might be the right one. lt was nine miles from downtown Oklahoma City and had a rail line that ran through wheat fields. He bought two farms from Joe Chessner and Frank Trosper totaling 310 acres immediately north of SE 29 in an area now bordered by Midwest Boulevard and Air Depot. Thus Midwest City and Bill Atkinson's dream were born simul- taneously. In October, 1942, three weeks after Atkinson purchased the farms, top Air Force brass selected the site across from the land. Immediately Tinker Air Force Base and Midwest City began a hand-in-hand march which was to bring dual acclaim as the world's largest air depot and America's Model City. At- kinson retained Stewart Mott, one of the nation's master land planners, to draw his model city. On June 1, 1943, Midwest City was incorporated within the school district boundaries.

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Superintendent of Schools Oscar G, Rose inspects charred remains of Jarman Junior High after fire in 1965 destroyed three fourths of the structure MC Builds Future Citizens for Nation In the spring of 1943, Mr. Oscar V. Rose asked Mrs. Flor- ence Jenkins, then principal of the Soldier Creek School, to encourage eighth grade graduates to enter Midwest City High School the following fall. Mr. J.E. Sutton was elected iunior-se- nior high school principal in July, 1943. Miss Eva Clifford was chosen grade school principal, and Mrs. Virginia Rose was elected principal of Sooner School. These, with Mr. Rose and Mrs. Mary Ann Shaw, constituted the administrative staff of the new Midwest City school system. Another faculty member was Mrs. Bertha Looper, teaching at Sooner School. The first semester of school opened late in the fall of 1943, with an enrollment of 467 students and 17 faculty rnem- bers in five wooden buildings. Mr. Rose managed to borrow some buildings and, through the assistance of businessman Bill Atkinson, who underwrote the shipping costs, had portable structures moved from Dallas. Soon after the buildings were put up, Rose borrowed a bus from the Perry Valley system. Students got through the first semester, but when winter came, lack of heat threatened until Rose borrowed oil-burning stoves.