School Days In The Early 1900s…What A Difference!

In 1988 I interviewed Thelma Cook Warren, who graduated from Darlington High School in 1918. Thelma was married to Alva Warren, who served in WWI and WWII and owned the hardware store here in town for many years. They were the parents of Jack Warren, Damon “Mutt” Warren, Betty Warren Vaught, and Jean Warren Gunn. I asked Thelma what school was like back in those days…

“My first grade teacher was Verna Williams, who was excellent and cared for her students. She taught me the Lord’s Prayer and Twenty-Third Psalm, which all of us had to say every morning before class started. We sat in double seats in the classroom, and I remember the restrooms were located outdoors. During grades 3 through 8, I attended one-room schools in Sugar Creek Township. I remember walking to school in the snow and rain, and then finally being able to ride in a horse-drawn hack. I often started to school in the dark and arrived home after dark.

I started attending Darlington High School again when I was a freshman. I would often drive a horse and buggy to school, with my sister and another girl accompanying me. There were seven subjects that were offered, and I signed up for all of them. I had to carry an armload of books home almost every evening. At this time, the students went for eight months, and the grade schoolers for seven months. I took Latin for three years, which helped me quite a bit in English. Merle Coons was the principal my senior year, and he also taught agriculture. Roscoe Elmore taught writing and general arithmetic. Margaret Weesner taught English and Literature. I also remember Esta Grantham and Lousie Peek. Miss Grantham used to play classical music to us on the Victrola. Mabel Morin was another teacher, and she was one of the first teachers to smoke cigarettes. In fact, I believe she had to go an extra year of college because she was caught with a cigarette and lost one year’s worth of college credits.

One time Ward Alston was up at the board trying to get a math problem. He was having a terrible time, and very frustrated, he stomped back to his seat and said the teacher should not be calling him ‘gourd-head.’ He didn’t realize that she was merely saying to him, ‘Go ahead’! Once in Miss Weesner’s class, we were reading Shakespeare’s plays, and I came across a part which seemed funny at the time. I began to laugh, and she started coming towards me, stood by me awhile, and never said a word. She was an outstanding teacher and had good discipline.

Miss Peek once took several of us to Riverside Park along Sugar Creek west of town for a boat ride. The water was rather high and swift as we paddled about, oars in hand. As we neared the pier, I grabbed the pole, the boat upset, and I was dunked in the water. I walked home soaking wet, and I pleaded with my mother not to tell father, as I knew he would be angry since I couldn’t swim a lick.

At the end of each school day, we marched out the rooms, out into the hallway, and down the front steps, two at a time, while a march played on the Victrola. Our senior reception was held in the library basement room, and the graduation in the old armory. The only sad time I remember was when several of our schoolmates joined the army to serve their country during World War I. Their desks in the assembly room were covered with the American flag, and this saddened us all.

As I look back on my school days at Darlington, I learned many things from teachers who were determined to see that I got a good education. I really enjoyed my classmates, and at my advanced age, still remember the good things I was taught. I hate to see the school close, because I believe it will be a great blow to the town and community. Only time will tell if today’s students will really have any advantages by attending a new school.”

Although an overwhelming majority of the public voted to remodel the schools and keep them in the little towns, the school board voted to close the schools, tear them down, and build new schools out in the country. Thelma, you were right. The school was the heart of the community, and Darlington, Linden, New Richmond, Wingate, and Waynetown have never been the same since then.

And when will school board members realize that fancy new buildings and facilities have nothing to do with a good education?

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 32 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.