IPS #77 Dedication, November 14, 1951

 

     Last year the Irvington Historical Society acquired a recording of the dedication of I.P.S. #77 and then had it digitally converted so that voices from 71 years ago could now be heard again. 

Indianapolis Public School #77 c1951 (courtesy of the Indianapolis Marion County Public Library)

Indianapolis Public School #77 c1951 (courtesy of Indianapolis Marion County Public Library)

     On Wednesday evening, November 14, 1951, hundreds of families gathered for the dedication of School #77 at 6040 East Pleasant Run Parkway South Drive. Designed by Wilbur Shook, the beautiful mid-century building had not been open for very long. Residents assembled in the Delker Auditorium for the formal ceremony at 8:00PM.

The Delker Family

   Christian and Barbara Kuhner Delker lived for decades in a farmhouse that faced Pleasant Run Parkway South Drive (formerly known as Shelley Street) near Arlington Avenue. For years, the school children who attended the portable classrooms at School #77 could see the Delker home and the large red barn. The Delkers were kindly neighbors to the school and often gave the students refreshments and treats. They didn't mind if the children walked on their property. Eventually, they sold the land to the Indianapolis Public Schools, but they asked to live out the remainder of their lives in the old farmhouse. Mr. Delker passed away first in 1942. After Mrs. Delker's death in 1949, the house and barn were leveled to make room for a new school building. To honor the family, the school built an impressive auditorium that could also be used by the public. They named it the Delker Auditorium.

Cathryn Boggy Assumes the Role of Principal

Cathryn Kuemmick Boggy (Indianapolis Marion County Public Library)

     Northern Irvington residents grew weary of the four-classroom building located on Arlington Avenue north of Pleasant Run Parkway. Their children had to attend other nearby schools for fifth through the eighth grade. After some intense lobbying by local residents, the district agreed to build a new school to replace the small building and house children up to the eighth grade. The school was to be named for a beloved teacher, Miss Anna Pearl Hamilton, who passed away in 1948.  Construction started in 1950, but delays occurred over post-war shortages. 

     To lead the new school, the district appointed Cathryn Boggy (1907-1987). Mrs. Boggy had been a teacher for many years at I.P.S. and would serve as the principal for the School #77 for twenty years beginning in the 1947-48 school year.  

      Mrs. Boggy noted in an oral history, conducted in 1981, that the children in the older school became very interested in the construction of the new building. The superintendent of construction frequently informed the children on what would be happening daily on the site. Mrs. Boggy recalled that on the day that the old red barn was pulled down by tractors, the entire structure fell into a pile of dust. She thought that the children might cheer upon seeing the demolition but they stared in silence. She never forgot that moment. On another day, the contractor brought in one of the blond bricks used to clad the new structure. The teachers designed lessons around the events happening outside their windows. 

The red lines show where the new school was to be built. In the upper left hand corner, you can see the outline of the portable classroom building that faced Arlington Avenue. Below you can see the Delker house and outbuildings, including a large red barn. The house faced Pleasant Run Parkway and was torn down along with all of the other farm buildings to make way for the new school. (Courtesy of Indianapolis Marion County Public Library) 

A New School is Dedicated

     On September 12, 1951, Dr. Herman L. Shibler, the Superintendent for the Indianapolis Public Schools, informed Mrs. Boggy via a memo that she was to prepare the dedication program. He was very specific with his instructions in that students were to be part of the program and that the event would take place on Wednesday evening, November 14, 1951.  Thankfully, someone recorded the event.

     We do not know the names of the children who participated, but their voices can be heard throughout the recording so perhaps someone listening will recognize either themselves or a loved one. Parents and community members filed into the new auditorium while students who were not in the ceremony reported to their classrooms with their teachers. They would listen to the skits and speeches over the new public address system funded by the Irvington Lions Club.

     At 8:00PM an older student can be heard welcoming the guests. Another student asked the question, "What does it mean to dedicate a building?" A third student introduced the first skit which attempted to answer the question while another pupil performed the school song on the accordion. Then, a small group sang the school song a cappella. It sounds like members of the audience also joined in. In a second skit, additional kids discussed the importance of Anna Pearl Hamilton, for whom the school was named and of the kindly Delker family. 

     In the early 1950s, the United States was fighting a war in Korea and an imaginary war against communists at home. There was also very little separation of church and state in that era. After the students wrapped up their well-rehearsed skits, another child led the community into a dedication prayer culminating with an "amen." The junior high choir sang two Christian hymns, "Holy, Holy, Holy," and "Bless This House."

     Mrs. Boggy then had the task to introduce the many dignitaries on the stage and there were many! Not all of the adult speakers were as interesting as the children. Wilbur Shook, the architect of the school, presented the key to Mrs. Louis Bruck, the school board representative for Irvington. Mrs. Bruck spoke next and she reminded Mr. Shook that this was the second school key she had received from him as she had been pivotal in lobbying for Thomas Carr Howe High School, which opened in 1938.  Dr. Herman Shibler, the school superintendent, used a sports analogy in his speech. (Lean into the ball and you will have a higher batting average.) He also spoke of moral and spiritual values and good citizenship. Mrs. Robert Platte, the local P.T.A. president, had the task of introducing members of the Delker family and of the Hamilton family along with the "Survey Committee." The tape suddenly ends during her speech. To listen to these voices from the past click on the Sound Cloud link below.

Letter from Dr. Shibler to Cathryn Boggy,  September 12, 1951 (courtesy of Indianapolis Marion County Public Library)

Dedication Program for IPS #77 (courtesy of Indianapolis Marion County Public Library)

       

To listen to the dedication, click on the link below.

IPS #77 Dedication

To listen to the interview with Cathryn Boggy, click on the link below.

Interview with Cathryn Boggy, 1981

Sources: Delker Family--1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 Federal Census, Find-a-Grave, Delker obituaries in Indianapolis newspapers, 1942, 1949; Cathryn Kuemmick Boggy--Oral History conducted by Rosemary Dilley with the Brown branch of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library; "Cathryn Boggy Funeral Saturday," Indianapolis News, May 27, 1987, 46; Dedication of school--"Dedication of Three New Elementary School Buildings to Mark Education Week," Indianapolis Star, , November 11, 1951. 

School #77 Dedication Day--1950

In 1949, the IPS School Board announced plans to replace the portable classrooms at 401 North Arlington Avenue with a brand new building to be completed in 1950. The new structure received the name of Anna Pearl Hamilton School in honor of a beloved former teacher who passed away in 1948. Besides naming the new school for Miss Hamilton, the local PTA also purchased a Clifton Wheeler painting in her honor titled "Early Spring." The new building would house 13 classrooms and cost $440, 000. It was only the second school built by IPS since the end of World War II. Christian and Barbara Kuhner Delker provided the land for the new structure. The old Delker farmhouse was torn down at 6026 Pleasant Run Parkway South Drive to make way for the very modern and sleek looking brick structure. School officials named the new auditorium in the structure after the Delkers.

On June 1, 1950, Irvington residents and IPS officials gathered to dedicate the future school with the laying of the cornerstone. J. Dwight Peterson, President of the Board of Commissioners, gave the principal address at the dedication.  Other speakers that day included Mrs. Olma Bruck of 52 South Audubon who was the Vice President of the school board at the time; the PTA President, Mrs. Pearle Hazenfield who lived at 58 North Arlington Avenue, and Principal Cathryn Boggy. Inside a copper box, officials placed a Bible, an American flag, local newspapers, a history of the PTA, a shiny nickel, various photographs, and signatures of the current students and staff at School #77. They then placed the box inside the cornerstone with "1950" etched into the limestone.

Donn Richardson, who grew up at 477 North Audubon Road, has many memories of the new school including the Cold War era duck and cover drills. Later, instead of going under their desks,  they drilled by going into the locker rooms in case the Soviets decided to drop an atomic bomb on Indianapolis. Mr. Richardson chuckled that one day a teacher turned off the lights, but one wise guy in the crowd decided to pass gas. Needless to say, that ended the darkened-room-practice drill. If the Soviets were to have ever flown over Irvington, they would have clearly noticed a light on in the locker rooms at School #77.

On June 1, 1950, local residents gathered for the cornerstone laying of the new School #77 at 6040 E. Pleasant Run Parkway South Drive. (photo courtesy of Donn and Carolyn Richardson)

On the stage for the cornerstone laying of the new IPS #77, also known as the Anna Pearl Hamilton School, local officials gathered on June 1, 1950. Cathryn Boggy was named as the principal of the new school. She is sitting in the second row next to an identified child and is looking at the photographer. In the front row (left to right): Horace Boggy, Emil Schaad,  Pearle Hazenfield, Olma Bruck, and J, Dwight Peterson. (photo courtesy of Donn and Carolyn Richardson)

Miss Ruby Wells, a teacher at the Anna Pearl Hamilton School, gathered her students for a Christmas photo in the winter of 1958. None of the students have been identified yet, but we hope to find the names.  (photo courtesy of Donn and Carolyn Richardson)

IPS no longer possesses the Anna Pearl Hamilton School, also known as #77. It now belongs to the Irvington Charter School (photo taken in 2012)

Sources:  "Board Pushes Addition to School 77," Indianapolis Star, March 30, 1949, 2; "New School 77 Ceremony Set," Indianapolis News, June 1, 1950, 23; "Writer Honors Teacher's Memory," Hancock Democrat, May 20, 1948, 8; Regarding the Delker family--"Ringside Hoosierland," Indianapolis News, July 1, 1949, 12.

I am indebted to Donn and Carolyn Richardson for their stories and photographs. Donn grew up at 477 North Audubon Road and attended School #77.

I.P.S. School #77--An Early Portable

In 1932, the Indianapolis Public Schools constructed four adjoining portable classrooms with a t-shaped hallway connecting the classes at 401 North Arlington Avenue.  The structure was built on land that used to belong to the Delker family. For the next eighteen years, neighborhood children attended the school from first through fourth grade. Anna Pearl Hamilton, a beloved teacher, worked in the portable from its initial opening to her untimely death at the age of 58 in 1948. When IPS built a new school on the site in 1950, they named structure in honor of Miss Hamilton. By the 1940s, Cathryn Boggy served as both the fourth grade teacher as well as the principal of the school. Donn Richardson, who lived at 477 North Audubon Road, has many memories of the "portable." Miss Hamilton's second grade classroom, like the others, had tall ceilings and her room at the southeast corner had a door out to the playground which sat near a cornfield.  Since there was no auditorium, students would gather in the hallway for any kind of school-wide assembly. Fourth graders assumed much responsibility including serving as a traffic guards for both Arlington Avenue and Pleasant Run Parkway.

In one poignant memory, Mr. Richardson recalled an encounter he had with his second grade teacher, Miss Hamilton, who he described as loving but firm. She had helped him practice his spelling words. He struggled with spelling and later he placed a sheet of paper with the words on his leg during a test. He wrote with his left hand and had to use an ink well so it took him a long time to write out his spelling words. Miss Hamilton noticed the paper on his leg and ran back to confront him. While educators were only beginning to understand dyslexia in the late 1940s, Miss Hamilton deduced why Donn had the sheet on his leg. She spoke to his parents so that they could begin working with him. He also received help at school. Soon, Donn's father bought him comic books so that he could begin reading on his own. Miss Hamilton's early intervention changed the trajectory of Donn's life as he would later become a journalist and film producer. His class was the last to benefit from Miss Hamilton's teaching as she became ill and died in the following winter. Donn reported that he felt abandoned after his beloved teacher passed away.

There were four portable classrooms constructed at 401 North Arlington Avenue. Each classroom, like the one shown in the photo, were large and had tall ceilings. This photo, likely snapped in 1947, shows fourth grade students taking some kind of assessment. Most are looking down. A school crossing guard stands in the corner. We do not know the names of any of the students.  (photo courtesy of Donn and Carolyn Richardson)

Fourth grade students c1949 served as patrol boys at I.P.S. #77 (photo courtesy of Larry Muncie)

Fourth grade students square dance as part of a school program at School #77 in 1947. Donn Richardson, who dwelled at 477 North Audubon Road, and his unidentified partner promenaded near the portable classrooms. (photo courtesy of Donn and Carolyn Richardson)

I wish to thank Donn and Carolyn Richardson for their assistance with this post.