The Junior Historian, Volume 15, Number 1, September 1954 Page: 12
32 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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THE JUNIOR HISTORIAN
THE EARLY ALBANY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
by NANCY HELEN HEMPHILL
Albany High SchoolLBANY, in east central Shackel-
ford County, was growing rapid-
ly in the early I88o's when the
Texas Central Railroad was built to the
locality. The town was used as a supply
point for drivers going to Dodge City
up the Western Trail, and Albany be-
came a "boom town" of a sort.
Although Albany was enjoying much.
prosperity, alert citizens were aware that
education was on a lag. The only educa-
tion available was that given by D. R.
Britt whose school was a stone resi-
dence on Walnut Street. The poor fa-
cilities for education caused much con-
cern to J. C. Son, editor of the Albany
Star. Editor Son was a long-time cham-
pion of schools in Albany, and on May
I I, 1883, he wrote:
Build A School House At Once-Even a
casual Observer with nothing more than a
passing interest in our progress and prosperity
of our town, will at once admit the vital
necessity of building some kind of a building
for some kind of an institution to accommo-
date the increasing demand for educational
facilities. Our population is rapidly increas-
ing, and the ratio of children to the adult
class are accumulating in a ten-fold sense,
and yet Albany, with all of her prosperous
surroundings, has not a single building dedi-
cated to the education of the rising generation.
Three churches loom against the horizon-but
where is your moral and religious training?
There must be something radically wrong to
neglect to build a school house in keeping
with prosperity of our town and increased
demands for educational facilities.
Interest in a school was felt among
the citizens, and an election on July 20,
1883, created Albany's first public
school district, covering eight square
miles. The school trustees met on Au-
gust 20, and W. S. Dalrymple was
chosen first principal at a salary of $120
per month "while in actual employment."
The school trustees decided a suit-
able schoolhouse would cost $5,ooo. A
building committee was appointed and
a decision was made to solicit subscrip-tions. The Albany Star gave support
to the idea and commented:
Since it has been decided by the trustees
to erect a school building The Star hopes that
those of our citizens that have money will
step to the front and aid the enterprise. Other
towns around us are building large and ap-
propriate school buildings, and the question
at this juncture arises, why can't Albany
do the same? The Star will venture the asser-
tion that our citizens can and will build a
$5,000 school house without further ceremony
about it.
October I was selected as the date for
school to start; school did not start,
however, until the middle of October. A
faculty of three teachers and 120 stu-
dents made up the Albany school in
the first term of the autumn of 1883.
For the new school the trustees drew up
a number of rules and regulations; some
of the regulations of particular interest
are the following:
Section 12. No pupil shall be allowed to
retain connection with the public school unless
furnished with books,' slate, and other utensils
required to be used in the class to which he
belongs; provided, that no pupil shall be ex-
cluded for such cause unless such books, etc.,
are readily procurable, and unless the parent
or guardian shall have been furnished by the
teacher with a list of books or articles needed,
and one week shall have elapsed after such
notice without the pupils obtaining said books.
Books may be furnished to indigent children
by the trustees at the expense of the com-
munity, whenever the teacher shall have certi-
fled in writing that the pupil applying is un-
able to purchase such books.
Section 14. All pupils who go to school
without proper attention having been given
to personal cleanness, or neatness of dress,
shall be sent home to be properly prepared for
school, or shall be required to prepare them-
selves for the school room before entering.
Rules were also issued regulating the
conduct of the students. Many of the
regulations concerned the care of the
school, punishments for disobedience,
[con tinued on page 28]12
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Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 15, Number 1, September 1954, periodical, September 1954; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391347/m1/14/: accessed June 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas State Historical Association.