Evening Star Newspaper, June 9, 1929, Page 104

—_—— N7 - — — SUNDAY STAR. WASHINGTO N! D. C., JUNE 9, 1929— Golden Jubilee of Old Peabody School Celebration to Be Attended by Grand- Jathers and Grand- mothers Who Were Schoolboys and School-. girls Back 1n ’79 > and 80. BY JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR. -y OMORROW evening ‘the Stanton Park Citizans’ Association will cele- brate the fiftieth anniversary of the building of the Peabody Public School, located at the spuehwest eorner of Fifth and C streets northedst, and no doubt hundreds of grandfathers and grand- mothers, who were just plain schoolboys and schoolgirls, back in the 79s and 80s, will attend the exercises to hear the old times reviewed and talked over, and perhaps relate how they had to toe the mark when called up before Mrs. . Hilton, the first principal, for some infraction of the school regulations. Of course, the goody- good boys and girls will tell how they. always got “Excellent” in their reports, and the so- called bad boy will relate what he did to the $anitor when he brought a note from the teacher to his father, and altogether, no doubt, it will be an interesting occasion, when old friendships formed half a century ago will be renewed. To those of us who are old enough, leoking back to 1879, when work on this building was begun, is a pleasant thing to do, and the re- ealling of the chief events of that period, such @as the inauguration of Hayes, in 1876, and the « assassination of Garfield, in 1881, are notable events we shall never forget. Indeed, the years behind us are as but yesterday, and the fondest sort of memories cluster around our near in- fancy, when, on cold nights, our dear old tnothers tucked us in our trundle beds, alter Miss Mary Aukward, for thirty years principal of the Peabody School. having had us kneel and say, “Now I lay me ‘down to sleep,” as well as the recalling of the Jove we still carry with us for our dear teachers ‘who taught us our A-B-Cs. Fifty years is not very old for a school build- . and yet a considerable amount of history ‘has been crowded into the last four decades of ‘the life of this city and of this great American ‘Republic as well, and if this old building could talk, no doubt it could tell many interesting ‘gtories regarding those who have received their ‘education here, and who have made their mark in the world and today—maybe in some dis- ‘tant land—dream of the days of their youth in ‘Northeast Washington, and long for the return ‘of those happy, happy days, never to return. EVEN the events of the great American Revo- lution, in which Nathanael Greene took such an active part, and whose statue is in Stanton Park, close to the Peabody School, transpired but one hundred years before this building was erected. And, incidentally, how inspiring must this statue be to the boys and ‘girls who attend this school, toward which the Bronze figure of this noted patriot faces, who, by the way, was one of those Quakers who, ‘they tell us, did not fight! Cornwallis said he ‘was as dangerous as Washington—and Corn- wallis, no doubt, had reason to know, . When the writer visited the Peabody School he stepped over iato the park and copled the Anscription on the stone base; the one on the ‘south side of which reads: “Sadred to the Memory of Nathanael Greene, Esquire, A Native of the State of Rhode Island, who died on th: 19th of June, 1786, Late Major-General in the Service of the United States and Commander of their Army in the Southern Department.” The Gallatin-Barbour-Dale residence, Second and B streets, before which Gen. Ross’ horse was shot from under him. The inscription on the north side states that: “The United States in Congress Assembled in Honor of His Patriotism Valor and Ability Have Erected This Monument.” It seems it would be a good idea to put monu- ments of our heroes close to every schoolhouse in the city. We cannot teach or inculcate too much patriotism to the youth of today who will be the men and women of tomorrow. The recorded history of the Peabody School is not very full. The ground upon which the building stands was owned by the District gov- ernment before the school was placed there It having been purchased for $21,900, and the building was quite likely first opened in the Spring of 1880. J. Ormond Wilson was then superintendent of the Public Schools of the District of Columbia, and in his report to the board of trustees for the year ending June 30, 1880, among other things has this to say: “Since the date of the last report the two new buildings then in course of erection have been finished, and they are now occupied by the schools. The board named the ones in the first division the Force Building, after the late Mr. Peter Force, an honored citizen and mayor of Washington. The other * * * in the third di- vision * * * in honor of the well-known phi- Janthropist.” Mr. Wilson also tells us that the name “Pea- body” was not the first name determined upon, that of L'Enfant having been the first cholce, but that the present name was substi- tuted when forceful objection was made by the citizens because the name of the French engineer was too difficult to pronounce, it being even at that early date facetiously referred to as the “Infant School.” The name “the Stan- ton"” was also suggested but not adopted. It is even said that before it was decided to change the name, the name “Major L’'Enfant” had been cut in the stone intended to be plac.d in the wall of this building, and that, when the change was determined upon, the name of “Peabody” was cuti#in the other side of the stone and so used. Maybe 500 years from now the scientist will be stumped to know the name of the school when he finds it has two names, “Major L'En- fani” and “Peabody.” Il( the original site for this schoo! there were 14,620 feet, and the cost of the building was $38,150, an amount which would not build much of a school bullding nowadays, but build- ing material and labor were not neariy as high then as they are now, nor was the population near so large, it being but about ove-third of the present number of people, or, in all, 177,625. George Peabody, the noted philanthropist, for whom the school was named, got his early start in the dry goods store of Elisha Riggs, in Georgetown, which he entered when he was only about 16 years of age, and during the War of 1812-15 he was not too busy making money to fail to volunteer in his country’s cause, but is said to have done so even twice, and to have rendered valuable service as a soldier so long as the war lasted. He moved to Baltimore, where the firm with which he was connected engaged in business, later opening branches in New York and Philadelphia, In 1829 he be- came head of the firm, and subsequently moved to London, where he engaged in the brokerage business, and where he died on November 4, 1869. Though living abroad for a long time, yet he never forgot the loyalty due his country, and for many years, on Independence day, he gave a banquet to which were invited the American citizens residing there, as well as a number of prominent Englishmen, He was greatly interested in charities and in the cause of education, and the gifts he made in these directions reached the aggregate amount of $7,000,000, an enormous sum at that time. Three of his largest donations in- cluded a gift of $1,250,000 for the establish- ment of the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, $2,500,000 for the construction of lodging- houses in London and $3,500,000 to promotie education in Scuthern States. Surely the city did itself proud when they selected his name for an institution in which he, by the gift of his millions, manifested such a great interest. After his death, his body was brought back to the United States and buried at Danvers (now known as Peabody), Mass., the place of his birth, to which he early gave $200,000 to establish a free library. His life and his virtues were such as any American might well try to emulate. The, teachers listed as being assigned to the Peabody School on May 10, 1881, are: Mrs. Elizabeth Hilton, principal; Miss Amanda L. Grant, subassistant; Miss Mary A. Aukward, Miss Nellie M. Mack, Miss Ida A. Lord, Miss Ella G. Kelly, Miss M. Emma Little, Miss M. Alice McNantz, Miss Mary Bohrer, Miss Susie K. Woodward, Miss Mary K. Dodge, Miss Flor- ence Freyhold and Miss Ida Walker. Other early teachers included Miss Julia Erb, Miss Alice Stromberger, Miss Julia May Kealey, Miss Lavina Hauke, Miss Magdalena Bock, Miss McNantz, Miss Lyda Dalton, Miss Sarah Tindle and Miss May Jenkins. Group of teachers of the Peabody School taken about 1890. IN its entire existence, this school has had but three principals. Mrs. Hilton was the first, she being followed, in 1890, by Miss Mary A. Aukward, who, when the school was first opened, was assigned to the seventh grade, Miss Aukward continued to teach until 1920, when she was retired, being followed by Miss M. Gertrude Young, the present administration principal, and a most delightful woman to meet and converse with. When I called upon Miss Young a few days ago, I met an unusually fine woman. and es- pecially pleasant and obliging. It was indeed a great pleasure to talk with one so greatly interested in her work. The conception that some folks have of the average school “marm,” as being a disagreeable, grouchy and arrogant person, would surely not fit Miss Young, for she is just as kind and considerate as one could be. During the few minutes the writer talked with her he had the pleasure also of seeing her attending to some of her school duties which brought out her great love and kindness for children. One of the teachers brought be- fore her a little boy who looked to be about 6 or T years old, who was suffering with the toothache, and the sympathetic and affectionate way she treated the little fellow, when she . permitted him to go home for treatment, no doubt created an everlasting impression upon the little fellow’s mind. Another little boy had a very slight but suspicious rash breaking out on his face, but after a careful examination this good woman decided it would not be dangerous to keep the boy. in school and he went back to his studies, seemingly pleased to do so after a pat on the shoulder and a kind word from one who knows how to get results from children. It was, in- deed, quite an object illustration of the differ- ence of present-day instruction and the knock- down-drag-out methods still employed to an extent when this old building was first erected. Indeed the writer was feminded of the song he used to sing when himself attending the first grade in this city, the lines of which run: “Speak gently, it is better far to rule by love than fear; “Speak gently, let no harsh word mar the good we might do here.” From 1890 to 1892, the Peabody School was the headquarters of the Eastern High School and it was during this same period that the visiting Grand Army veterans, attending a re- union in this city, of their organization, were assigned gquarters in this building, and only a little over a decade ago, it was made a station for registration for the draft, when our own couniry entered the World War. The Stuart Junior High School weas organized here, as was also the Stanton Park Citizens' Association, and today upward of 30,000 men and women can look back with happy memories to the old Peabody School where they were educated in whole or in part. NO’I‘ only have the pupils of this school been foremost in educational contests, but in athletic and other activities they have always maintained the prestige of Capitol Hill, and today still proudly exhibt the statuary they won some years ago in a voting contest spon- sored by The Star. It is but natural that the Peabody School 4Should be one of the best schools in the Dis- trict, for East Washington—and this particue lar vicinity—was one of the very first educa- tional centers of the new Capital, having had in this neighborhood one of the first two pub- lic schools—the Eastern Academy, which was erected in accordance with the following reso- lution: Resolved, That a sum not exceeding $1,200 be appropriated for building a schoolhouse at the west end of the city and a sum not exceeding $1,000 for building a schoolhouse at the east end of the city. The Eastern Academy was opened on May 19, 1806, when Rev. Robert Elliot of Strasburg, Pa., became its first teacher, Mr. Conroy hav- ing declined to accept the position to which he was elected on February 3, 1806. The cost