Showing posts with label SCHOOL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SCHOOL. Show all posts

Thursday, August 25, 2011

VANDALIZED -- UPPER SILVER CREEK SCHOOL

Upper Silver Creek school. Beautiful aged metal roof.


Great trimmed our sash windows now with a war-zone look

Fresh paint leads me to believe that the school was closed recently?

Upper Silver Creek school -- steps to nowhere


Schools seem especially open to vandalism  --  once they have been vacated that is. Soon a beautiful old structure can become target practice for young folks throwing rocks through the windows, graffiti on interior walls, and slogans painted on large surfaces -- in time it sits there degraded and wounded like a homeless person. 


Where are the caretakers? Do structures that were built with fine design and materials need such insult? Does it not insult the community that used the school?


The school I went to in my elementary grades still stands and is still the glowing red brick building I remember. The junior high building that was new when I started seventh grade is now gone. It was bulldozed to make way for development -- apartments. My former high school has grown in size yet is still a centerpiece for my former small, citified community. 


I do know of several communities that have rehabbed schools for offices, police departments, apartments, community centers, and other useful endeavors. How do some communities make the recycling of old schools work for them while others let the old structures decay and become eyesores?


In a nation of plenty, up to now, why is it that we disregard our history, our buildings, our communities, and our environment? Too immense of a question to answer I guess -- so do we continue  to just walk away for the most part? 



Thursday, August 4, 2011

Monday, January 31, 2011

SCHOOL SEGREGATION: THERE WAS A TIME -- NO LONGER

Middletown School -- Class of 1922
Courtesy of Jesse Ward, Madison County School District
Middletown School was one of many that were segregated in Kentucky until President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which disallowed segregation in schools along with giving rights of equality. 


February is Black History month. Segregation was a part of the history of Madison County, Kentucky where this photo was taken in 1922. Not only was segregation prevavlent in Kentucky it was widespread across the nation. It was a time of complexities that left an indelible mark on our nation. 


This photo was taken when Middletown School was a wooden building. It would later be rebuilt as a brick school as seen in the following photos. 

Middletown School -- Class of 1934-35
Courtesy of Jesse Ward, Madison County School District
Jesse Ward, Madison County School District Historian has compiled old school histories of Madison County for some time now -- they include one room school- houses as well as former segregated schools.I sat down with him to view some of his photos and talk about his findings.

The class members above came with a student teacher list.  Jesse had it copied and placed on a CD with some other great photos for me to keep with some of my research on Madison County. What a great guy.
Class of 1934-35 -- Student Teacher List
Courtesy of Jesse Ward, Madison County School District


The last graduation class of Middleton School.
Courtesy of Jesse Ward, Madison County School District
The 1964 year meant the above students would be phased into the public schools. It took a long time to end this separate but equal charade.