Carey Southwell, the Collections Manager, has put
together a wonderful new exhibit about Golden's Schools.
This work, along with a book about the schools that
Carey is currently writing, is the culmination of many
months of work on her part. The work was funded by a
grant from the Colorado Historical Society.
The exhibit covers the period from 1860,
when Golden built its first public school, to the
present. In addition to Golden's public schools, the
exhibit offers displays about the Colorado School of
Mines and the State Industrial School.
The display cases contain some
interesting artifacts, including an old school desk,
children's clothing, school books, yearbooks, report
cards, graduation programs, a dance card, and of course,
class photos.
It's
also interesting to see the photos of the old North and
South schools. The South School was built in 1873, on
Cheyenne between what are now 13th and 14th Streets. It
quickly became overcrowded, and North school was
constructed and opened in 1880 on Washington and 6th
Street. The dividing line for the two schools was Clear
Creek, with children North of the Creek attending the
new North School.
South School was sold to the School of
Mines in 1936, and used for many more years as their
geophysics building. North School was sold to the County
in 1937, and was used as a location for the ration board
during World War II, as well as housing Jefferson
County's welfare department. Both old school buildings
were torn down in 1965.
A new Golden High School was built at
10th and Washington in 1923. In 1956, a still newer
school was built at the present location on 24th Street,
and the old Golden High School became a Junior High.
That building now houses the Colorado Mountain Club.
Mitchell Elementary School, which relocated to a new
building just this fall, was built on 12th Street in
1937.
The Industrial School was founded in
1881, with the purpose of teaching youthful offenders
useful work skills. It remains in service to this day,
on the property adjacent to the proposed golf course.
Its administration building, which is the old building
visible from Golden Road, was actually one of the
original School of Mines buildings.
The Colorado School of Mines was founded
by the Episcopalian Church in 1868. The church was
unable to sustain the expense for long, so in 1874, the
Colorado Territorial Legislature appropriated funds to
assume the operation of the school. The School of Mines
is the oldest institute of higher education in Colorado.
Carey's upcoming book promises to be
interesting. Among the subjects she covers are
philosophical and legal movements that led up to the
founding of public education in the West. It wasn't
always free and it wasn't always an inalienable right!
The book discusses the role that teachers were expected
to play in the community, and why women were attracted
to the profession.
In
addition to the exhibit and the book, Carey has produced
a traveling trunk show which will be passed around to
elementary schools in the area. The trunk includes items
such as McGuffy readers and spelling books, slates and
slate sticks, vests for boys to wear and aprons for
girls to wear, and lesson plans for teachers to follow.
This should give today's children some idea of what
school was like for their great-grandparents!
This exhibit ties in nicely with Golden
High School's 125th Anniversary, which is being
commemorated this year. Both Carey and long-time museum
supporter MaryAnn Kellogg worked with the committee that
planned the celebration.
The exhibit will run from September 8th
until January, and the book should be published (and
available in the museum gift shop!) in the early Spring
of 1998
