Laying of the Cornerstone of Pelham's New High School in 1909, Now Known as Siwanoy Elementary School

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Not long after the turn of the Twentieth Century, the population of the Town of Pelham began to explode.  In 1900, the population of the Town was 1,571.  In 1905, the population had reached 1,841.  By 1910, the population had grown to 2,998 -- nearly doubling over a ten-year period.  With the expanded population came expanded needs for young scholars in the Town. 

Pelham, however, did not have its own high school.  The Pelham public school system offered only eight grades of study.  It sent its young scholars who wished to continue their education to the high schools of other communities such as Mount Vernon and New Rochelle.  The time was ripe.  The need was great.  The citizens of Pelham and their Board of Education stepped up and created the "Pelham High School, and Siwanoy Grammar School."  The school building they built we know today as Siwanoy Elementary School located at 489 Siwanoy Place in the Village of Pelham Manor.

Undated Postcard View of Pelham High School with Notation: "Pelham

High School, Pelham, N.Y."  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

I have written rather extensively before about the history of Pelham's new high school and grade school opened in 1911.  See Mon., Mar. 10, 2014:  Dedication of Pelham's New High School in 1911, Now Known as Siwanoy Elementary School.  Today's Historic Pelham article, however, focuses on the laying of the cornerstone in 1909.

The cornerstone of the new High School was laid on Saturday, October 23, 1909 during an elaborate and well-attended ceremony centered around placing a copper box time capsule to be opened by future generations of Pelhamites.

The ceremony was attended by Town, Village, and School Board officials as well as citizens and students of all three grade schools in Town:  the old Prospect Hill School (a predecessor to today's Prospect Hill Elementary School), the old Pelham Heights School (a predecessor to today's Colonial Elementary School), and the old Hutchinson School (a predecessor to today's Hutchinson Elementary School) began with a prayer led by the Reverend Lewis G. Leary, Ph. D., Pastor of Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church.  The school children of Pelham next offered a song and were led by Hutchinson School Principal Isaac C. Hill.  School Board President Robert A. Holmes then introduced Judge Charles G. F. Wahle who delivered the keynote address.  (Seventeen years later Judge Wahle delivered a similar address and helped lay the cornerstone of the new Colonial Elementary School in 1926.)

Luckily, The Daily Argus of Mount Vernon printed the substance of Judge Wahle's keynote address that day.  He outlined briefly the history of educating young scholars in New York from the days of New Amsterdam to the present.  He then turned to the ceremonial copper box time capsule to be placed in the cornerstone.  Significantly, he listed in his remarks the contents of the time capsule.  They are:

"Statistics of the fire department, of the town of Pelham, of the villages of Pelham Manor, North Pelham, and Pelham, of St. Catherine's [sic] Church, the Church of the Redeemer, Huguenot Memorial Church, Congregational Church, the Mothers Club of Pelham, the Pelham Village Club, the police departments of the three villages, copies of the by-laws of the board of education of the Union Free School District, of the town of Pelham, reports and school census of the board of education, the contract for the building, copies of current local papers, copies of current New York papers, copies of New York papers containing accounts of the Hudson-Fulton celebration, Masonic statistics, coins, stamps and copy of the program of exercises."

Upon the laying of the cornerstone, the young students and the audience sang "America."  The ceremony then ended with a benediction by Reverend Leary.

Deep within the cornerstone of today's Siwanoy Elementary School is a blackened copper box that continues to contain these relics of a forward-looking day nearly 110 years ago when much of Pelham gathered to celebrate education and its young people.  God only knows when that box will be opened and its contents unveiled.

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"FRONT ELEVATION

SCHOOL HOUSE.  DISTRICT NUMBER 1 OF THE

TOWN OF PELHAM, N.Y."

Source:  CORNER STONE FOR NEW SCHOOL IN TOWN OF

PELHAM, IS LAID, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Oct. 26, 1909,

p. 11, cols. 1-2.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"CORNER STONE FOR NEW SCHOOL IN TOWN OF PELHAM, IS LAID.
-----

Pelham Manor, Oct. 26 -- With impressive and interesting exercises the corner stone of the high school building was laid Saturday afternoon the presence of a large gathering of people and pupils from the three schools of the town.  An instructive and inspiring address was delivered by Judge Wahle.

The exercises opened with prayer by the Rev. Lewis G. Leary, Ph. D., after which there was a song by the pupils of the public schools in charge of Principal I. C. Hill.  President Robert A. Holmes, of the board of education, then introduced Judge Wahle.

After referring to the early customs of laying corner stones for institutions Judge Wahle said in part:  'so we have come here this afternoon with our children to set this corner stone realizing the fact that this the corner stone of the public school is the corner stone of our nation.  The beginnings of the free common school reach back to the earliest Colonial times.  In New England, at least, the predominant motive for promoting education was religious rather than political.  The elementary school of that period quickly merged into the academy or secondary school, where the promising lads were prepared for college.  However, the idea, that the early education should be free and in considerable degree compulsory upon all, found early expression.

'The general court of Massachusetts in 1642 enjoined upon town authorities the duty of seeing that all children acquired at least the rudiments of an education.  The order even went so far as to require the removal of children from those parents who persisted in bringing up their offspring in ignorance.  The selectmen of every town were further required to have a vigilant eye over their brethren and neighbors, to see that none of them shall suffer so much barbarism in any of their families, as not to endeavor to teach, by themselves or others, their children and apprentices, so much learning as may enable them perfectly to reach the English tongue and obtain a knowledge of the capital laws; upon penalty of 20 shillings for each neglect therein.  In 1635 Boston made public provision for the support of a school.  In 1638 New Haven set up a school under Ezekiel Cheever, who was paid out of the common stock of the town.  Rhode Island established a public school at Newport in 1640 and Providence one, 20 years later.  In 1633 the first Dutch school master arrived at Manhattan.  By 1650 the 800 inhabitants of New Amsterdam paid their schoolmasters regularly from the public treasury.  The pay was doubtless meagre enough, but the principle of free public education was in active operation.

More or less rudimentary beginnings of public education are found in the older colonies as in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas.  In the South, however, the free school idea was not so hospitably received as in New England and in New York.  An oft quoted expression by Governor Berkeley of Virginia may be cited.  When the English commissioners of foreign plantations asked what course was taken in Virginia for instructing the people in the Christian religion, Governor Berkeley replied:  'the same that is taken in England out of towns, every man according to his ability of instructing his children'  He also added:  'I thank God there are no free schools or printing presses, and I hope that we shall not have them, these three hundred years, for learning has brought disobedience and heresy and sects into the world and printing has divulged them and libels against the best of governments; God keep us from both.  So far as Virginia and the remainder of the South was concerned good Governor Berkeley had his wish for it was not until after the Civil War that that section of the United States was supplied with anything like a system of free public schools.

'I mention these facts because you can draw the dividing line between those parts of the country where the public schools were first started in this country and that part where the public schools were not tolerated.

'So we come to this ceremony today.  The box which you see there will vanish.  We are told that in ancient days when the important ceremonies of laying corner stones were held, molten gold and silver were poured upon the boxes containing the valuable records and votive offerings.  So we place in this box our votive offering.  But what you put in their will some day vanish.  The papers will rot; the bronze will tarnish and the gold and silver will blacken.  Future nations will not be able to read what is in there.  But that which we plant in the hearts of our children that to which we make them inheritance, future fathers and mothers yet unborn, that will have its influence in the centuries to come.'

The laying of the corner stone then occurred and Clerk Kneeland S. Durham placed in the opening in the rock the copper box, the inventory of the contents being as follows:  Statistics of the fire department, of the town of Pelham, of the villages of Pelham Manor, North Pelham, and Pelham, of St. Catherine's [sic] Church, the Church of the Redeemer, Huguenot Memorial Church, Congregational Church, the Mothers Club of Pelham, the Pelham Village Club, the police departments of the three villages, copies of the by-laws of the board of education of the Union Free School District, of the town of Pelham, reports and school census of the board of education, the contract for the building, copies of current local papers, copies of current New York papers, copies of New York papers containing accounts of the Hudson-Fulton celebration, Masonic statistics, coins, stamps and copy of the program of exercises.

Following the laying of the corner stone the school pupils and audience sang 'America,' after which the benediction was pronounced by Rev. Leary.

The new high and graded school building will be one of the most attractive structures of its kind in Westchester county when completed.  It will stand on high ground overlooking Witherbee avenue and will be reached by a sloping walk from the street on either side of which will be a beautiful lawn.  The building will be 115 feet long and 60 feet 6 inches in width; two and a half stories high and will contain nine class rooms and an assembly hall which will seat several hundred people.  The main entrance for the public will face the street and there will be entrances for the school children on either side.  The building will be of stone foundation, brick and the roof will be slate with two cupolas.  The structure will be graced with large attractive windows, the upper portions of which will be oval, providing plenty of light for the scholars.

On the platform Saturday were Robert A. Holms, the president of the board of education; Judge Wahle the speaker of the day; the Rev. Mr. Leary, James F. Secor, School Trustee Willard P. Brown; School Trustee Henry L. Rupert; School Trustee H. Elliott Coe; Clerk, Durham and Contractor Dominick Smith, who is erecting the building.

The building committee is composed as follows:  James F. Secor, chairman; Trustees Holmes, Francis, Rupert and Seymour.  The board of education is as follows:  Robert F. Holmes, President; James F. Secor, Lewis W. Francis, Willard P. Brown, Walter A. Seymour, Hugh Herndon, Henry L. Rupert, H. Elliott Coe, Charles T. Johnston."

Source:  CORNER STONE FOR NEW SCHOOL IN TOWN OF PELHAM, IS LAID, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Oct. 26, 1909, p. 11, cols. 1-2.

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Pelham Voted in 1908 to Build its First Public High School, Now Known as Siwanoy Elementary School

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Not long after the turn of the Twentieth Century, the population of the Town of Pelham began to explode.  In 1900, the population of the Town was 1,571.  In 1905, the population had reached 1,841.  By 1910, the population had grown to 2,998 -- nearly doubling over a ten-year period.  With the expanded population came expanded needs for facilities to service young scholars in the Town. 

Pelham, however, did not have its own public high school.  The Pelham public school system offered only eight grades of study.  Pelham sent its young scholars who wished to continue their education to the high schools of other communities such as Mount Vernon and New Rochelle. 

The time was ripe.  The need was great.  The citizens of Pelham and their Board of Education stepped up and created the "Pelham High School, and Siwanoy Grammar School."  The new facility was dedicated in 1911.  The school building they built we know today as Siwanoy Elementary School located at 489 Siwanoy Place in the Village of Pelham Manor.

Undated Postcard View of "Pelham High School, Pelham, N.Y."

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The decision to build a new school, including how to pay for it and where to locate it, was not easy.  Moreover, when the process began, it was not even clear that the building would be dedicated as a high school.  Rather, Pelham Manor and Pelham Heights parents were furious that their elementary schools were overcrowded and outdated and wanted something done about it.  I have written before about the process of opening the new school we now know as Siwanoy Elementary School.  See Mon., Mar. 10, 2014:  Dedication of Pelham's New High School in 1911, Now Known as Siwanoy Elementary School.

A series of events pushed the matter to the fore in 1908.  First, of course, was serious overcrowding in Pelham Manor and Pelham Heights schools (see Mar. 10, 2014 article cited above).  Second, earlier in the year, on Wednesday, March 11, 1908, a terrible fire in an old wooden public school house in North Collinwood, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland) killed nearly 170 young school children.  The terrible tragedy attracted attention throughout the nation and was even referenced during the debates in Pelham about the need to build a new school and close the old wooden schoolhouse in Pelham Heights.  Pelham parents considered the old Pelham Heights school building to be a firetrap.

In addition, once the School Board began considering the need to build a new school building, it realized that it might actually save some money (in annual operating expenses) by building a structure that could house not only elementary students, but also high school students.  Because Pelham had no high school at the time, Pelham students who wanted to continue their studies after the eighth grade had to attend high schools in Mount Vernon or New Rochelle.  The Pelham school district had to make expensive tuition payments to such high schools for each student who chose to attend.  In 1908, the School Board was projecting that the expense would continue to grow as an additional ten students each year were projected to attend high school.

To make matters more pressing, in 1908, Mount Vernon High School announced that it no longer had the capacity to accept any additional high school students from Pelham.  This meant that future Pelham high schoolers would have to attend New Rochelle High School -- a much less convenient and more distant school for most Pelham families

On the evening of August 4, 1908, the Pelham school district held its annual meeting.  Three school board trustee positions were up for election and there was a plan to offer a resolution authorizing the board to spend $66,000 to build a new schoolhouse in Pelham Manor.  The turnout was massive.  Over three hundred voters attended the meeting.

After the election of three new trustees, attendees began a debate regarding whether to build a new schoolhouse and, if so, whether it should be located where today's Siwanoy Elementary School stands.  The debate focused on the fact that the site had frontage on Pelhamdale Avenue where trolley cars passed throughout the day and night.  Parents felt the trolley cars presented an unreasonable danger to school children.  Proponents of the plan argued that they "did not think that because it was located on the trolley line should cause the parents much concern, that it would be possible to locate a school for the two villages where the children would not have to cross the tracks and that the school would be five feet above the road, and that the grounds would be fenced in and that the children could be made to leave the school by the back door and in that way have plenty of time to give vent to some of their enthusiasm so they would not rush across the tracks."

Former Congressman Benjamin L. Fairchild opposed the site selected by the School Board.  He was in favor of a site for an elementary school bounded by Highbrook, Witherbee and Monterey Avenues.  If, however, the School Board decided to include a high school in the building, he favored a location bounded by Pelham Street on the north and east, and Manor Lane on the north and west.  In an effort to block the School Board's proposal, Fairchild proposed a resolution providing, among other things, as follows: 

"Resolved, that it is the sense of this meeting that a site for a school building be selected which shall not abut upon any street containing a trolley line and that the matter of a school site for a combination school for Pelham Heights and Pelham Manor is hereby referred back to the school board, with the request that they arrange either for the site bounded by Highbrook and Witherbee avenues on the west and by Monterey avenue on the south and east, or the site bounded by Pelham street on the east and Manor lane on the north and west."

The resolution was adopted by a large majority in attendance at the meeting.  A procedural battle, however, promptly broke out over how the resolution was presented and whether a previous resolution could be decided.  Based on the procedural issue, the meeting was abruptly adjourned to the consternation of many attendees.  No School Board vote was held on whether to purchase the property and build a new schoolhouse.

Throughout autumn of that year, the School Board continued its efforts to build some consensus on buying property and building a schoolhouse where today's Siwanoy School is located.  Finally, on November 13, 1908, the School Board called a special meeting to vote on the matters.

This time only half as many voters attended the meeting (barely more than 150).  After members of the School Board made a presentation on the financials that would underlie the purchase and construction of the school at the site the Board favored, a new safety issue arose.

At that time, the tracks of the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway had not been laid.  For years there had been debate and competing proposals to run two different railroad lines through Pelham -- one through a portion of Pelham Manor and another through the Village of North Pelham.  One early proposal provided that a rail line would enter Pelham Manor near today's Iden Avenue and cut across to New Rochelle passing right by the site selected by the School Board for the new school.  There was extensive discussion over the fact that the early proposal to build a line through Pelham Manor had been all but abandoned and that the only railroad likely to be built in the near future would pass through North Pelham.  The School Board promised to require, if a railroad passed nearby, the construction of a massive fence that could not be climbed by the school children to keep them away from the tracks.  

That night a proposition to authorize the School Board to purchase a site for a new school was passed by a vote of 105 to 53.  A separate proposition to build a new school building passed by a vote of 102 to 49.  The purchase of the site and the erection of the school were expected to cost $70,000 requiring issuance of bonds.

Less than a week later at a regular meeting of the School Board, a local engineer reported that he had obtained formal confirmation that no railroad line would be built through Pelham Manor -- only the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway through North Pelham.  The die was cast.  Within a short time, the School Board went through with its plans to buy the site, build the new structure and open both an elementary school and high school in the new building.

To assuage parental concerns over the trolley cars on Pelhamdale Avenue, however, the School Board decided to place the school far back from the roadway.  Once the school opened, students were also dismissed from the back of the school on the side away from Pelhamdale Avenue so young students would not run giddily into the path of a trolley car as they departed school each day.
 
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Below is the text of a number of newspaper articles that form the basis of today's Historic Pelham article.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"EXCITEMENT AT PELHAM ELECTION
-----

North Pelham, Aug. 5.  --  The most exciting school meeting that has been witnessed in this town in twenty years, was held last night in the Pelham Heights schoolhouse.  The fact that three new trustees were to be elected and a resolution authorizing the board of education to expend $66,000 for the erection of a new school house in Pelham Manor brought out over 300 voters.  North Pelham, with the assistance of some of the voters of Pelham and Pelham Manor, so controlled the meeting, that they easily elected their nominees, H. Elliott Coe and C. T. Johnson.  A total of 316 votes was cast of which number Mr. Coe received 158 votes; C. T. Johnson, 93, and Seth T. Lyman, 65.  Hugh Herndon was unanimously elected to succeed Willis E. Bacheller.

The resolution to purchase land in Pelham Manor and erect a new school building to cost $66,000, caused considerable discussion, and Ben L. Fairchild presented a resolution, a substitution for the original resolution, which referred the original resolution back to the board.  This resolution was adopted by a large majority and means that the erection of a new school building will be considered at another meeting.  

At the conclusion of the meeting a number of the friends of George Bowden, one of the outgoing trustees, from North Pelham, tendered him a reception in Pelham hall [the main building of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls on the Esplanade], where Mr. Bowden was given a vote of thanks for his efforts in behalf of his constituents.  Mr. Bowden would not allow his name to be used again for re-election, owing to pressure of business.

The meeting was called to order at 8:30 o'clock by President James F. Secor, who acted as chairman.  The secretary of the meeting was Kneeland S. Durham, clerk of the board; Peter Vander Roest and Jacob A. Heisser were appointed tellers.

After the minutes of the last annual meeting were read and approved, the annual budget which called for the expenditure of $18,030 for school purposes, was adopted, each item being voted on separately.  Then came the election of three trustees in place of Willis E. Bacheller, of Pelham Heights; George Bowden and Seth T. Lyman, or North Pelham.

Five nominations were made, as follows:  North Pelham H. Elliott Coe, nominated by Mr. Smith, seconded by Eugene Lyon; Henry Kavanagh, nominated by Mr. O'Donnell, seconded by John Cottrell; Charles T. Johnson, nominated by David Lyon, seconded by John Cottrell; Seth T. Lyman, nominated by Lewis W. Francis, seconded by John T. Logan.  Pelham Heights, Hugh Herndon, nominated by W. L. Jaques, Jr., seconded by Elbert H. Kingsland.

On motion of Robert A. Holmes, the secretary was instructed to cast one ballot for the election of Hugh Herndon, of Pelham Heights.

The meeting then proceeded to ballot for the election of the two trustees in place of George Bowden and Seth T. Lyman.  Henry Kavanagh declined to allow his name to be used.  His action left H. Elliott Coe, Charles T. Johnson and Seth T. Lyman.  After the ballots had been cast and the votes counted, the tellers announced the result of the election as follows:  H. Elliott Coe, 158; C. T. Johnson, 93; Seth T. Lyman, 65.  Mr. Coe and Mr. Johnson were declared elected trustees, amid applause.

While the ballots were being counted and after the result was announced, the meeting discussed the advisability of erecting a new school building for Pelham and Pelham Manor.  Trustee Henry L. Rupert said in part:

'It takes sometimes a public calamity to awaken the public conscience.  I have in mind that terrible catastrophe in that Ohio town last winter when scores of school children perished in the flames.  We have in this locality a school house that is a perfect tinder box.  A spark of fire would ignite that building so quick that the escape of many of the school children from that place would be an impossibility.  Many children would be burned to death and we need a new school in Pelham Manor.'

He said that the Mount Vernon board had informed this board that it could take no more children from Pelham.  Mr. Rupert said that this action meant that the Pelham children would have to attend the New Rochelle high school which he said was not easily accessible, that the location selected by the board was central and that the board was practicing economy in the matter of the erection of the new school.

After Clerk Durham read the resolution relating to the purchase of land in Pelham Manor, Trustee Robert A. Holmes said that it would be next to criminal for the board of education to attempt at present to sell either the land in Pelham and Pelham Manor on which the present school buildings are located on account of the inactivity of the real estate market.  It would be much better to wait until later in the year; that the location selected by the board for the new school was the best and most available one in the vicinity.  He did not think that because it was located on the trolley line should cause the parents much concern, that it would be possible to locate a school for the two villages where the children would not have to cross the tracks and that the school would be five feet above the road, and that the grounds would be fenced in and that the children could be made to leave the school by the back door and in that way have plenty of time to give vent to some of their enthusiasm so they would not rush across the tracks.

One of the property owners wanted to know what objection was to the present site in Pelham Heights.  Trustee Holmes replied that the site was not centrally located; not easily accessible that it was not fair to ask the Pelham Manor residents to send their children so far and that it was not healthy.  The board had lost one of its best teachers because of ill health caused by the poor location.

Trustee Lewis W. Francis then presented facts showing that by expending $66,000 for the purchase of land and the erection of the new school, the district would save $856 a year.  He said that the fact might seem ridiculous on the face of it but it was nevertheless so.

Ben L. Fairchild said that he was in favor of a new school for Pelham Manor, but was opposed to the site on the ground that the lives of children would be constantly endangered by the trolley cars.  The parents of a number of the scholars had spoken to him about these dangers.  He was in favor of a site bounded by Highbrook, Witherbee and Monterey avenues, for the equal benefit of Pelham and Pelham Manor scholars, but if the board was contemplating installing of a high school department, he said he was in favor of a location bounded by Pelham street on the north and east, and Manor lane on the north and west.  By such an arrangement there would be a direct line of communication with the North Pelham school, and the school would be centrally located for all three villages.

The following resolution was then presented by Mr. Fairchild and adopted by a large majority:  'Resolved, that it is the sense of this meeting that a site for a school building be selected which shall not abut upon any street containing a trolley line and that the matter of a school site for a combination school for Pelham Heights and Pelham Manor is hereby referred back to the school board, with the request that they arrange either for the site bounded by Highbrook and Witherbee avenues on the west and by Monterey avenue on the south and east, or the site bounded by Pelham street on the east and Manor lane on the north and west.

'Be it further resolved, that the school board be requested in the event that they decide in favor of the last above mentioned site to also ascertain what arrangements can be made to lay out and continue a street westerly from Manor lane to Wolf's lane or to the Esplanade in the vicinity of the connection of Wolf's lane and the Esplanade.

'Be it further resolved that the school board be requested, when they have arranged for either one of the two foregoing sites to call a special meeting in accordance with law for the purpose of taking action upon such a site.'

Trustee Rupert after the resolution was read, and President Secor ruled that it could be voted on, demanded that a vote by ayes and noes be taken.  This vote was first given viva voce.  But Mr. Rupert said that he wanted the response of each voter present, individually.  This was done and it was twenty minutes before the task was completed.

Then President Secor started to ask for a vote on the original resolution, when he was informed by Mr. Fairchild that there was no need of doing this, in view of the fact that the resolution which had just been passed was a substitution for the original resolution.  Trustee Rupert said that he understood that it was an amendment and that for that reason he had demanded a vote in the manner that he did.  Mr. Fairchild said that it was not an amendment.  In spite of Mr. Fairchild's declaration, there were those in the room who were certain that he presented the resolution to the meeting as an amendment.

As the resolution which Mr. Fairchild presented was a substitution, no action could be taken on the original resolution and the meeting adjourned before the voters had hardly realized what had taken place."

Source:  EXCITEMENT AT PELHAM ELECTION, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Aug. 5, 1908, p. 3, cols. 3-4.  

"BUILD NEW SCHOOL IN PELHAM NOW
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North Pelham, Nov. 14.  --  By overwhelming majorities, the propositions to purchase land and to erect a new school building in Pelham Manor for the villages of Pelham and Pelham Manor, were passed at a special school meeting last night, in the Pelham Heights schoolhouse.  The proposition to purchase a site was passed by a vote of 105 to 53, while that to build a new school building went through by a vote of 102 to 49.  The purchase of the site and the erection of the school will cost $70,000.

The meeting was called to order by President Robert A. Holmes, of the board of education, who said in part:  'All we want is a square deal in this matter.  The laws of nature take no account of such artificial lines as political boundaries.  It is just as necessary for the villages of Pelham and Pelham Manor to have a new school, as it is for the village of North Pelham.  We cannot afford to have better facilities for one section of the town than another.  We are asking for good facilities here, as North Pelham has been enjoying for a number of years.

'The financial end of this question should be the least of all to be considered.  So far as the board of education is able to figure, the present plan should reduce expenses in the town.  This idea has been under consideration for two years, and has been discussed at public meetings in the three schools in the town.'

Trustee Lewis W. Francis gave some figures showing how the erection of the new school would be less expensive than the present plan.  He said that at the present time there were six teachers in the two schools of Pelham and Pelham Manor, which are paid in salaries $4,500 a year.  According to the proposed plan in the consolidated school, there would be employed eight teachers, who would be paid salaries amounting to $6,400.  The interest on the bond issue is now $520.  It would be the same under the other plan.  The interest on the addition to the Pelham Manor school would be $800 a year.  The interest on the new plan would be $2,600.  The town is now paying for high school tuition $3,300, and the high school scholars are gaining at the rate of ten a year.

John Butler, of Pelham Heights, said that too much attention was being paid in the country to higher education.  He favored a plan of manual training and vocational training and moved that a committee be appointed to take the matter p, but his motion was not seconded.

It was then moved by John F. Fairchild that the board of education be authorized to issue bonds for $45,000 for the purpose of purchasing a plot of land as designated in proposition No. 4.  Trustee James F. Secor moved to amend the resolution by substituting in place of it, proposition No. 2.  

Just previous to the putting of this motion, Mr. Heath wanted to know if the tracks of the New York, Westchester and Boston railroad would not pass near the site.  Mr. Fairchild then gave some history of the New York, Port Chester and Boston, and the New York, Westchester and Boston railroads.  He said, that according to the original plan of the latter, the road would enter Pelham Manor through the Iden property and go through the business section of New Rochelle, while the Port Chester road would go through Mount Vernon about where the Columbus avenue station is located and then through North Pelham, by the way of Third street, into the sparsely built section of Westchester road were operating under a franchise granted some years ago, while the Port Chester road was operating under a new franchise.  The two roads fought each other.  Then the New Haven road bought out the control of both roads.

Mr. Fairchild further said that the route of the Westchester road had been practically abandoned as far as he could learn from an unofficial source.  He continued, 'I doubt if the railroad would ever be constructed along the route of the New York and Westchester railroad in Pelham Manor.  The site for the new school in either proposition 2 or 4, is about in the center of the town.  It is about as near geographically as it could be.  It is equally accessible to all parties.  To my mind, the purchase of the entire block is the best thing for the town.'

In answer to other questions by Mr. Heath, Mr. Fairchild said that the center of the Westchester road would be about 100 feet from the nearest point of the school plot.  Mr. Heath seemed to think that such a site would be dangerous for the children.  Mr. Secor said that Mr. Heath could depend on the village of Pelham Manor to see to it that the Westchester road would construct its tracks in such a way that the children would be protected and would be in no danger at all.  

'The children can climb the fences.' Mr. Heath said.

'Well, we will make them build a fence so high that they won't be able to climb it,' Mr. Secor said.  (Laughter).

Charles Gillette said that he happened to be a member of the village board of Pelham Manor when the trustees granted a franchise to the Westchester road to go through the village ,that the village trustees were assured that the cut would be sufficiently and properly protected.  He said that the chances of the road going through the village of Pelham Manor were now remote, indeed.'

Then the vote was taken, as stated above."

Source:  BUILD NEW SCHOOL IN PELHAM NOW, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Nov. 14, 1908, p. 3, col. 2.  

"NO ROUTE THROUGH PELHAM
-----

That the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway has abandoned its proposed route through the village of Pelham Manor is certain, according to statements made by Engineer Fairchild [i.e., John F. Fairchild] at the school meeting in Pelham Friday night.

The question was brought up if the proposed route of the New York, Westchester and Boston railroad would not interfere with the location of the new school.  It was shown that since the New Haven road had purchased both the Port Chester and Westchester roads, that the proposed route of the Westchester would in all probability be abandoned.  This information was the first of its kind that has come to the notice of the public, and was somewhat surprising in nature, in view of the fact that it was only two years ago that the village trustees of Pelham Manor had granted a franchise to the Westchester to construct its road through the village.  

Mr. Fairchild said that in his opinion the New Haven road would not operate its road at all along the route as proposed by the Westchester through Pelham Manor, but that it would follow a route near that planned by the Port Chester road.  The road would not extend farther north than the North Columbus avenue station, Mount Vernon.  The nearest point of the new road to Pelham Manor will be at Sixth street and Fulton avenue, Mount Vernon.  The road will then continue on north near the water tower and then to White Plains.  The New Rochelle branch will extend through the village of North Pelham, about where the houses formerly occupied and owned by Dominick Smith now stand."

Source:  NO ROUTE THROUGH PELHAM, New Rochelle Pioneer, Nov. 21, 1908, Vol. 50, No. 34, p. 3, col. 4.  

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Should the Siwanoy Elementary School Should Be Renamed?

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Provocative title?

This article, of course, is not a serious call to change the names of our beloved Siwanoy Elementary School, or the original Siwanoy High School, or Siwanoy Place, or Siwanoy Country Club, or the Siwanoy Trail, or the many other regional references to "Siwanoy."  Such references have been an historic part of our popular culture for more than 150 years.  But, there is an important teaching moment for our students (particularly those at Siwanoy Elementary School) to help them understand that critical thinking requires us to question what we are taught; to ask for the evidence; and, to assess it on our own.  

I have argued for many  years that during the early to mid-19th century or even earlier, the term "Siwanoy" mistakenly emerged as an erroneous short-hand reference to local Native Americans who did not refer to themselves, and were not referred to by others, by any such name.  During the last sixteen years, after reviewing thousands and thousands of colonial documents and document translations, I have been unable to locate a single instance including a reference to any individual or a specific group of individuals as "Siwanoys."  I have written about this before.  See, e.g., Wed., Jan. 29, 2014:  There Were No Native Americans Known as Siwanoys.  

More and more experts and specialists independently have reached the same conclusion that my research has suggested.  There is nothing to be suggested by this other than the fact that quite a number of those who study the issue have begun to reach the same conclusion.  There was not a local Native American group that recognized itself (or that was recognized by others) as "Siwanoys."

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog quotes one portion of a substantial footnote in a recently-published study by Robert S. Grumet, an expert on the Munsees who populated today's Pelham and the surrounding region (and beyond).   Grumet indicates that the term "Siwanoy" as among those that are yet "another linguistic fossil that may be put to rest here."  According to Grumet:

"References to Southern Indians fill colonial records.  Siwanoys are perhaps the best known 'southerners' among people interested in the original Indians of greater New York.  Although Buckland (2002:65-67) equates Siwanoy with sewan making, most linguists regard the name as a form of the Eastern Algonquian word for southerner.  Contemporary documents tend to support this finding.  In 1655, for example, Van der Donck (in DONCK:92) listed Savanoo as the language of what he called Southern Nations and featured Siwanoy just inland from Long Island Sound on Visscher's 1655 revision (the name first appeared on the 1651 map) accompanying the second edition of his book printed in 1656.  Siwanoy appears in the same general locale in nearly every subsequent version of the map.  Despite this, no known colonial chronicle uses the term Siwanoy to identify a particular individual or community.  

The widespread acceptance of Siwanoy as the proper name for the original inhabitants of the mainland from Hellgate to Norwalk may like the Wappinger Confederacy, be traced to Ruttenber's writings.  Ruttenber (1872:81-82) largely relied on the name's position on the Jansson-Visscher maps to identify Siwanoy as a cover term for all Indians living along the western reaches of the mainland along Long Island Sound.  Inspired by Morgan's pioneering social and kinship analyses, Ruttenber used totemic devices to identify and link the variously named individuals and communities in the area.  Although Ruttenber's innovative linkages of people and totems remains intriguing, his assertion that Siwanoy was the name they used to identify their nation has not stood the test of time.

A look at colonial records shows that the word Siwanoy first appeared in written form on Block's 1614 map as Sywanois.  Block placed Sywanois in northeastern Massachusetts and mentioned Siuanoe maquaas in a note identifying Susquehan- [Page 330 / Page 331] nocks as southern Mohawks in IMI 2:c.pl.23.  Despite records documenting nearly continual warfare between both nations throughout much of the 1600s, Susquehannocks and Mohawks frequently acknowledged that their two peoples had a common origin.  Evidently drawing from Block, De Laet (in NNN:44 and 53) was the first writer to use the name, in prose, placing Siwanois along Long Island Sound and numbering Sauwanoos among nations living near the South (Delaware) River.  Sanawanoock, a variant of the latter term, was fixed in the middle of present-day New Jersey on two globes manufactured in the Netherlands during the 1620s (IMI2:c.pl.30).  Writing in 1628, De Rasiere (in NNN:103) situated Souwenos on Long Island, writing 'in some places it is from three to four leagues broad, and it has several creeks and bays, where many Indians dwell, who support themselves by planting maize and making sewan [wampum], and who are called Souwenos and Sinnecox [Shinnecocks]. . . . The tribes are held in subjection by, and are tributary to, the Pyquans [Pequots].'

Siwanoy is not the only community identified by its directions in early records.  Most notably, Shawnee also means Southerner.  Wampanoag and Abenaki are variously translated as 'easterner' and more poetically as 'dawnlander.'  Native New Yorkers often used variants of the Delaware word wpanow when referring to Indians from New England as Eastern Indians (Goddard 1971:19).  Determining what a writer meant when referring to Eastern Indians is often difficult.  It is hard, for example, to determine exactly just who De Rasiere (in NNN:103) was talking about when he referred to Wappenos in 1628.  Contemporary references to Wappenos, such as De Laet's reference to people variously identified as Wapenocks and Wapanoos at Narragansett Bay on Block's map (both in NNN:42-43), evidently refer to Indians later known as Wampanoags.  De Rasiere's observation that those not driven off by Wappenos 'for the most part have died' provides a further clue.  Epidemics that ravaged New England Indian communities from 1616 to 1619 (Spiess and Spiess 1987) and again from 1631 to 1634 are not known to have spread to Munsee country.  Just as the tidal Hudson today serves as a boundary line separating many northern and southern plant and animal species, it may also have been a barrier to epidemic contagion.  If this was the case, and if De Rasiere was talking about Indians living not just on but east of northern Manhattan, these factors may support identification of Wappenos as Wampanoags in particular or as Eastern Indians in general.  Van der Donck in DONCK:92 used Wappanoos as a general name for Eastern Indians in the same way he used Minqua to identify all Iroquois-speaking nations.  Wappinger sachem Nimham II's 1762 self-identification as 'a River Indian of the tribe of the Wappinoes, which tribe was the ancient inhabitants of the [lower] eastern shore of Hudson's River (see below) shows how similarly spelled names can be used to identify different communities.

The term Norther Indian was often applied by the people of Munsee country and those colonizing their lands to Mahicans and their closely related friends and relatives living along the northern New England-southern Canadian borderlands.  People living in the Hudson Valley identified Unamis, Susquehannocks, and Native people sometimes called Virginians as Southern Indians.  Indians from the remote [Page 331 / Page 332] interior were called Far Indians.  New Amsterdam colonists began using the term North River to identify the Hudson after 1640 (earlier voyagers called it River of the Mountains, Manhattan River, or Mauritius River).  The Delaware River was known as the South River throughout the era of Dutch colonization.  The name of the estuary christened East River by the Dutch endures to the present day.

These examples show how both Indians and colonists in the Hudson Valley used three of the four cardinal directions to identify people and rivers.  Neither people used west for the same purpose, preferring instead to refer to lands in that direction as Far country or as territories of particular peoples like Ottawas, Ojibwas, and Miamis.  This may be attributable among Munsees to beliefs that departed souls travel westward (see De Rasiere in NNN:86 for the earliest known reference to Munsee beliefs concerning the western direction).  No similar belief among settlers who moved among them explains the absence of references to a western river or nation in their documents.

Virginian is another linguistic fossil that may be put to rest here.  Although early European writers sometimes referred to America as Virginia, only one documentary reference refers to Indian sellers of land in Munsee country as Virginians.  This reference appears in the earliest known English transcription of the November 22, 1630, deed to land around Newark Bay (in Westbrook and Van Ingen 1841:14) and evidently reproduced in the much-used citation published in NYCD 13:2-3.  The absence of the term in the most recent transcription of the original deed document (in LP:3-4) indicates that the term Virginian was added by its original transcriber and repeated by those using his transcription."

Source:  Grumet, Robert S., The Munsee Indians:  A History, pp. 330-32 n.15 (Norman, OK:  University of Oklahoma Press, 2009) (Notes to Pages 73-75, including this quoted Endnote 15).

In short, Grumet believes that the reference "Siwanoy" was merely an example of a reference to a cardinal direction to identify people.  It was used to reference Indians located to the south -- i.e., southerners.  A rather crude analogy would be a New Yorker today who says "poor southerners have had to suffer through a particularly hot and humid summer this year" when referring broadly to Americans who live below the Mason-Dixon Line.  Like I, he is struck by the lack of any colonial documents yet identified use the term Siwanoy "to identify a particular individual or community."  He traces the mistaken use of Siwanoy to apply to a specific group of Native Americans to writings published by Ruttenber in 1872.  Ruttenber, however, likely was aware of Robert Bolton's assertions published in the first edition of his History of Westchester County in 1848 stating that Native Americans living along Long Island Sound in today's Northeastern Bronx and Westchester County were called "Siwanoys."

Surveying all the evidence, Grumet concludes succinctly that the "assertion that Siwanoy was the name they used to identify their nation has not stood the test of time."  

Somehow, however, "Wiechquaeskeck Elementary School" just doesn't have the resounding ring to it that "Siwanoy Elementary School" does . . . . . . 

Siwanoy Elementary School in the Village of Pelham Manor.

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Dedication of Pelham's New High School in 1911, Now Known as Siwanoy Elementary School

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Not long after the turn of the Twentieth Century, the population of the Town of Pelham began to explode.  In 1900, the population of the Town was 1,571.  In 1905, the population had reached 1,841.  By 1910, the population had grown to 2,998 -- nearly doubling over a ten-year period.  With the expanded population came expanded needs for young scholars in the Town.

Pelham, however, did not have its own high school.  The Pelham public school system offered only eight grades of study.  It sent its young scholars who wished to continue their education to the high schools of other communities such as Mount Vernon and New Rochelle.  The time was ripe.  The need was great.  The citizens of Pelham and their Board of Education stepped up and created the "Pelham High School, and Siwanoy Grammar School."  The school building they built we know today as Siwanoy Elementary School located at 489 Siwanoy Place in the Village of Pelham Manor.  

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog sets forth a brief history of the efforts to develop, design and open the new high school.  I have included as "research notes" at the end of this posting transcriptions of various articles used as sources in preparing this posting.  

Undated Post Card View of Pelham High School

with Notation:  "Pelham High School, Pelham, N.Y."

As the population of the Town of Pelham burgeoned in the first decade of the Twentieth Century, the Board of Education realized that an additional public school facility capable of housing high school classes was needed.  On August 11, 1908, the Board of Education passed a resolution calling for a November 13 vote by taxpayers on a proposition to purchase one of three possible sites and to issue bonds to pay for the land and erection of a high school building.

Pelham taxpayers approved the proposition and authorized their Board of Education to purchase the site on which the school no stands and to issue $70,000.00 in bonds ($20,000.00 to pay for the land and $50,000.00 for the building).  The Board promptly acquired the land and began working toward construction of the building overseen principally by Board member James F. Secor who served as chairman of the Board's "Building Committee."

With the guidance of Mr. Secor and his committee, the Board engaged the architectural firm of York & Sawyer to design the structure.  Edward York (1863-1928) and Philip Sawyer (1868-1949) both trained with the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White and established their own firm in 1898.  They were known as specialists in the design of banks and hospitals.  

Among the many structures they designed were the New-York Historical Society, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (33 Liberty Street in the Financial District), the U.S. Department of Commerce in Federal Triangle (Washington, D.C.), the Brick Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, the Pershing Square Building, 860 Park Avenue, Rockefeller Hall of Vassar College, American Security and Trust Building in Washington, D.C., the Law Quadrangle at the University of Michigan, the U.S. Assay Office Building in the Manhattan Financial District, the Bowery Savings Bank on E. 42nd Street in Manhattan, and many, many other well-known buildings.  

By the summer of 1909, the School Board chose, and contracted with, general contractors.  The Board chose Smith Brothers, the lowest bidders.  Smith Brothers was located in the Village of North Pelham.  Yet, at the time, the firm was widely-respected and certainly a very experienced firm, quite capable of handling a project of this size, much less one far larger.   

The site chosen for the new school building was centrally located to serve young scholars from all three villages:  the Village of Pelham Manor, the Village of Pelham and the Village of North Pelham.  Only a few homes were situated near the site at the time of construction.

The initial work proceeded quickly.  The School Board became so confident of success that, only weeks later, on October 23, 1909, the Board of Education celebrated with the entire Town of Pelham and laid the cornerstone of the building "with appropriate exercises."  Officials left a time capsule for future Pelhamites.  According to one report:

"[i]n a copper box which rests, securely cemented, in a massive stone in the foundation of this building are placed records concerning this school house and the other interests of our town which will show to our descendants unto as many generations as this structure shall stand that they have reason for pride in their forbears and that the fathers and mothers of this time made wise provision for the teeming thousands who shall follow us."

"Pelham High School and Siwanoy Grammar School (Pelham Manor)"

Source:  Interesting Articles on the Schools in Pelham Town,

The Pelham Sun, Dec. 20, 1913, p. 5, col. 2.

Undated Photograph Showing Pelham High School

in About 1916.

One year later, in October, 1910, the School District was feeling the pain of growing school population.  It decided that the building was so near completion that it could be "opened informally" in an effort to ease apparent (to this author) over crowding.  Raised wooden sidewalks extended to the streets surrounding the school.   When opened, the new high school building, known as "Pelham High School and Siwanoy Grammar School," consisted of only the current central portion of the structure that stands today.   

According to a brief history of the school:

"Accounts of the first term's enrollment for the high school varies from one or two students up to 28.  They were assigned to desks in the assembly hall and were taught by the new principal, Mr. Carmichael, who was later aided by new teachers.  In planning for the new high school, a space to teach domestic science was highly anticipated.  ' . . . One would be rash to deny the importance of this study in food values and food preparation being given to every girl aboe the 7th grade,' said Supervising Principal Harry w. Rockwell."

Source:  Siwanoy School, available at http://siwanoy.pelhamschools.org/www/siwanoy_pelhamschools/site/hosting/angela/History%20of%20Siwanoy.pdf (visited Mar. 10, 2014).

York & Sawyer received professional fees for their architectural work of $2,762.03.  That would, very roughly, be the equivalent of $65,000.00 in today's dollars.  

The general contractor, Smith Brothers, received $42,062.70.  That would be the massive amount of nearly $994,000 in today's dollars.  

The HVAC experts were Osborn, Ray & Company.  They were paid $7,069.00 for "heating and ventilating" work.  That would, very roughly, be the equivalent of $167,000 in today's dollars.  

The total cost of the land and the completion of the building was calculated as $74,893.73.  That would, very roughly, be the equivalent of $1,800,000.00 in today's dollars.  The final cost of the construction of the building, however, was about $1,900.00 over the original $50,000.00 authorized by taxpayers.  (That would, very roughly, be the equivalent of being about $45,000.00 over the original $1,181,000 authorized by taxpayers, in today's dollars -- about a 3.8% cost overrun.)  

On Friday, February 17, 1911, the community unveiled its new high school in dedication exercises led by the chairman of the Board of Education, Robert A. Holmes.  Despite poor weather, a large crowd showed up for the ceremonies.  

By 1918, it was apparent that the explosive growth of the local population required an even larger central high school.  Indeed: 

"[b]y 1918, combined enrollment in all of the grammar schools was up to 1,000 students and 167 were enrolled in the high school.  A separate high school building became necessary.  In the next ten years, two wings were added to Siwanoy to accommodate the further increase in grammar school students."

Source:  Siwanoy School, available at http://siwanoy.pelhamschools.org/www/siwanoy_pelhamschools/site/hosting/angela/History%20of%20Siwanoy.pdf (visited Mar. 10, 2014).

Once again, the Board of Education as well as the Town of Pelham and her citizens rose to the occasion.  After years of work, on May 6, 1922, "Memorial High School" opened a short distance away from Siwanoy.  The building commemorated those who fought and died during World War I and the ideals for which they fought.  The new high school was described as "the last word in school buildings" and was the biggest high school with the largest recreational field in Westchester County.  The original Pelham Memorial High School structure, since updated and expanded on numerous occasions, cost $373,000.00 to build (the equivalent of roughly  $5.2 million in today's dollars).

*     *     *     *

Research Notes Regarding Opening of New High school in 1911

"DEDICATION OF NEW SCHOOL
-----
ON FRIDAY BEAUTIFUL AND IMPRESSIVE CEREMONIES ARE SCHEDULED TO TAKE PLACE AT NEW HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING.
-----

The dedication exercises of the new school in the town will take place at 8 o'clock on Friday evening, February 17.  A large attendance is expected and the ceremonies as scheduled promise to be of the greatest interest to all interested in educational matters.

The chairman of the Board of Education, Mr. Robert A. Holmes, will be in command of the proceedings and the celebrated tenor singer, Willis E. Bacheller, formerly a member of the local School Board, is expected to add to the enjoyment of the occasion by rendering several appropriate songs.  

The Rev. Dr. Leary, of Pelham Manor, will deliver the address of the evening, while the Revs. Francis McNichol and H.H. Brown are expected to be present and take an active part in the ceremonies.  

Mr. James F. Secor, who is chairman of the Building Committee of the Board of Education, and upon whom has devolved the actual work of supervising the construction of the magnificent new school building, will render a report on behalf of the committee.  

The Grand Army of the Republic is to be represented by Mr. John T. Logan, who will present a flag to the school on behalf of the Grand Army.  

Of course, the school children from all the schools of the town will be in attendance and the occasion will doubtless bring out a very large number of the parents and citizens generally of the town.

The Board of Education is looking forward to Friday night with a great deal of pleasure, anticipating one of the most enjoyable and profitable educational meetings ever held in our town."  

Source:  Dedication of New School, The Pelham Sun, Vol. 1, No. 45, Feb. 11, 1911, p. 1, col. 1.  

"DEDICATION OF HIGH SCHOOL
-----
TAKES PLACE WITH IMPRESSIVE CEREMONIES-A LARGE CROWD ADMIRES THE NEW BUILDING. - INTERESTING ADDRESSES MADE.
-----

Although the weather was uninviting, the townspeople betook themselves in large numbers to the new High School building in Pelham last night to witness the dedication of the same.  

The main assembly room was beautifully decorated.  After a prayer by Rev. H.H. Brown, the school children sang a song with praise worthy precision and earnestness.  

The chairman of the building committee, Mr. James F. Secor, then read the report of that committee as follows:

Your Committee have to report that on August 11, 1908, a resolution was passed by the Board calling a special meeting of the District to be held on November 13th, 1908, to vote on a proposition to purchase one of three sites to be submitted and to issue bonds to pay for the land and erection of a High School building.  

At that meeting the present site was decided upon and the Board was instructed to purchase the same and to issue $70,000 in bonds, $20,000 to pay for the land and $50,000 for the building.  

These instructions the Board carried out by purchasing the land at a cost of $20,000 and issuing and selling the $70,000 of bonds.  They then proceeded to arrange for the construction of the building. . . .

The problem of moving the Pelham school to the new site was seriously considered, and the Committee and Board taking into account the cost to remedy, and repair and adopt to the new part, concluded it would be to the best interest of the District to leave the building at its present site, as in a few years it will probably be required as an additional school.  It is now being used as a gymnasium for the scholars of the District.  By this action, the District has a property that would cost at least $25,000 to replace, that can be utilized at any time it may seem necessary.  

The contracts were let in the early summer of 1909 to Messrs. Smith Brothers after competitive bids had been received, they being the lowest bidders for the general work, and to Messrs. Osborn, Ray & Company for the heating and ventilating work, they being the lowest bidders.

On October 23rd, 1909, the work had advanced so far that the cornerstone was laid with appropriate exercises.  In October, 1910, the building being so near completion, the school was opened informally.  

The cost of the building and land is as follows:

Purchase of present site $20,000.00
General contract Messrs Smith Bros $42,062.70
Heating and ventilating, Osborn, Ray & Company 7,069.00
Architects fees, Messrs York & Sawyer 2,762.03

Total cost of building 54,893.73

Total cost of land and building . . . . $74,893.73

You will see that the cost of the building is some $1,900 over the $50,000 originally authorized, but by the subsequent action of a District meeting, the Board was authorized to complete this building and build an addition to the North Pelham school.  The details of this will appear in the yearly report in August next.

In the death of one of our members, Mr. Walter A. Seymour, the committee suffered a great loss.  Mr. Seymour was a conscientious worker and a most valued associate and the Committee deeply regrets that he could not have been spared to see with them the completion of the building.  

With this brief report of our work, Mr. President, the Building Committee takes great pleasure in stating to the Board that the Pelham High School is now completed and we hereby place in your hands the key to the building.  

President Holmes' Acceptance.

The President of the Board of Education, Mr. Robert A. Holmes, in his address of acceptance said:

In the name of the Board of Education, representing the people of Union Free School District Number One, Town of Pelham.  I accept this building and dedicate it to the cause of learning, to the advancement of civilization and to the furtherance of the best interests of this community.  I accept it as a splendid evidence of the enlightened public spirit of this town whose citizens, in providing for it have cheerfully laid upon themselves an obligation which cannot but require some measure of self sacrifice.  In a copper box which rests, securely cemented, in a massive stone in the foundation of this building are placed records concerning this school house and the other interests of our town which will show to our descendants 

(Continued on third page)

DEDICATION OF HIGH SCHOOL 
-----
(Continued from first page)

unto as many generations as this structure shall stand that they have reason for pride in their forbears and that the fathers and mothers of this time made wise provision for the teeming thousands who shall follow us.  

The chairman of the Building Committee has told you something of the more obvious features concerning the physical structure of this school, but the building of a schoolhouse was not all that was involved in this enterprise.  The consolidation of the two grammar schools in this portion of the town and the providing of high school facilities for our more advanced pupils assured for this district an institution where its children could be carried from earliest Kindergarten days through the primary and grammar grades into and through the high school classes and turned out prepared to enter college or university.  

I have said, advisedly, "carried through" [sic] and "turned out" because that seems to represent to an unfortunate extent the idea which prevails regarding the province of our public school system.  I sincerely trust that the policy of this institution may be to lead rather than to carry, to inspire rather than to force.  If our children could be so led and so inspired that there would be awakened in them a wise curiosity and a trained desire for knowledge the results, in my opinion, would vastly exceed those accomplished by packing the child's head full of undigested facts and figures and more or less unrelated and practically useless information.  The greatest question in the world is 'Why?' and we can require our children to ask this question and then train them that they may know where to seek for themselves the answer, we have solved the problem of the intellectual preparation for the battle of life.  Our duty, either as private citizens or as a Board of Education, must [illegible] to the intellectual welfare of the little ones whom God has placed in our charge.  One thought must surely extend to the physical and mental well being of the bodies and souls of these children and, if we would, we cannot do our whole duty of developing the intellectual side [illegible] we wholly neglect [illegible] the physical or mental.  

The problem [illegible] of the state law in providing for the safety [illegible] and health of those who shall [illegible] Not a single hitch has marred the progress of this building.  I [leave it to those of you who have had experience with lawyers to [illegible] 

May this building with its sturdy foundation, its firm walls, its honest construction, its safety and convenience of arrangement and its and its graces of architecture be typical of the manhood and womanhood which shall be built, strengthened, equipped and ornamented within its confines and sent forth from its doors to bear a worthy part in the great world, a part which shall reflect credit upon faithful work of faculty, Board of Education and the citizens of the town of Pelham.

Next in order on the program came a solo rendered by Mr. Freeman Wright, who was heartily applauded.  

Rev. L.G. Leary spoke upon the usefulness of school tuition and dwelt upon the idea that the object of the children in going to school was to learn to learn.

Flag Presented.

Mr. John T. Logan now arose and introduced Capt. England, Commander of W.S. Hancock, G.A.R.  The Captain in a speech full of humorous allusions as well as of serious patriotism, presented a flag to the school on behalf of his Post, but actually a present from Mr. Logan.

Principal J. F. Carmichael explained the classes in the High School and said that next year they hoped to have thirty scholars in the High School classes.

The children sang 'America,' whereupon Rev. Frances McNichol offered benediction and the ceremonies came to a close.  

The people hungered, however, for some time and made an inspection of the classrooms, halls, library, etc.

The consensus of opinion seemed to be that for a town of its size, Pelham certainly has fine and up to date schools."

Source:  Dedication of New High School, The Pelham Sun, Vol. 1, No. 46, Feb. 18, 1911, p. 1, col. 4 & p. 3, cols. 4-5. 

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