"This Fortunate District": Green School History

Welcome to Green School History, a site devoted entirely to the Green School in Middleborough, Massachusetts. Located on East Main Street in the Green section of Middleborough, the school was built in 1871 and was in continual use until June, 1941, when it was closed. Reopened for a short period of time in the 1990s, the Green School in 2009 was threatened with demolition. A group of concerned residents banded together to save this one-room schoolhouse. Thanks to the interest of the community supported by financial contributions by residents and former pupils, the building has been preserved and the exterior restored. A new use for the structure is currently under consideration. This site hopes to convey the immense historical and educational value which the Green School still retains, particularly its ability to speak to the educational history of the community of Middleborough.

The easiest way to navigate through the site is by using the left-hand sidebar. Click on the icons to read about some of the unique aspects of the Green School's history, to view pictures of the school and documents related to its history, or to make a contribution towards its preservation. Also, for a quick reference, you can also click on the chapters underneath each icon to go directly to a topic of interest.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Flag

.

The Green School, like others, was marked by the American flag which floated from the building. However, a flag may not have been an original feature of the Green School. The Fifth Street School in New Bedford is believed to have been the first school in America to fly the flag daily beginning May 11, 1861, and only gradually thereafter did other schools begin to adopt the practice. In the late 1880s, The Youth's Companion, a national children's magazine published in Boston, inaugurated the schoolhouse flag movement, encouraging all public schools to fly the American flag. Renewed impetus was provided the movement in October, 1892, with the 400th anniversary of the landing of Columbus, an event The Youth's Companion urged schools to recognize by flying a flag. The Green School certainly had a flag by 1894, the year in which all Middleborough schools which lacked one were finally outfitted.

In 1902, the Middleborough School Committee and Superintendent drafted a list of 28 so-called “flag days” for the use of the local schools. “On these days it is expected that the flag will be displayed and lessons appropriate to the occasion given”, with the first half hour of each day designated for these lessons. “A deeper impression, it is believed, will be made upon the pupil and more significance be given to the occasion than if the flag is displayed every day.” Accompanying these exercises was the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, written in 1892, and probably introduced into Middleborough Schools shortly afterwards.

Though Massachusetts state law in 1935 required the display of the American flag in all schoolrooms and weekly conduct of the Pledge of Allegiance, Middleborough schools were unaffected as for many years prior they had fulfilled these guidelines and performed the Pledge on a daily basis.

1 comment:

  1. we went to town meeting to decide what color the town hall should be after the preservation.
    It would appear to me that no one has a right to change the color without a vote at town meeting. It is a public building, owned by the taxpayers.

    ReplyDelete