tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64494911807812749282024-03-13T09:36:39.716-04:00Green School HistoryDevoted to the 1871 Green School of Middleborough, MassachusettsMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-31439966903075001922013-03-02T18:06:00.002-05:002013-03-02T18:06:30.684-05:00Green School, 1985Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-16455127757343236102013-02-27T23:21:00.000-05:002013-02-27T23:22:54.714-05:00Group Will Consider Reuse Plan for Green SchoolBy Jane Lopes, Editor, Middleboro Gazette
If you have driven by the Green School and thought, "What a neat place for ..." there is a committee waiting to hear from you.
The 19th century former schoolhouse, which sits on what was the town green in colonial days, has been renovated by a group of volunteers with donations from the public, many of them local residents and former residents who Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-27162008078818759912012-12-27T21:51:00.001-05:002012-12-27T22:04:41.071-05:00Mary Sproat's Green, 1870s
The earliest known image of the 1871 Green School is a painting by Middleborough artist Mary Sproat (1837-1888) formerly in the collection of Attorney George Decas of Middleborough. Sproat's depiction of the Green School was probably completed in the 1870s or early 1880s and captures not only the newly-built schoolhouse, but the neighboring Barton House and barn Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-52954931423936086082012-12-26T23:08:00.000-05:002012-12-26T23:10:15.888-05:00Green School, 1938The following series of photographs, provided courtesy of The Beauty of Middleboro, depicts students of the Green School enjoying recess in September, 1938. The teacher at the time was Hilda G. MacKeen. At the time, the school housed grades 1 and 2 for the eastern section of Middleborough.
Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-59212316131115604462010-12-11T22:21:00.001-05:002010-12-11T22:28:08.526-05:00Christmas at the Green School, 1925On December 18, 1925, Esther M. Spooner, the teacher of the Green School, with her pupils and their parents celebrated Christmas at the schoolhouse on East Main Street and the occassion was recorded for posterity in the pages of the Middleboro Gazette.
Friday afternoon, under the joint auspices of the teacher, scholars and the P. T. A., a very pleasant time was enjoyed by the Green school Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-88146111675905626092010-09-20T11:41:00.006-04:002011-08-03T17:08:57.722-04:00"The Softening Shadows of Our Schooldays"In 1914, Charles Austin Wood penned a recollection of his school days in Middleborough in the late 1840s and early 1850s. Born on July 18, 1841, the son of Eliab Wood, Jr., and Mary C. (Freeman) Wood of Wood Street, Charles A. Wood attended school at the Green in the building which preceded the current Green School house. Bearing testament to the truism concerning childhood schooldays that "theseMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-9917135203968943812010-07-13T18:30:00.002-04:002010-07-13T18:37:48.581-04:00Historical Commission to Discuss Paint ColorOn Tuesday, July 20, the Middleborough Historical Commission will meet with the Green School Preservation Committee to discuss the color of the Green School. Following mitigation work to remove contaminated soil surrounding the building last fall and winter, the schoolhouse which is located in the historic Green section of Middleborough was structurally stabilized and the exterior primed. The Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-63877327125608458482010-04-17T06:50:00.000-04:002010-04-17T06:57:11.599-04:00"The Prime Color of the World"An informal poll conducted these past several weeks on Green School History has indicated that a majority of visitors to the site prefer the Green School to remain green. While the present green color scheme of the building is not likely to have been the building's original color, most of those favoring that shade regard the color as a traditional one for the building given that few MiddleboroughMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-6915789102653430362010-03-15T23:56:00.005-04:002010-03-16T00:03:30.643-04:00Voting Period ExtendedThank you to the people who have already voted regarding the future color of the Green School. Because this topic remains of interest, the voting period for the informal poll to the left has been extended another month. Currently, the front-runner is the clear sentimental favorite - green.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-2809820499091105252010-03-15T23:50:00.002-04:002010-03-16T00:12:43.271-04:00Schoolhouse, 2009 The photograph depicts the condition of the Green School prior to preservation work in late 2009 and early 2010.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-44735772627579073962010-02-09T18:49:00.013-05:002010-02-10T08:33:35.471-05:00The Color of the Green SchoolMuch work has been accomplished this winter in repairing the Green School and securing it to the weather. More recently, the long familiar green color of its clapboarded exterior has disappeared beneath a coat of gray primer, preparatory to painting. One of the next decisions regarding the building will have to do with the color which the building's exterior should be painted. This decision is Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-48451133613012066522010-02-06T16:10:00.002-05:002010-02-09T19:45:33.113-05:00News Archive FeatureThrough the courtesy of Lincoln Andrews, I have been able to add a news archive feature in the left side column containing links to past news items featuring the Green School and its preservation. Simply click on the link to read what the local press has to say about the project.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-42229022549247929702009-08-10T23:58:00.000-04:002009-08-11T00:23:17.084-04:00Green School Preservation.Efforts are under way to preserve the historic Green School on East Main Street in Middleborough. Recently threatened with demolition and situated upon soil contaminated by a leaky oil tank, the 1871 schoolhouse has been structurally stabilized and the contaminated soil removed. Spearheading the effort is the Green School Preservation Group headed by former Selectman Lincoln Andrews.While the Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-22458650474540122232009-08-10T23:57:00.001-04:002009-08-31T20:28:00.937-04:00Green School Items Wanted.Part of the goal of this website is to collect copies of items related to the Green School in order to create an archive of material related to the school and its history which can be posted on-line for everyone to enjoy. Copies or scans of photographs of the school and the children who attended it, class pictures, report cards, school work, and any other item with a Green School connection is Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-2378638219149211352009-08-04T20:03:00.004-04:002009-08-12T09:51:00.695-04:00Flag. 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 lateMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-38187075654762280332009-08-04T19:18:00.005-04:002009-08-07T08:24:13.806-04:00Middleborough School Curriculum, 1885. Source: Annual Report of the Officers of Middleborough. 1885. (Middleborough, MA: Town of Middleborough, 1886).Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-65608912801237361082009-08-04T19:17:00.004-04:002009-08-07T09:05:12.263-04:00Cost of Instruction, Green School 1871-1926.The costs for instruction (teacher's salaries), fuel and care of the Green School are listed below. The figures for 1895 and subsequent years are for instruction only. Figures were not published following 1926.1871-72 $241.451872-73 $269.251873-74 $250.201874-75 $286.711875-76 $284.751876-77 $301.871877 $304.501878 $263.621879 $261.001880 $307.881881 $302.681882 $284.121883 $293.691884 $Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-80759527686592876322009-08-04T19:00:00.000-04:002009-08-05T23:34:14.163-04:00Daily Routine.Teachers in Middleborough were required to be present at least fifteen minutes prior to the commencement of school, both morning and afternoon. In the late 1800s, this requirement was shortened to ten minutes. Lessons for the day would have been prepared the previous afternoon or evening. Children arrived either on foot or, if lucky, by means of the farm wagon destined for town if “the trip Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-23440472833630345072009-08-04T18:13:00.000-04:002009-08-07T18:16:29.300-04:00Enrollment, Green School 1871-1941Below are enrollment figures for the Green School taken from the Annual Town Reports. Various methods of reporting were used over the years, including total enrollment, average mebership and whole number of students attending, but the figures represented here provide a good picture of the number of students educated in the building.1877 spring term 261877 fall term 311878 Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-53279167159080291172009-08-04T16:00:00.003-04:002009-08-04T19:06:57.710-04:00By-Laws Concerning Truant Children and Absentees from School, 1885.Source: Annual Report of the School Committee (Middleborough, MA: Middleborough School Committee, February 1, 1877), p. 6.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-45104451407571969592009-08-04T11:58:00.002-04:002009-08-09T10:02:22.338-04:00The Road to Consolidation.Like all Middleborough school districts, District 3 (the Green) covered a wide area stretching west to the Wading Place at East Main Street and the Nemasket River, north to Thompson, Fuller and Plympton Streets, east along Plymouth Street to and including Short Street, and south along Wood Street nearly to Sachem Street. For the education of all children residing in this area, the Green School Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-17739678306135093952009-08-04T11:57:00.001-04:002009-08-04T15:34:24.669-04:00Construction.The historic Green School was built in 1871 to replace an earlier structure which stood on the same site and which by that time had fallen into great disrepair. The 1870 School Committee report for Middleborough noted that "the schoolhouses in No. 3 [the Green] and 14 [Fall Brook] are poor and inconvenient, and in our opinion unsuitable for school purposes. If the town does not deem it advisableMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-12303782608570259382009-08-04T11:50:00.008-04:002009-08-10T20:51:50.328-04:00Furnishings.There is little record regarding the original furnishings of the Green School, though it was undoubtedly furnished like a typical schoolhouse. The blackboard was the focal point of the Green school room and likely was situated on the rear wall opposite the entrances. In nearly constant use throughout the day, the blackboard required frequent repair and repainting. In 1877, the Green School’s Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-89208732601425585352009-08-04T11:45:00.005-04:002009-08-06T12:30:16.297-04:00Heating & Ventilation..Like other local schools, the Green was heated by means of a wood stove which likely stood in the center of the room and had a pipe traversing the ceiling to the rear chimney. To fuel the stove, the town paid various dealers to provide wood. During the school’s first year of operation, Arad Bryant was paid $7.50 to supply it with wood, and an additional $1.75 was spent for sawing. In 1872-73, $Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6449491180781274928.post-24833001678909860402009-08-04T11:40:00.003-04:002009-08-11T00:44:39.323-04:00Repairs & Renovations.Following construction of the Green School in 1871, the schoolhouse appears to have been well cared for. In 1887, it was valued at $1,000, the same sum as the schools at Waterville, South Middleborough, Fall Brook, Wappanucket and Purchade. Only the central schools – the high school, School Street and Union Street – were valued higher.Periodic repairs were made to the building including those inMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12950591025983948991noreply@blogger.com0