Kansas City Kansas Unified Schl Dist 500
The Beginning
1800s - One Room School Houses
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced several eastern tribes from their land in the state of Ohio. Before beginning their exodus to this part of the region, they had a plan for building a school in the new territory. Money had been set aside from the scant payments provided by the government from land acquisitions. When the Wyandot Nation arrived in 1844, many of them were educated in Ohio and some were attorneys. They purchased large sections of land from the Delaware and Shawnee tribes in the area. They built homes, schools, and churches in the towns of Wyandotte and Quindaro, which today we know as Wyandotte County and Kansas City Kansas.
John M. Armstrong used these funds to build the first free public school on Native American land at 4th Street between State and Nebraska Ave. The one-room log frame structure was often referred to as the Council House because the council of the Wyandot Nation often met in the building at night. Mr. Armstrong had been a member of the Ohio bar since 1839, but he was not allowed to practice law on Native American Territory. So, he became the first teacher at the new school and taught in the school until 1845. The school was open to Indian and White students for free.
Tribal business kept Armstrong in Washington D.C. and Ohio for much of the time in the late 1840's. On one of his trips to collect money from the government he unexpectedly became ill and later passed away in Ohio. The building housed the school from 1844 to his death in 1952. When the Wyandot sold land to white settlers in 1856, no school existed publicly until after the Civil War.
Small one-room schoolhouses were part of the landscape as early as 1819. This was before Kansas became a state, before the county seat of Wyandotte County, and a public school system was established in this area.
Reference Materials
KCK Public Library - Quindaro Township
Kansas Historical Society - Wyandotte Tribe
1830s - Common Schools Movement
Many immigrants from the 1830s to 1850s were poor and a financial crisis during this period further excerbated their financial despair. The Common Schools Movement was an effort started on the east coast by Horace Mann. His movement was rooted in the concept of funding schools in every community with local tax dollars. Students would be allowed to go to public school without tuition and learn for free.
This movement is said to be the precursor to today’s public school. The common school movement progressed westward as the nation expanded into new territory. By 1860, most states in the Northeast and the Midwest had established state school superintendents and formulas to channel property taxes toward funding schools.
Schools were often one of the first institutions to be established in a town, and were viewed as vital both to “civilization” of the frontier and to economic expansion.
Mann is known for his efforts to convince a nation to create a system of common schools - good schools were good business and the future of the economy and the democracy depended upon providing a "common" education to all children, no matter where they were born or the whom. As you move through this historical timeline, you will see how Horace Mann’s name and his concept moved to this area.
Click here for more information on the Common Schools Movement
1850s
Most schoolhouses were built to serve students living within four or five miles, which was considered close enough to walk. The school year was shorter, and attendance was often determined on when the children were needed to help their family harvest crops. Schools were more places for students to learn. They were used for community gatherings, church meetings and much more.
In the mid to late 1850’s, there were approximately 9,284 school districts in Kansas and a lot of tension surrounding the organization and re-organization of schools to the point where state superintendents and legislatures received death threats.
Barnett – Lowell located at 11th and Barnett. Closed in 1898
1856 Lincoln school located at 6th and State
1857 Stony Point South located at 150 S. 78th Street
1854-61: Bleeding Kansas
These were turbulent years in the territory of Kansas. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 established the territorial boundaries of Kansas and Nebraska and opened the land to legal settlement. It allowed the residents of these territories to decide by popular vote whether their state would be free or slave state. Three distinct political groups occupied Kansas during this time; pro-slavery, Free-Staters, and abolitionists. Murder, mayhem, destruction and psychological warfare were the common methods of intimidation in Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri. In May 1856, John Brown and his sons killed five pro-slavery advocates at Pottawatomie.
Kansas and Wyandotte County
1859 – 1861
On July 5, 1859, the legislative delegation of the territory of Kansas gathered in Wyandott, Kansas to write a constitution. The Wyandotte Constitution was the fourth and final proposed Kansas constitution following the failed attempts of the Topeka, Lecompton, and Leavenworth conventions to create a state constitution that would pass Congress and be signed as a bill by the president.
The U.S. Senate finally approved the Wyandotte Constitution on January 21, 1861. Eight days later, on January 29, the House passed the bill as amended and sent it to the president for his signature. President James Buchanan, a man despised by most free state settlers in Kansas, signed the bill officially approving the Wyandotte Constitution and admitting Kansas into the Union as the 34th state. This would bring an end to five years of bitter conflict over slavery in the Kansas Territory.
The first Kansas State Legislature convened on March 26, 1861.
The same territorial legislative delegation that approved the Wyandotte Constitution approved the organization of Wyandotte County to become a free and independent political entity on January 29, 1859. After Kansas became a state, the state legislature passed a law the same year allowing for the establishment of a free public school system.
Kansas City Public Library - The Wyandotte Constitution
Kansas Historical Society - the Act of Incorporation of Wyandotte City
1867-69
1867
The state legislature began efforts to establish a public school system in Kansas after the Civil War. The residents of the city of Wyandott began to erect schoolhouses and organize a public school system.
After the Civil War, the people of the city of Wyandotte began to build schoolhouses and organize a system of public education. The Central Public School was the first public school building of District Number One, Wyandott, Kansas, to be constructed in 1867.
The school was located in the town square called Huron Place on the corner of Sixth street and Kansas (now State) Avenue where the main library now stands. Henry J. Alden was the first Principal of the nine-room, two story brick building. The school was heated by steam and had a seating capacity for 542. There were many who were not pleased with the appearance of the structure located on a twenty-foot hill.
Some complained about the school being too far from the center of town and difficult to reach. At that time, a large ravine split Minnesota Avenue between Fifth and Sixth Streets. A few years later, the ravine was filled by contractors with yellow clay. During heavy rainy weather, the mud from the ravine made the street almost impassable. Student’s clothes would be muddy, and some would lose their shoes in the wet, slimy soil trying to get to school in the morning. Vincent J. Lane (early Wyandotte newspaper publisher and founder of the Wyandotte County Historical Society and Museum) told of having to carry his young daughter on his back to school during the rainy season. The city council finally ordered the street commissioner to lay two planks lengthwise for a sidewalk on the north side of Minnesota. As the planks were just one foot wide and nailed one foot apart on a two-by-four studding, only a skilled walker could cover the distance safely. At times when the clay was soaked after a hard rain, the planks would slide.
By the mid-1890s, the Central School was seriously outdated, and in 1902, Central School is demolished to make room for the new Carnegie Library.
Hazel Grove
Hazel Grove was established in 1867 on property owned by J.M. Mahany. The school was named after the Hazel Nut trees growing in the area. The school in this picture was constructed in 1911 and caught on fire in 1933. The teacher Mr. Gregg and all the 8 graders at the time attended classes at Washington High School until a new 4-room building was constructed in 1946.
Additional space was added to the original building in 1952, 1955 and 1956. An east annex was added to the structure in 1958.
Hazel Grove became part of Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools with the annexation of Washington High School in 1967.
1869
White Church Elementary is part of a historical site built in the 1830s. The building was an Indian Church and in 1869 it was converted into a school. It is the first public school in rural Wyandotte County. The first teacher was S. F. Bigham and the students sat on logs because they didn’t have desks. A two-story building was erected on the present site between 1887 and 1888. The first floor was for White children and the second floor for was for Black students.
Township of Quindaro and Quindaro Elementary School
Following the establishment of a county-wide system of public schools in 1867, there were also two Quindaro schools, one for White students and one for Black students.
The Quindaro (District #4) school for White children opened in 1857 on six lots at the northeast corner of P and Eleventh, which today is 28th and Farrow. The school started as a one-room schoolhouse. When the school reached its capacity due to increased enrollment, a two-story brick building was constructed with three classrooms on the first floor and three on the second floor. In 1910 the school became part of the KCK school system and was staffed by a principal and five teachers. By 1925 plans were underway for an expansion and by 1938 the school had expanded to 17 rooms.
In 1969, the school had become overcrowded again, and a new Quindaro Elementary was constructed at 28th and Farrow in 1972.
The new school had an open building design for 800 students. The building was radically different from the traditional elementary schools at the time. It consisted of large open spaces with few walls dividing one area from another. This open room concept allowed students to move easily form one space to another working on lessons individually or in groups.
The cost for construction of the new school was approximately $1,962,000.
The Colored School of Quindaro/Vernon School
The Quindaro school for Black children opened in 1858 and was known as the Colored School of Quindaro. The school was located next to the Quindaro Congregational Church on the corner of Kanzas and Eight. Today the street name is 2nd and Sewell. The school provided instruction to African American students, including many former slaves, who had recently arrived in the territory of Kansas in the years leading up to the Civil War. This school had its own district, No. 17, with an all-African American school board. By the 1930’s, the building was overcrowded and outdated. In 1936, the original school was replaced with a new four-room brick structure that served first through eighth grade students. Two more rooms were added in 1950.
The Colored School of Quindaro was replaced by the Vernon Elementary School named after Bishop William T. Vernon, the president of Western University and the Registrar of the U. S. Treasury.
After the Washington High School district was annexed by USD #500 in 1967, combined with ongoing federal court cases ordering the desegregation of schools, Vernon School was closed, and the students transferred to Quindaro Elementary School.
The Vernon School now houses the Vernon Community Center, and the Quindaro Underground Railroad Museum and was placed on the Register of Historic Kansas Places in 2004. The building is listed on the state Register of Historic Kansas Places.
The Town of Quindaro
Today, we know Quindaro as a neighborhood located in north Kansas City, Kansas. Originally, Quindaro began as a town named for Nancy Brown Guthrie, whose Native American name was Quindaro, which means, which means a bundle of sticks and is interpreted as “in union there is strength” in the Wyandot language.
Quindaro began as a boom town a few years after Kansas became a territory of the United States in 1854. The town of Quindaro was located along the Missouri River making it a good location for steamboats to dock. Additionally, Abolitionists resided in the area and were helping slaves escape via the Underground Railroad.
Construction of the town began in 1857. However, a few years later, people began to abandon the town. Eventually, a new group of people, most of African descent, claimed the abandoned farms and buildings in the area. Nevertheless, the site on which the original town of Quindaro fell into ruins.
In 1909, the Quindaro Township was incorporated by the city of Kansas City, Kansas and became part of the KCK school system.
1869
White Church Elementary is part of a historical site built in the 1830s. The building was an Indian Church and in 1869 it was converted into a school. It is the first public school in rural Wyandotte County. The first teacher was S. F. Bigham and the students sat on logs because they didn’t have desks. A two-story building was erected on the present site between 1887 and 1888. The first floor was for White children and the second floor for was for Black students.
1873 - Kansas establishes the First State Board of Education
Armstrong, Garrison, and Booker T. Washington
Armstrong school was constructed in 1873 and was one of nine original schools when Wyandott, Kansas City, and Armourdale were separate cities. The school was located on South 8th Street between Cornell Ave and Colorado Ave. Armstrong was originally named after the Wyandot Chief Silas Armstrong.
The school was later occupied by African American students between 1888-1890 and the name was changed to Garrison. Garrison eventually closed in 1894 and the students relocated to Rosedale and schools in Kansas City, Missouri.
By 1899, parents and residents requested the need for a school in their area. Their appeal was granted, and Greystone was constructed on leased property in 1913 for African American students. Greystone school was located at Clinton and State Line. The school was referred to as the Greystone Colored School, which was often still referenced to its former name, Garrison.
The Greystone Colored school closed in 1926. African American students relocated to the Greystone Heights building on Hudson and Abbey, which was previously occupied by White students that relocated to Major Hudson in 1923. Greystone was renamed to Booker T. Washington after an African American educator.
The Booker T. Washington school was located in the southern part of old Wyandott, Kansas in a one room frame structure with a large, pot-bellied stove which was anchored to the wooden floor in the center of the room. There was no plumbing or electricity in the building, therefore, the children had to use two outhouses when they need to use the rest room. There was one outhouse for girls and one for boys.
The location of these small buildings was about thirty feet behind the main building, and they sat about fifteen feet apart. A bucket filled with spring water was placed on a wooden stool for drinking purposes in the front corner of the class. Hanging on the side of the water bucket was a large rusty dipper. Everyone who wanted to quench their thirst drank from this dipper including the teacher. There were no library books to take home or a blackboard for the children to do board work. Each child had his or her individual slate for that purpose.
Booker T. Washington school closed in 1938 and was demolished in 1956 to make way for the Kansas Turnpike.
The changing of the school names, locations and relocation of students made it challenging to keep up with a consistent record of the dates for each school. None the less, Armstrong, Garrison and Booker T. Washington were three schools that were uniquely connected during this time period.
This is one of many examples of the desire and commitment so many families in this community had to ensure their children received an education.
1876
Maccochaque School
The name "Maccochaque" is a Native American name, which means "Place of Refreshment." The original one-room frame schoolhouse was built in 1876 on the East side of Hudson near 42nd Street on land that the government had given to the Shawnee Indians. The school was a country school known as "District 39" and "Malvern Hill." In 1911, Maccochaque School became a part of the City of Rosedale when the city limits were extended, and construction began on a new two-story eight-room building. It was later enlarged to 12 rooms and an auditorium. In June 1958, the building and property were sold to the K.U. Medical Center. Pupils from Maccochaque were transferred to the new Snow School and the Thomas A. Edison School. After the Maccochaque pupils were transferred, the school served as class room space for the K.U. Medical Center School of Practical Nursing. In the spring of 1968 the old land-mark was torn down and the property cleared for a parking lot for the K.U. Medical center.
1873-1876
Palmer Academy
The Palmer Academy was a private secondary school founded by Professor O.C. Palmer in 1878. The two-story brick school, also known as the Wyandotte Academy, was located on the corner southwest corner of North 7th Street and Ann Avenue.
By 1882, the enrollment had increased to 180 students, which came from locations outside the city and county. When school became available to everyone for free, enrollment at Palmer Academy began to decline. Some attributed the drop in enrollment due to the Consolidation Act. The private school eventually closed in 1923.
Central School, a public school, would later occupy the building. This would become the second and new home for Central after the closing of Central Public School located in Huron Square closed in 1902. This began the confusion about which school was Central - the located in Huron Square or the Palmer building located at 7th and Ann.
After Central relocated to a new building in 1925, Kansas City, Kansas High School would occupy a few of the classrooms during its early years before a larger school was built in 1889 to accommodate for the growing enrollment.
What began as a private school over time transformed into a school that became part of the public school system.