Emerson School has endured for 100 years
Summer can’t be over!
It’s still too hot and August has just begun.
When I was growing up, back to school always meant summer was over and cooler temperatures were soon to come.
School didn’t start until after Labor Day (and Oklahoma City is starting Monday).
I don’t remember it ever being too hot to learn or play at recess and I know we didn’t have air conditioning at my school, Traub Elementary School in Midwest City.
Now most mornings, I pass Emerson School on the corner of NW 7th and Walker.
I love to see the old school. It looks just like what a school should look like.
Emerson School at 714 NW 7th. - Oklahoman Archive Photo
One built to last the ages, while educating students and preparing them for the world.
I love the stone lion holding a tablet on the roof. It looks like he’s watching over his students while keeping an eye on Oklahoma City.
There has been an Emerson School on this corner since 1895. The building has changed.
The first one burned and in 1907 brick building was built. It has been extensively remodeled over the years and little, if any remains of the original buildings.
The students have changed too, from elementary to high school students, but the location and mission to teach has remained the same.
1905 photograph looking towards downtown Oklahoma City, taken from Emerson School roof. - Oklahoman Archive Photo
In 1905, Emerson was one of the highest points in Oklahoma City (it sits on a hill and is three stories high). An unknown photographer turned his camera southeast towards downtown and took a picture of history.
It shows mostly houses, a downtown business district of buildings that look to be no higher than five or six stories, churches and industrial buildings with smoke stacks sharing their dark smoke.
In 1997, one hundred and one years later, Oklahoman photographer Jim Argo, took a photo from the roof of Emerson looking south towards downtown.
Looking southeast towards downtown, this photograph was taken in 1997 from the roof of Emerson school. - Oklahoman Archive Photo
Side by side they show the progress of Oklahoma City over the years and now with the ongoing construction of the Devon Tower, downtown’s skyline is changing once again.
Emerson, named for poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, has been there all these years sitting on its hill, preparing students to go out into the world and we hope it will continue for another hundred years.
Imagine what the skyline might look like then!
Some streets were named for city pioneers
According to “Bunky,” there were only 23 streets in Oklahoma City on April 23, 1889. “Bunky” was the pen name of journalist Irving Geffs, who wrote this fact in his book, “The First Eight Months of Oklahoma City,” which was published in 1890.
The named streets running north and south were Santa Fe, Broadway, Robinson, Harvey, Hudson and Division, and those running east and west, north of Reno, were Main, Grand and California. South of Reno, the streets were Washington, Noble, Chickasaw, Pottawatomie, Frisco and Choctaw. These would become S 2 through S 7, respectively. North 1 through N 7 made up the rest.
Of these, Grand, now named Sheridan, was first named Clarke after Sidney Clarke, pioneer and civic leader; Washington for President George Washington; Noble for John W. Noble, who was secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior when Oklahoma Territory was opened for settlement; and Frisco for the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad. Indian tribes made up the others.
Many of the later streets named during the early days in Oklahoma City got their names from pioneers associated with the land run, original landowners and developers of housing additions.
On Nov. 21, 1915, The Oklahoman interviewed the secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, Elmer E. Brown, on his recollections about the names of city streets.
Here are a few names I was able to verify:
Durland Avenue — “In honor of Otto Clay ‘O.C.’ Durland, who in a contest, won a quarter section of land in what is now the Oak Park addition.” When Brown says contest, what he meant was Durland’s land claim was disputed all the way to the state Supreme Court.
Laird Avenue — “For S.E. Laird, prominent early day settler.” He was a landowner, and Laird Avenue is the entry to the Oklahoma History Center.
Everest Avenue — “For J.H. Everest, a lawyer.” A pioneer Oklahoma City attorney, at his death, he had been the last surviving charter member of the First Christian Church.
McKinley Avenue — Named not for the president but for “Miss Margaret McKinley, prominent woman real estate speculator in early days.”
Douglas Avenue — “For McGregor Douglas, prominent businessman, now dead.” At the time of his death in 1908, he was secretary of the Central Title and Investment Co. and the Oklahoma Loan and Building Co. and a member of the Real Estate Exchange.
Brauer Avenue — “For George Brauer, half-brother of Douglas.” This one is wrong. George Brauer is listed as the stepbrother of Anton Classen in Classen’s obituary, and in Brauer’s obituary several surviving Classens were listed as brothers. He was one of the founders and secretary-treasurer of the Oklahoma Railway Co., the trolley car business.
Dewey Avenue — Named “in honor of Admiral George Dewey.” Hero of the Battle of Manila in the Spanish-American War in 1898, Dewey was named an admiral in 1903.
I was not able to verify this, but Brown said California Avenue got its name from the number of Californians who settled there after the land run.
I hope this sheds some light on where the names came from for those streets we drive on every day.
Read “The Archivist” online at blog.newsok.com/archivist.
Gypsy’s grave found at Fairlawn Cemetery
MOURN THE LOSS OF GYPSY QUEEN NOMAD, HEAD OF BAND HERE, IS BURIED IN FAIRLAWN CEMETERY.”
The original newspaper article about the gypsy's death.
It was just a small item on Page 5 of The Oklahoman, on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 1908, with a headline almost as big as the story.
Ellen Young, 69, was camping in Colcord Park near the river with her “band of nomadic Egyptians” when she died in a tent Friday, Jan. 31, 1908. Her funeral services were conducted the following Monday by the Rev. T.H. Harper of Pilgrim Congregational Church, and she was buried at Fairlawn. Fifty grief-stricken Gypsies attended her service.
The Oklahoman’s story read: “Mrs. Young had spent all her life travelling in covered wagons through Europe and America, telling fortunes, creating rugs, painting pictures, doing what she could to secure a living from a nomadic wandering life. Unlike her countrymen, she became a Christian, and she is of the strain of family which includes the renowned Congregational preacher, “Gypsy,” Smith, one of the greatest preachers of England.”
Can you imagine how cold it was living in a tent in January in Oklahoma?
From my research, I learned Gypsies more likely came from India, than Egypt, and many more of them were, and are, of the Christian faith than most people think.
Also, Rodney “Gypsy” Smith, born in 1860 in England and raised in a gypsy wagon, never attended school and was converted at the age of 16. He started preaching at 17, and during his evangelistic career that ended in 1947 with his death, he was as widely traveled and admired as Billy Graham is today.
Colcord Park, later renamed Delmar Gardens, was owned by Charles Colcord and consisted of 160 acres near Reno Avenue and Western close to the North Canadian River. Baseball was played in that area until the flood of 1923.
A trip to Fairlawn Cemetery and a check of the records located Young’s resting place, 103 years after her death.
Emma's grave marker showing the wrong date. - Photo by Mary Phillips, The Oklahoman
The original entry in the cemetery ledger read Mrs. Emma Young (gypsy) camped near the ballpark, died Jan. 31 and was buried Feb. 3, 1908. The ledger also disclosed the location of her burial place in the cemetery and the funeral home handling the arrangements. Her first name was different, but the rest of the facts fit the newspaper’s story.
Turns out, her final resting place is just a few steps north of the cemetery office.
The last curious fact about Ellen/Emma is that her grave stone bears the wrong year for her death.
Gypsy’s grave found at Fairlawn
“MOURN THE LOSS OF GYPSY QUEEN NOMAD, HEAD OF BAND HERE, IS BURIED IN FAIRLAWN CEMETERY.”
It was just a small item on Page 5 of The Oklahoman, on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 1908, with a headline almost as big as the story.
Ellen Young, 69, was camping in Colcord Park near the river with her “band of nomadic Egyptians” when she died in a tent Friday, Jan. 31, 1908. Her funeral services were conducted the following Monday by the Rev. T.H. Harper of Pilgrim Congregational Church, and she was buried at Fairlawn. Fifty grief-stricken Gypsies attended her service.
The Oklahoman’s story read: “Mrs. Young had spent all her life travelling in covered wagons through Europe and America, telling fortunes, creating rugs, painting pictures, doing what she could to secure a living from a nomadic wandering life. Unlike her countrymen, she became a Christian, and she is of the strain of family which includes the renowned Congregational preacher, “Gypsy,” Smith, one of the greatest preachers of England.”
Can you imagine how cold it was living in a tent in January in Oklahoma?
From my research, I learned Gypsies more likely came from India, than Egypt, and many more of them were, and are, of the Christian faith than most people think.
Also, Rodney “Gypsy” Smith, born in 1860 in England and raised in a gypsy wagon, never attended school and was converted at the age of 16. He started preaching at 17, and during his evangelistic career that ended in 1947 with his death, he was as widely traveled and admired as Billy Graham is today.
Colcord Park, later renamed Delmar Gardens, was owned by Charles Colcord and consisted of 160 acres near Reno Avenue and Western close to the North Canadian River. Baseball was played in that area until the flood of 1923.
A trip to Fairlawn Cemetery and a check of the records located Young’s resting place, 103 years after her death.
The original entry in the cemetery ledger read Mrs. Emma Young (gypsy) camped near the ballpark, died Jan. 31 and was buried Feb. 3, 1908. The ledger also disclosed the location of her burial place in the cemetery and the funeral home handling the arrangements. Her first name was different, but the rest of the facts fit the newspaper’s story.
Turns out, her final resting place is just a few steps north of the cemetery office.
The last curious fact about Ellen/Emma is that her grave stone bears the wrong year for her death.
It reads:
Emma Young
born October 31, 1839
died January 31, 1907
So, after 69 years of wandering, a gypsy queen has spent over a century resting in peace in Fairlawn Cemetery.
Imagine that!
Birthday house gets hot gift
It’s not often a house sends an invitation to come and celebrate a milestone in its life, but The Archivist received one recently.
The house located at 415 NW 21 recently celebrated its 90th birthday. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
The house, residing at 415 NW 21, recently celebrated its 90th birthday, and owner and loving caretaker Linda Adams threw a birthday party. And as a special gift, she burned the mortgage.
Linda Adams stands in front of her home on NW 21 in Heritage Hills holding a copy of the mortgage in advance of a party she hosted recently to celebrate the home being fully paid off. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
The house, built in 1921, not surprisingly, comes with a bit of history.
Built by famed early day builder Dr. G.A. Nichols, who helped develop Heritage Hills, Nichols Hills and Nicoma Park, the house was a gift to his daughter on the event of her marriage. The deed read, “For the sum of one dollar and love and affection… ,” and with that, Nichols presented the house to Keene C. and Mary Elizabeth (Nichols) Burwell.
As most houses do, it has changed hands several times in its 90 years.
The longest owner was J. Henry Johnson, an early day insurance agent and rose grower.
Many prize-winning roses came from the gardens of the home, so much so for many years the Rose Society presented the “J. Henry Johnson perpetual award.”
In June 1943, 150 members of the Rose Society were expected to visit the Johnson rose gardens, according to a story in The Oklahoman Archives.
Unfortunately the rose gardens have not survived, but a lovely and inviting backyard have taken their place.
The house was also visited by thousands of people in 1994 as one of the stops on the annual Heritage Hills House Tour.
The mortgage burning is a major event to celebrate in the house’s history and especially for the owner.
National Register of Historic Places plaque on house at 415 NW 21 indicating it was built in 1921. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
A search of The Oklahoman Archives and the Internet for “mortgage burning celebrations” did not find many events. Most of the stories were for churches and organizations celebrating freedom from debt.
It has never been easy for most homeowners to reach payoff and become debt-free and is even harder now days.
Several of the home’s neighbors can claim 90 years, too, as Nichols was building houses on NW 21 and NW 22. So, should you happen to be in the neighborhood, give a tip of your hat to the birthday house and wish it well as it marches on debt-free to its centennial and beyond.
Alligator sightings are not unheard of in Oklahoma City
Gators in the river! The Oklahoma River!
It’s been almost 34 years since the last reported sighting of an alligator in the North Canadian River.
In October 1977, The Oklahoman reported Jim Ellis was fishing the North Canadian River on a Saturday near the E Reno Avenue bridge, when he saw what he thought was a snake. He grabbed it and it turned out to be a 29-inch alligator. He turned it in to the Del City Police Department where it spent some time confined to a wash basin until it was sent to the zoo.
It was thought to have been a pet released into the wild.
This was not the first time alligators were found in the river. The Oklahoman Archives record several instances of alligators being seen.
In 1918, the city was building a new sewer near S Walker and the Canadian River, and J.W. Linch, a watchman for the Boardman Co., noticed activity in the water and along the banks.
Seeing alligators, he shot at one, and the July 11, 1918, newspaper article said, “He managed to get it to shore after a fight and then finished its career.
“There are five or six living in the river. The one killed measured two feet from nose to tail and was of the gulf variety. Others in the river are larger, Mr. Linch says.”
It was believed these alligators were the descendants of an alligator that escaped Wheeler Park Zoo when it flooded in 1916.
In May 1947, a man was fishing near Western and SW Choctaw (now SW 7) when he saw a 6-foot alligator. Capt. Clifford Holloway of the Oklahoma City Fire Department was dispatched to the scene, but he was unable to catch the alligator. It was believed that the alligator had washed downstream during high water.
According to the state Wildlife Department website, alligators generally are found in southeastern Oklahoma and are thought to be unable to survive the colder temperatures in central and northern Oklahoma.
It seems alligators have been sighted every 30 years or so in the part of the North Canadian River now known as the Oklahoma River.
Perhaps the rowers and boaters who use the Oklahoma River should keep a weather eye out — that floating debris might just be full of teeth.
State Bird Day honors scissor-tailed flycatcher
Scissor-tailed flycatcher perching on fence - PHOTO BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES
You probably missed it. I know I did.
Saturday, May 1, was State Bird Day. So designated by House Joint Resolution 21, adopted on May 26, 1951.
This was the legislation that made the scissor-tailed flycatcher Oklahoma’s state bird.
According to A. Marguerite Baumgartner, The Oklahoman’s long-time bird columnist, a popular vote selected the quail as the state’s official bird, but that choice was never officially proclaimed.
In the late 1940′s, garden clubs across the state and the Tulsa Audubon Society began the push for the scissortail as official bird, and their efforts were successful in 1951.
An explanation of why we missed State Bird Day may be found at the end of the resolution after all the “whereas” listings of the attributes of the scissortail.
“SECTION 2. “Bird Day” — May 1st. May 1st of each year is hereby established as “Bird Day” in Oklahoma, to be commemorated in such manner as the Societies for the Preservation of Wildlife may prescribe, from time to time.”
A search of The Oklahoman’s Archives found 21 mentions of State Bird Day from April 1951 to May 1972. Most of these are articles retelling how the scissortail became the state bird and that May 1 was to be State Bird Day. A few organizations sponsored displays, but not much happened with Bird Day.
The scissor-tailed flycatcher is arriving for the summer, so even if we missed Bird Day, we can enjoy our beautiful state bird and celebrate the 60th anniversary of it’s officialdom on May 26.
A bicycle built for two
But you’ll look sweet But you’ll look sweet
Upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.
Times change and our modes of transportation change with them.
The tandem bicycle or bicycle built for two was invented in late 19th century England and there is a report in The Oklahoman that possibly three bicycles, and one of those a tandem, participated in the Land Run of 1889.
Here is an article about a theft published November 28, 1938, that brought back memories of an earlier time to the responding police officers.
“Shades of the gay nineties descended upon the police department Sunday afternoon.”
“Got a stolen bicycle at the White House cafe, 1945 Northeast Twenty-third street,” Joe Jerkins, station captain, told (Clyde) Anderson (station officer).
Anderson took off and when he returned it was with “a bicycle built for two–a tandem. And the back seat was almost a large as a rocking chair seat, so the girl friend could ride sideways.”
“Twirling his moustache and yearning for the return of the mustache cup, Jack Barnett, scout car lieutenant, took one look at the machine and remembered how he had clipped a neat corner on one of the things in the dear, dead days. He could go whizzing by the Overholser Opera house on North Robinson avenue, do a fancy left turn, and coast to South Broadway.”
Try that today with downtown’s streets under various stages of repairs and you could probably wind up in a hole or run into a backhoe.
Jack Barnett continued telling about the first car he ever saw was one he ran into on his bicycle. He recalled, “It was a doctor’s car, and when he lifted me into that strange animal I quit hurting right away.”
“Many a boy and man hopped off their tandems to enlist for the Spanish-American war,” Barnett remembered. “And the fellow who had a shiny tandem could really give the girls the eye!”
Back to the crime, it was determined a teen-age boy had left the bicycle behind the cafe and escaped on foot. There was no indication he was ever apprehended, but it sure brought a nostalgic air to the police station back in 1938.
General’s obituary tells of rich and diverse life
General Roy Hoffman, Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame. Photo Provided
Several men were recently inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame. One of the inductees was Army Maj. Gen. Roy V. Hoffman.
Hoffman was posthumously honored and his service was summarized in an article in The Oklahoman published Sept. 7, 2010:
“Maj. Gen. Roy V. Hoffman was born in Kansas and came to Oklahoma Territory on the eve of the 1889 Land Run. During the Spanish-American War, he entered the Army as a private. Soon he was commissioned as a captain of infantry in the U.S. Volunteers. In 1899, he was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the Oklahoma National Guard. Hoffman served in France during World War I and in the Officers Reserve Corps until 1931, when he was appointed major general and commanded the 45th Infantry Division of the Oklahoma National Guard. He retired from military service in June 1933. Hoffman died June 18, 1953.”
While that statement summarizes his military life, reading his obituary, published in The Oklahoman on June 19, 1953, tells the story of a multi-faceted man.
“The full and exciting career of Roy Hoffman, 84, one of Oklahoma’s best known citizens, ended Thursday with his death”.
“Newspaperman, lawyer, judge, statesman and soldier, Hoffman probably was best known for his military exploits. He served every rank from private to major general.”
Roy Hoffman was born June 13, 1869, in Kansas and at 19 years old, he participated in the Land Run of 1889, settling at Guthrie.
It was in Guthrie that he became a newspaper man.
“My brief and transitory newspaper experience began in Guthrie in the early days when it was a tent city and shortly after the opening,” Gen. Hoffman wrote years later.
Guthrie residents of the Democratic persuasion did not have a newspaper to support their point of view, so Hoffman started the Guthrie Daily Leader, the first daily newspaper in the territory.
“Having tried farming, cowpunching, school teaching, short-hand reporting, I thought I was eminently qualified for the service,” The Oklahoman quoted Hoffman as saying.
Hoffman was accepted to the state bar in 1891 and would practice law for 46 years. He was appointed an assistant U.S. district attorney, but resigned to begin his military career, when he enlisted for the Spanish-American War.
Returning from the war, Hoffman settled in Chandler and practiced law, until moving to Oklahoma City in 1914. He served as county attorney for several counties. He had experience as both a prosecution and defense lawyer, having participated in more than 100 cases.
He was a very successful attorney, representing Phillips Petroleum, Standard of Indiana and the Prairie Oil Co., the precursor of Sinclair Oil Co.
Hoffman served as a director of First National Bank and had other businesses. For a newspaper questionnaire he wrote about his business experiences: “Have been into nearly everything except train robbing.”
Hoffman helped organize the American Legion, served as a committeeman for the Democratic Party and belonged to many civic and social organizations.
Gen. Roy Hoffman arrived in Oklahoma at 19, started a newspaper, served in the military, practiced as an attorney, served in state government, helped lead the Democratic Party, and he was a husband, and the father of two sons and a daughter.
Roy Hoffman was an Oklahoma renaissance man.
It was a busy news day 100 years ago
One hundred years ago today, Feb. 28 fell on a Tuesday. Reading a newspaper from yesteryear can show what life was like and give a sense of what was important to the pioneer citizen.
A check of The Oklahoman for Wednesday, March 1, 1911, gives indication that Tuesday was a busy news day.
On the front page we find that U.S. Sen. Thomas P. Gore’s accusations that he and others had been offered bribes to influence the vote on the sale of Indian lands were substantiated and that a Senate resolution passed in the state House of Representatives to submit an amendment to change a section of the state Constitution barring railroad building in the state.
Inside the newspaper, then as now, the weather was important to Oklahoma’s residents, and 100 years ago, the state was having its first blizzard of the year with an ice storm in Oklahoma City and 8 to 10 inches of snow in some areas of the state.
Other items of note on the inside pages:
Chicken stealing was made a felony, if the bird was worth more than $5.
An arsonist was burning buildings in Stilwell and Snyder.
A bridegroom dropped his gun and shot himself in the leg on his way home after the wedding.
February was considered a slow month because only 74 marriage licenses had been issued.
The post office was booming, announcing a 32 percent increase in the sales of stamps and stamped envelopes, compared to 1910.
The conduct of the Legislature has not improved much judging by the story appearing on Page 14 in 1911, a part of which follows: “There was a lapse in the dignity of the House of Representatives Tuesday night, and toward adjournment at 11 o’clock the session reminded one slightly more of a farcical burlesque on the stage than the solemn deliberations of the dignified lawmakers of Oklahoma. This was so especially during a heated controversy between Speaker Durant and Representative Ed Clark, right in the midst of a roll call, when Mr. Clark arose and started to make a talk when his name was called. The speaker banged his gavel so viciously that the head flew off, and the two men together indulged in some language not exactly parliamentary.”
The business page told of real estate sales totaling more than $2 million, double that of January. Building permits were down, the complaint being the weather caused construction to cease.
Boxing and baseball dominated the sports page, while the society column announced that with Ash Wednesday and the coming of Lent, there would be less formal entertaining.
These items indicate a busy news day, and The Oklahoman was there to keep residents informed, then as it is now.
Mary Phillips writes “The Archivist,” which appears regularly on Tuesdays in the Oklahoman. If you have any Oklahoma natural wonders that you might like to share, e-mail Phillips at mphillips@opubco.com.
