reprinted courtesy of the PGCHS (Prince
George's County Historical Society)
"News & Notes", Volume XLI,
Number 1, Jan/Feb 2012.[1]
see also:
·
Connecting the
Dots: Upper Marlboro seeks input on historic school’s fate - Washington
Business Journal. December 23, 2011
·
Informational
Meeting on the Issues Regarding the Old Marlboro Elementary School (originally
built as the Marlboro High School in 1921).
January 22, 2012
Part Two of Two
A BRIEF
HISTORY OF
THE MARLBORO HIGH SCHOOL/ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Continues from part one:
We have several contemporary
descriptions of the Academy during the 19th century, the most
charming being the reminiscences of Frederick Sasscer, Superintendent of
Schools for Prince George’s County, and Editor of the Upper Marlborough
newspaper, the Prince George’s Enquirer. Towards the end of 1920, Editor Sasscer was
temporarily confined to bed, and he used the time to write and publish in his newspaper
“reminiscences “ of his childhood in Upper Marlborough in the years just after
the Civil War. “My little heart
fluttered with excitement when, without warning, on a bright autumn morning in
1863 my father announced at the breakfast table that I, the eldest child, was
to begin my school career. Accordingly,
he led me to Academy Hill and introduced me to Mr. Edward Bushell unto whose
tender mercies I was committed . . . my father took leave and I well remember
how I cried when I realized I could not return home with him . . . . soon I
became a part of that little school circle . .
. by the next day I had grown big enough and brave enough to go to
school and return all by myself.” [Young
Frederick Sasscer lived at Kingston
Editor Sasscer continued, “The
Academy building then consisted of two rooms, one of which was the school room
and the other the bed room of the professor. . . . His classes, wonderful to tell, ranged from
boys learning the alphabet, the first step in education, then to classes in
Cicero and Xenophon. . . . The furniture was of the rudest kind. Desks with sloping lids in sets of three, in
all about 30, were arranged against the walls. . . . The very small boys, who
had no writing to do, found resting places on two long benches with backs. There were no blackboards, no free books and
few physical comforts. The old professor
sat at a small table in an arm chair, and was always supplied with a goodly
number of supple rods, for the rod was not spared in those primitive days.”
Sasscer went on to contrast the
simplicity of his mid-19th-century schooling with the improvements
that he had seen by 1920 (he had served as Superintendent of Prince George’s
County schools 1902-1914, and had been an innovative and progressive leader), and
he noted that Upper Marlboro would soon have a new high school. He referred also to the fact that in 1908 the
Academy property had been turned over to the Board of County School
Commissioners, and that this 1855 building had thenceforward been used as a
public high school – “. . . the trustees and patrons of the Marlboro Academy
desire the establishment of a High School at the County Seat . . . it is
ordered that a committee be appointed .
. . with authority to enter into an agreement whereby the property of said
Academy . . . . may be used for said proposed High School to be established
under the provisions of the General School Law relating to the opening of High
Schools.” In 1920, Mr. Sasscer recalled
that transition, which had occurred during his tenure as superintendent, and
looked forward to the construction of the new high school which would be
completed in the following year.
“The old Academy lost its identity about twelve years ago, when the
property was turned over to the School Board in order that the present High
School might be established, and our boys and girls alike might enjoy the
benefits of instruction in the higher grades. . . . . May the new High School
building soon to be erected embody in its conveniences all the comforts of the
new age, and may the children of the present generation and of generations to
come find keen delight and rich enlightenment within its walls!”
The Mission-style two-story high
school of 1921 can still be seen at the rear of the present building, Built by
Thomas H. Marsden for $38,000, it was of masonry construction, coated with
white-painted cement, and distinguished by a handsome shaped parapet on its
south entrance façade. It had eight
classrooms, offices and a library, as well as rooms for manual training and
home economics. The new school was
dedicated on May 19, 1921, with considerable ceremony, and a lengthy speech
about the very historical Academy that it was replacing. Soon after the high
school opened, elementary school classes also began in the new building. During
the 1930s, the building was significantly enlarged - a large red-brick addition
including eight more classrooms and an auditorium was built, wrapping around
and hiding the south entrance façade of the original 1921 structure. In the 1940s, the original 1921 building was
used to house the elementary students, while the newer red-brick structure
operated as the High School. After the
construction of Frederick Sasscer Junior/Senior High School in 1947, the older
students moved to that new school, and elementary school classrooms took up the
entire structure on Academy Hill. Known
now as the Old Marlboro Elementary School, this building was closed by the
early 1970s. For years after that, it
served as the office of the Sheriff’s Department.
From 1835, when the Marlborough
Academy was established, until the 1970s, this site has been an important
educational landmark in the County Seat.
We will keep you posted as plans for its site unfold.
[1]
personal email. Prince George's County
Historical Society. January 21, 2012. http://www.pghistory.org/
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