Author: Ken Steinhoff

When I saw a headline in The Southeast Missourian that Florence Poe, Cape Giradeau’s oldest woman had died at 112, it didn’t register very high on my interest meter because I didn’t have any connection with her, John Donne and “never send to know for whom the bell tolls,” not withstanding.

That’s when Wife Lila pointed out that her sister, Marty Perry Riley, had painted the woman’s portrait when Mrs. Poe was 107. Marty said that one of the most striking things that she wanted to capture was the beauty of Mrs. Poe braiding her long, white hair every morning.

Mrs. Poe at her 110th birthday celebration

Marty took these two photos at Mrs. Poe’s 110th birthday celebration. The woman was blind – “her eyes just gave out” – and her body was old, but she was “sharp as a tack. She would tell stories of coming to the area in a covered wagon.”

The Missourian’s obit by Alaina Busch said that Mrs. Poe was born Aug. 24, 1897, and was the seventh oldest documented person in this country and 16th oldest in the world. That’s the info that the Gerontology Research Group had current as of March 15, 2010.

Mrs. Poe is survived by three daughters and – as the old obit phrase used to go – “a host of other friends and relatives.” Her mother was almost 104 when she died; her oldest daughter is 91.

She wanted to prove she could walk

Mrs. Poe was fiercely independent, Marty said. When she turned 110, she wanted to let people know that she could still walk. She was delivered to party in a purple and white lace-decorated wheel chair, but she walked to the table on her own.

Mrs. Poe died March 21 after suffering a stroke.

Thanks to Marty for providing the images and memories. I love the regal and dignified look she captured. Mrs. Poe is no longer a stranger to me. I’ve heard John Donne’s bell.

Franklin School opened its doors in 1927, but it did it without a name on the front of the school. It was the only school in the district with no outward identification.

It wasn’t until 1971 that the 8-inch-high white plastic letters were placed above the door. Money for the sign was raised by the Student Council, which sold school supplies and held a used book sale.

Franklin came about because of western expansion

The Cape County school web site has an interesting history of Franklin School that I’m going to borrow from.

Due to rapid growth in the west part of town, the Cape Girardeau Board of Education looked into expanding the school district in 1925. On November 2, 1925, six acres were purchased at a price of $14,000.00 to build Franklin School. A bond issue for $300,000.00 for the purchase and erection of the school was passed. For a contracted price of $179,611.00, work on Franklin School began.

Bond issue would replace Franklin School

Voters will go to the polls April 6 to decide, among other things, whether or not to replace Franklin. A Southeast Missourian story quoted Neil Glass, director of administrative services, as saying, “It was by far in the best interest of our students to go with a new school,” he said.

… Franklin is the oldest of the district’s five elementary schools. As he looked at seismic upgrades and other renovations, Glass said the scope of the project grew.

“Before we knew it, we were at $11.8 million,” he said. Cost estimates for a new two-story building are $10.02 million. Glass said it would be built behind the current building and would include the school’s gym.

First Ben Franklin was 14″ high

From the history site: On January 13, 1928, Franklin School received a 14” bust statuette of Benjamin Franklin from the Franklin History Club of Central High School.

The current Ben Franklin statue was carved by A. W. Birk. He did an original carving in 1999; this one replaced it in 2006.

Teacher’s pay in 1960: $3,800

From the history site: In 1960 teachers’ salaries were increased. A teacher with a B.S. degree will start at $3800.00 and in 9 years will receive $4850.00.  A teacher with a M.A. has a starting salary of $4200.00.  The school board also denied extra duty pay for those teachers who are doing duties.  In another direction, voters rejected another proposed bond issue for a new junior high school a second time in less than 2 months.  This was the first time in 26 years a bond issue had been rejected.  John R. Miller is the principal of Franklin School beginning in 1961.  He is only the third principal in charge since Franklin opened its doors.  He is in charge of 20 teachers and 520 students.

Open classroom concept not popular

On December 5, 1972 a special election was held to pass a $995,000.00 bond issue.  The money was to be used to renovate Franklin School, complete the remodeling of Washington and Lorimier Schools and construct a new addition to the vocational technical school.  The issue passed with a large majority.

The passing of the bond issue did not solve all the problems. When school started in September of 1973, Franklin School could not open its doors.  Due to a strike by the Carpenters Union Local 1770, progress on Franklin renovations came to a halt for some time.  School began for Franklin students in two separate places.  One hundred twenty-four 5th and 6th grade students and two groups of kindergarten children were forced to attend classes at Grace United Methodist Church while grades 1-4 were attending Hawthorne School.  In October, the group at Grace United Methodist Church returned to Franklin.  The rest came back on November 9th.

The renovations were extensive.  The open classroom teaching method was the basis for new room configurations.  Classrooms became one large room for each grade except the 3rd and 4th grades which were combined in one room.  Walls were removed so teachers could team teach and combine classes.  There were 5 private classrooms kept so teachers could use them if privacy was desired.  The folding doors were not installed at this time.  Franklin also had new plumbing installed along with new heating and air conditioning.  The stage and the old shower room were removed.  New aluminum windows and front door were installed and the office was completely redecorated.  Classrooms were given new carpet and indirect lighting after the ceilings were lowered.  Franklin looks brand new.

With the new renovations, came other problems and concerns.  Parents and students did not care for the open classrooms.  They felt students could not concentrate on their studies nor pay attention in class when several teachers are teaching different lessons.  After folding doors were installed, the protests died down.

Introduction to Biology Classes

I’m told there was some elementary, after-hours biology studies conducted on the front steps of Franklin School, but they ended before the final exam was given. In fact, I believe the course ended somewhere between the introduction of studies and the first exam, though not because of lack of student interest and participation.

Kage School before it closed in 1966

At the end of November, 2009, I ran this and two other pictures of Kage School shot sometime around 1966, just before the school was closed and 112 years after it opened. Follow this link to read the original story with the history of the school and some other resources.

Initials carved into the brick

At the time, I didn’t notice the initials carved into the bricks on the south wall of the school. The odd thing is that no description of the school I’ve read mentions the carvings.

Was this REALLY scratched in 1899?

This building was constructed in 1880, so it’s conceivable that someone with the initials ROL might have scratched his name on the south wall of the building. That’s the side that the 0uthouse was on and the door to the kitchen wasn’t added until years later, so there was some privacy. If the child was waiting for his or her turn in the outdoor toilet, maybe he or she passed the time tracing letters in the soft brick. The “L” has a unique shape that makes me think of a font of that period.

1913 is a little more plausible

WS claims to be from 1913. Discipline was strict in schools of that era. You have to wonder what punishment, if any,  students would receive if they were caught defacing the building. Or, was it a school tradition that was overlooked as long as it was done only on that back wall.

Where was the outhouse?

My 1966 photo showed a small child headed to the outhouse. It’s long gone, but there are two concrete foundations still standing on the south side of the school. The application for the National Register of Historic Places says that one of them was a utility shed and the other was the outhouse.

I’ll have to take their word for it. The one foundation looks too large for an outhouse and the other looks too small for a shed. For obvious reasons, I didn’t dig too deeply into the subject.

Outhouse or utility shed?

I thought the outhouse was closer to the school, but this COULD be the pit. I tried to convince my brother, Mark, to explore the subject, but he’s not as gullible as he was when he was a kid.

Kage School is crumbling

The bricks in the chimney are beginning to crumble and there are cracks above a window on the southeast side. If anyone is going to step up to preserve this historic building, they’d better do it soon. I encourage you to follow the link to the National Register application to read the fascinating history of the school.

Kage School Gallery of Photos

Here’s a gallery of photos from Kage School. Click on any image to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the photo to move through the gallery.