The Portland daily press., 1895-05-16
FOR THIRTY YEARS.
A Valued Teacher in the Portland
High School.

Miss Sarah A. Gilpatrick Has rendered
Her Resignation to Take Effect in June
She VIII Pass the Next Year and Pos
sibIy Longer in Europe-A Brief Ac-
count of Her Long and Successful Ca
reer as Portland Educator.
Miss Sarah A. Gilpatrick, who has
been a teacher in the Portland High
School for longer period of time than
anyone else, has rendered her resignation
TO the committee to take effect at the
end of the school year in June. That
will close the thirtieth year of her teach
ing at the Portland High School, the
last twenty-one years of which have been
consecutive. Miss Gilpatrick will sail
for Europe in the summer vacation,
which will be the beginning of the long
est vacation that she has taken since she
first began to teach in the Portland
High School thirty-seven years ago. 1t
will be permanent vacation. She will
remain in Europe at least yeaI and
possibly longer. She will pass next win
ter in Germany, and occupy herself prin-
cipally in the study of the language.
Miss Gilpatrick was born in Portland
ana educated in the Portland schools.
She attended the Girls High School,
under Principal Moses Woolson, and
graduated in July, 1858. She was the
youngest memebr of the class, but dur
ing the four years had the unusual rank
of leading all the other members in
every study.
In September of that year she began to
teach in the Boys High School,, then
located in the building Oh Spring street,
near the corner of Oak, where now are
the Deaf School and the Fraternity. The
principal then was the late DR.. Hanson,
for SO many years well known through
out the State as the principal of the CO.
burn Classical Institute at Waterville,
which post he held at the time of his re-
cent death.
Miss Gilpatrick was the second woman
teacher who had ever taught in the Boys
High School. At different times while
she was there both the Hon. Thomas
Reed and Gen. Henry G. Thomas were
teachers in the school. She taught
chiefly Latin and Greek and mathemat-
les. More than half of the pupils were
her seniors in age.
The schoolhouse was then but one
stoy buildingGt has since been enlarged,
and was heated by box stove, in which
only wood could be burned. When the
,or- Il;c, CobooI ~, Cu,,, barlond ctrcat
(the present building) was completed, in
1868, it was thought to be very elegant
structure and indeed must have seemed
palatial compared to the Spring street
s hool and the third story of the Chest
nut street schoolhouse, where the Girls
High School was then located, under the
charge of Principal William Tucker.
1t was great event in Portland when
these two schools were united iD the
splendid new building on Cum berland
street in 1868, not only because the new
quarters W ell supposed to be perfect in
all respects, but because the uniting of
the hoys and girls in one High School
building was then accompli she'd in Port
land for the first time and was in the
nature of an experiment and dangerous
cne too, in the opinion of many people.
This opinion prevailed to such an ex
tent that the building was divided in
the middle by solid brick wall, more
insurmountable than the great wall of
China itself, for in it was no gateway,
and toe top was the top of tine building.
The scholars seats were on the second
floor. The girls sat in the end of the
building next to Cumberland street and
the boys in the end next to Congress
streets. The recitation rooms were on
the first floor and the boys and girls
came down from their invioable separa-
ton and were united under the watchful
gaze of the teachers, but on different
sides of the room.
Principal Tucker of the Girls High
new and united school and Miss Gilpat-
rick became one of it's first corps of
teachers. She taught there till 1868,
when she went to Shelbyville, Ken
lucky, to become teacher in Science
Hall FemaleA cademy at more than,twice
oIIS ohAoho DhS w oS lSSOAtihS3 AA = VI eAeAiNs
MIS-. Julia Teris was principal of the
school, which was said to be the Oldest
in the Mississippi valley.
Miss Gilpatriok remained there seven
years, and then, wearying of the Western
life and isolation from home and friends,
returned to Portland in 1874, and
again became teacher in the High
School here. Ever since that time she
has been one Of the most valued and
prominent of the teachers of Portland.
During these twenty-one consecutive
years at the High School it has been her
singular good fortune not to have lost
through sickness or any oth9r cause
more than one week of attendan p. She
lost one day this present term because of
sickness, and that was her first days
absence since 's2, period of thirteen
years. When she was teaching in the
Boys High School on Spring street, she
was absent two weeks, because of sick
ness, but since then she has never been
I