The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-05-08

To the Editor Of the Indianapolis Journal
Is ii not about time to call halt In the.
naming of our public schoolhouses, at least
long enough to catch up with this question:
Who is who? There was such an appro-
priateness in the naming of the first high
school after the first superintendent. whose
energy and tact not only made a high
school possible. but gave the pace which
has brought our high schools to the very
front rank of schools Of its grade, that
there was unanimous acQuiescence In it;
but what can be said in justification of
naming our public schools at random. one
here, another there. and by any name that
some one or more of the board seems to
fancy and wholly WITHOUT regard to fitness?
Washington was a <,ood enough man for
his time and the work he had to do: so
was Lincoln, and so were the other ex-
Presidents whose names are given to some
of the schools, but none of them has any
more significance in this connection than
the thirty-odd other ex-Presidents and
they all seem to have been selected by
Webster and Morton and Franklin among
the army OF statesmen who once ranked
high. but whose names signify nothing
more in connection with schoolhouse
than would the names OF thousand others
of equal rank in their times. Audubon
was clever Frenchman, born in America
Il
birds, but what title does all that give
him to name of one Of our schoolhouses
in which birds cut no special figure?
There are 10000 lovers of birds VINO are
equally as deserving, so far as birdology
is concerned. The same Is true of two
former pastors. for short period. Of
small churches in Indianapolis most ex-
cellent men they were, and useful in their
places-but there have, been scores just as
much loved by their churches and quite
as much devoted to the interests of educa-
ton, and some OF them of national fame,
whose names cannot all be thus appropri-
ated.
Now, IL the School Board wishes to give
names to the several schoolhouses, let IL
of school building as they have perpetuated
the name of the first principal of the high
school, The only difficulty is there are not
and will not be in a half-century enough
houses to take on the half of them 1t
meant something to befriend schools fifty
to seventy-fve years ago in Indianapolis,
when such men as Calvin Fletcher, James
NJ. Ray, James Blake, John Wilkens and
a dozen others of that period took hand
in school-building and maintaining, not to
mention other scores of later but equally
Hannanan. Ketcham. John Osgood and
Merritt. 1t would be good thing to perpet-
uate these honored names, though Ii
would be a delicate and difficult matter to
choose fifty or so out of the hundreds
equally deserving. as Ii must have been
in selecting from among the ex-Presidents.
the STATESMEN anu the preachers. AS III Is,
at least ninety-nine out OF a hundred In
indianapolis are asking which one of the
McCoys gave name to old No "a; and twice
as many want TO know who is or was
Francis w. Parker, whose name is given
to old Sc? More than a hundred could be
selected from the early workers in educa-
ton in Indianapolis who would need no
introduction to the children Of the city.
Let me make a suggestion; Let call
a halt in this naming business for at least
| decade. and meanwhile let the school
directory continue to publish the names
already bestowed, with the old number in
| parentheses thus-McCoy (2D school. / pre-
| dict that in every case the people would
| call every schoolhouse by it's number not
| its new name. and thus the names would
| gradually disappear and no more names
| would ever be resorted to. u. L. SEE.
| indianapolis. May 6.