School days, school days

[Harry]

The Bordens didn't move to 92 Second st. until 1872. Lizzie would have been 12.

We know that she attended the Morgan St. school when a child. The map below shows a route from the Ferry St. house, where she mainly lived while attending the Morgan St. school. This is a current Google map and shows the driving distance as 1/2 mile.

Just out of curiosity how did Lizzie get to school and back home each day? No school buses then. I could see her walking when she got a little older, say 8. But when she was younger did Abbie or Emma take her? Andrew?

Don't ask me why I would like to know. I have no idea.

[shakiboo]

I think I understand why you're curious, Lizzies childhood is the framework of who she became as an adult. As it is for all of us. In order for her to kill as coldbloodly as she did, something had to have gone horribly wrong, finding out what that was could possibly answer a whole lot of questions. Was Andrew wealthy back then? What grades were in the school? Any chance that Emma would still be going? Or had she stopped by then?

[snokkums]

I think in high school her grades were average at best, or so I read. At any rate, didn't she drop out when she was 16?

I am assuming that she probably was taken to school by an adult until she was able to take herself.

[Yooper]

I imagine Emma might have walked Lizzie to school. Lizzie may have walked by herself. Traffic moved a bit slower back then! I walked to school alone as a small child, right from kindergarten on, and so did all of my classmates.

[RayS]

But is walking to kindergarten possible in today's world?

[Smudgeman]

well DUH, who is talking about today's world?

[snokkums]

Maybe when she was younger, she might have rode in a horse pulled carriage too school? I too walked to school from a very early age, but I had my brothers with me too. Sometimes I couldn't keep up so one of them had to pick me and give a piggy back ride to schoopl.

[SallyG]

That seems like a pretty good hike for a little girl, especially with several turns. Apparently at one time Andrew DID keep a horse and buggy. I would imagine he may have driven Lizzie to school, and possibly Emma as well. Perhaps Emma walked her to school, or even Abby. Or maybe she walked with other children of the neighborhood who went to the same school.

[SteveS.]

Does anyone have a source for the grade school that Lizzie attended? There are older schools that are closer to the Ferry St. area. That walk is pretty long to Morgan St. and mostly up hill. I went to Slade School in Fall River as a child. My family lived 1 block behind South Main St. and I walked to school by myself since kindergarten.

[Harry]

Hello, SteveS, and welcome to the forum. Always nice to see Fall Riverites participating.

The info on Lizzie attending the Morgan St. school is in Rebello, page 271, but the source is an interview with Mrs. Charles J. Holmes:

"Lizzie Borden: Her School, and Later Life, Noble Woman Though Retiring," Boston Herald, August 7, 1892: 6.

Mrs. Charles J. Holmes and unidentified friends of Lizzie's were interviewed by the Boston Herald. A partial listing of comments are listed below.
"As a child, she was of a very sensitive nature, inclined to be non-communicative with new acquaintances and this characteristic has tenaciously clung to her all through life, and has been erroneously interpreted. ...At the usual age, she was sent to the Morgan Street School, embracing primary and grammar grades. ..."

The principal of the N.B. Borden school, Horace A. Benson, lived at #84 Second Street in 1892. He roomed at Mrs. Burt's house. I verified that by checking the 1892 City Directory. He apparently had Lizzie as a student when he was a teacher. That's also in Rebello, page 271.

[SteveS.]

Thank you Harry for the welcome and for the information on young Lizzie and her grade school. I sheepishly admit I never read Rebello's book. I will have to find myself a copy. I was just asking this question because I used to have a friend that lived on the corner of Mullbery and Ferry Streets and I frequently stayed at their house and I remember a old grade school on the corner of columbia near there. Guess it wasn't there in Lizzie's time though.

[Shelley]

I believe Lizzie attended the Fall River High School up until the 11th grade. I was lucky to win this postcard- it is so easy to find BMC Durfee High School cards-but this is the old school. Harry, do you know the address where it was? It does have Fall River HS on the card.

[Shelley]

I had actually planned to pop in the Morgan St school tomorrow to see if anything original is left. Looks like it is safe for a while longer from the wrecking ball. Nobody has blackboards anymore- now kids are allergic to chalk dust! Now it is the Nathanial B. Borden School.

[Harry]

According to the Keeley Library site it is now called the Foster Grammar School.

For some reason June Street sounds familiar but that may be totally off-base. Got a Fall River telephone directory?

[Shelley]

The N.B Borden sign is still on the front lawn to the left of the front of the school on Morgan St.

I will check out the June St. address for the FRHigh School building. I hope something of the past is left inside both of them. I seem to recall Andrew Jennings (photo below)had a house on June Street #421 I think-
YES! I do have a phone book and will trot off to have a look.

[Harry]

An 1895 map I have a page of shows a Foster-Hooper school at the corner of June and Locust Sts.

[mbhenty]

,,

[Harry]

Thanks, Michael. I thought that June St. sounded familiar.

[mbhenty]

,,

[Harry]

Found it on the map. Again, thanks Michael. Lizzie had quite a hike from 92 Second if she hoofed it. No wonder she quit!

[mbhenty]

,,

[SteveS.]

My very first apartment was in the house that is above the "St." in that map Harry on the corner of Rock and Walnut st. They just don't build them like that anymore. The built in dressers and other woodwork is spectacular and the main front staircase was amazing. I don't remember who the house belonged to originaly but I know it is 1 of the historic highlands homes. it is right across from where the Fall River school department is located now.

[Lefty]

[quote="Harry @ Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:33 pm"]Found it on the map. Again, thanks Michael. Lizzie had quite a hike from 92 Second if she hoofed it. No wonder she quit!

Actually, I see kids make this walk daily from the Kuss Middle School, which is pretty much located in the same area. Kuss is located between Locust, Rock, Cherry, and June.

[Lefty]

Hello, SteveS, and welcome to the forum. Always nice to see Fall Riverites participating.

The info on Lizzie attending the Morgan St. school is in Rebello, page 271, but the source is an interview with Mrs. Charles J. Holmes:

"Lizzie Borden: Her School, and Later Life, Noble Woman Though Retiring," Boston Herald, August 7, 1892: 6.

Mrs. Charles J. Holmes and unidentified friends of Lizzie's were interviewed by the Boston Herald. A partial listing of comments are listed below.
"As a child, she was of a very sensitive nature, inclined to be non-communicative with new acquaintances and this characteristic has tenaciously clung to her all through life, and has been erroneously interpreted. ...At the usual age, she was sent to the Morgan Street School, embracing primary and grammar grades. ..."

The principal of the N.B. Borden school, Horace A. Benson, lived at #84 Second Street in 1892. He roomed at Mrs. Burt's house. I verified that by checking the 1892 City Directory. He apparently had Lizzie as a student when he was a teacher. That's also in Rebello, page 271.

I defer to the experts, but isn't it possible that Lizzie attented another school before the Morgan School? The school was built in 1868, did she really start school at 8 years old? The school on Columbia St. was considered an 'intermediate' school but there were grammar schools located on Anawan and Canal. It's very likely that the Morgan School housed grades 1-8, which means Lizzie might have attended for 6,7 and 8th grades.

[GilC]

I raised the question under the waterfront topic about whether or not 12 Ferry St. was located where it would be today. If it was, there was a grammar school one street over on William St. The Samuel Longfellow School which burned down in the late 1950s was at the site of the present William Street Apts. housing for the elderly.

[Lefty]

I raised the question under the waterfront topic about whether or not 12 Ferry St. was located where it would be today. If it was, there was a grammar school one street over on William St. The Samuel Longfellow School which burned down in the late 1950s was at the site of the present William Street Apts. housing for the elderly.

The Longfellow School was built in 1899-1900, a bit too late for Lizzy.

[Shelley]

The visit described in the Morgan Street School article in today's new Hatchet was a poignant occasion. As any old educator will tell you, the memories of students and happy school days linger long after the last bell. It's always sad to see a magnificent edifice, dedicated to education close its doors. I collected some of the photos tonight which were not able to be published in The Hatchet and put them together in a short slide presentation which can be seen at the Warps and Wefts link below. I sure hope the city will do something wonderful with this great piece of Fall River's historic architecture.

[GilC]

Gee Shelley, I know you're an amazing woman but the ability to take pictures in the future? Autumn 2008?

[Shelley]

Ah, you found out about my Time Machine, Gil. The secret's out now. Lizzie says "Hello!".

[Harry]

Very nice, Shelley! The ghost of the Morgan St. school.

You should have used the recently found picture of her. She'd be about the right age.

[GilC]

I have a trivia question about the N.B. Borden School. I don't have the answer, maybe someone else does. When I graduated from high school in the late 1960s that building was the "Fall River Girl's Vocational High School" and was so until the mid 1970s when it was absorbed by the "new" Durfee High School on Elsbree St.

When did that building become the girl's vocational high school? When did it re-open as the N.B. Borden School?

[Shelley]

I thought of it Harry, but that photo is still pretty exclusive. I had thought of photoshopping that face and hat on another shot I have of a little girl in vintage school dress and putting it in the front doorway of the school. But Lizzie was there until she was 14 so the photo used above is pretty close. My daughter does these things for me- I have zero talent in that department.

[Kat]

I have a trivia question about the N.B. Borden School. I don't have the answer, maybe someone else does. When I graduated from high school in the late 1960s that building was the "Fall River Girl's Vocational High School" and was so until the mid 1970s when it was absorbed by the "new" Durfee High School on Elsbree St.

When did that building become the girl's vocational high school? When did it re-open as the N.B. Borden School?

I have a good source that says the school was at least called the N.B. Borden school in 1912. When it was named that, I'm not sure. You might check Phillips History of Fall River. Here is a link to the page to download it:
http://www.sailsinc.org/Durfee/fulltext.htm

I checked the index for "Morgan Street" school, and got Fascicle II, try Chapter VIII, pages 61- 76 & Chapter X, page 90. Also, you may try a search in the different school sections there for your *Fall River Girl's Vocational" etc...

[GilC]

Thanks Kat! Evidently the building's use for vocational purposes went back to about 1919:


Continuation School

In 1919 an amended statute required fourteen year old applicants for employment to pass a sixth grade standard instead of a fourth grade record of attainment. This was shortly followed by another legislative enactment which required cities to provide schooling four hours a week, for minors between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, who were employed not less than six hours per day or remained at home under special permit. The law further required that the classes of boys and girls must be taught separately. The Continuation School was established to conform to this law . The school in this city was in operation within a very short time, under the very able management of Charles E. Reed. The school was second only in size to the one in Boston established in 1914. It was classed as a model school of its kind in the state .

The girls' school was located in the N . B. Borden School, on Morgan Street. There were two divisions of the boys ' school, one at the Bradford Durfee Textile School and the other in the Giesow Building on Third Street. In all three schools, part time was given to academic subjects and part time, in the girls ' school to domestic arts, in the boys' school to shop work. In the early twenties, there were twenty-five hundred pupils attending every week.

The closing of many mills put an end to the employment of a large number of boys and girls under sixteen . In consequence the operation of the school was curtailed . There were a number of the pupils who remaine d in the school on full time. The time will probably come when this school will be combined with the Diman Vocational School .

[Tina-Kate]

Ah, you found out about my Time Machine, Gil. The secret's out now. Lizzie says "Hello!".

I do believe I started a "ghost in the window" trend!

[Kat]

Cool, GilC!
That was from Phillips?
I'm so glad you pursued the research. Thanks for the quoted info!

[GilC]

Yes Kat. Chapter X page 90.