Cape schools mark 150 years of public education

In 2011, as Cape Girardeau Central High School was preparing to celebrate its centennial anniversary, high-school librarian Julia Howes Jorgensen wrote a brief history of public education in Cape Girardeau.

After highlighting the most recent achievements — a then-new Career and Technology Center and new high-school building — she wrote of “keep[ing] courageous commitments for the kids of our community for the new century.”

While campaigning for school board or proposing a ballot issue may take courage, education now is considered a public good by many, which hasn’t always been the case.

In celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first day of public school in Cape Girardeau, students across the district Friday also celebrated the courage of the district’s founders.

George H. Cramer, the 12th man to serve as mayor of Cape Girardeau, “met little encouragement” in his endeavors to establish a public-education system in the 1860s, according to a history printed in Cape Girardeau High School’s first yearbook published in 1912.

Instead, “the business men opposed it on account of the tax and many of the old aristocratic class declared they would have no ‘pauper schools’ in the city,” according to the yearbook’s account.

When an election was set for January 1867, the promotional flyers were torn down multiple times and on election day, the newly-elected members of the school board adjourned to the basement of the nearby Presbyterian Church after a crowd described as a “bitter host of enemies” appeared on the steps of the courthouse, according to the yearbook account.

The first classes were held in that same basement roughly two months later, but the resistance continued in 1871 when “an armed force” occupied what was to be the Lorimier School and had to be “overpowered ... without bloodshed” by militiamen, according to the yearbook account.

In the intervening years, the district has expanded to 10 campuses, including the Career and Technology Center and Central Academy with more than 4,000 students enrolled.

“We are very excited to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first day of school for Cape Girardeau Public Schools,” said superintendent James Welker in a statement Friday. “It is a great opportunity for us to celebrate the long and rich history of our school district. It is also an opportunity for us to highlight the importance of public education in our community.”

The hundreds of students who sang “Happy Birthday” to the district Friday morning at Alma Schrader Elementary were plenty excited to celebrate being at school.

“How old is Cape Public Schools today?” principal Ruth Ann Orr asked the assembly.

“150 years old,” they shrieked.

“That’s right! That’s older than Dr. Orr is!” she replied, promising the students the coming year would be full of other celebrations to learn about Cape Girardeau school history.

“We appreciate our current teachers, administrators, and support staff and all of those who came before us. We also appreciate the support of this community over the years,” Welker said. “We are very proud of the last 150 years and look forward to continuing that heritage in the years to come. Happy Birthday Cape Public Schools!”

tgraef@semissourian.com

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