The Restoration of Childhood
I have vivid memories of grade school. I specifically remember that fall day in 1982 when my best friend, Linda Malcolm, and I walked into that Atlanta Primary School classroom, acting like we owned the place. It was the very first day of kindergarten and I was pumped! There was no crying from me when my mama dropped me off. Nope! I had hit the big time. My kindergarten teacher made each student a name tag in the shape of an ice cream cone, and everybody’s ice cream cone was a different color. My favorite color was yellow, but much to my dismay, the yellow ice cream cone had been given to the other Tammy in my class. I got stuck with the green one. After picking myself up out of the pits of my green-ice-cream-cone despair, I experienced some really happy times in grade school. My mind is flooded with memories of lessons learned and people that forever shaped my life.
There’s an old, abandoned school building in my hometown of Atlanta, Texas. Above the door, the words, “Atlanta Grade School” and the year “1936” are inscribed, but locals know the building as Miller Grade School, because it sits on Miller Street. The school closed its doors in 1974, which was eight years before my name tag fiasco. So, in my 43 years of being raised in this small town, I never stepped foot inside the old building until recently when curiosity got the best of me and I started asking questions. My aunt and uncle, who donate their personal time to the Atlanta Miller Grade School Restoration Project, unlocked the doors and took me on the grand tour of the building that once educated hundreds of students. With it, came a fantastic history lesson and some hilarious conversations with former students who look upon Atlanta Miller Grade School as a place that holds sweet memories.
Just standing in the building, you can almost hear the voices of excited children ringing through the hallowed halls. It’s a place where I am certain teachers taught old-fashioned reading, writing and arithmetic and taught these subjects well. Time has definitely taken its toll on Atlanta Miller Grade School, but the original rafters in the tall ceilings are as well-preserved as the day they were constructed. The floors have been stripped down to the well-crafted, original hardwood. Chalkboards are still on the walls and old desks litter the classrooms. It’s definitely a sight to see.
Following the Great Depression, the government established the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It was a program meant to get the unemployed back to work. In 1936, the WPA contracted the Hardy Brothers, out of Texarkana, to build the school. It only took 120 days to construct the entire building because there were so many local laborers employed for the project. Coming at the heels of the Depression, those laborers were glad to have the work. When the school was built, there was no central heat or air. They raised windows when it got too hot and they used boilers in the colder months. In the early years of operation, there were six classrooms housing first through eighth grades. As time passed, classrooms were added to accommodate the increasing student population of Atlanta.
The playground on the west side of the building was not fenced in. The kids were simply told not to go past the row of big oak trees, and they didn’t. Rules seemed to have been followed a little better in those days. Mr. David Kennedy, one of Atlanta Miller Grade School’s principals, made sure the playground was clean. He would have kids pick up trash before recess was over. “That taught us something,” one student said. “We not only learned that littering was a bad habit, but we learned that what we messed up, we were responsible for cleaning up. I’ve always remembered that.” There was eventually playground equipment in the later years of the school’s operation. I’m told the see-saws were full of splinters, the slides were 100 feet tall and the roundabout would “safely” hold the entire third and fourth grades at the same time.
There was no cafeteria at Atlanta Miller Grade School. Students brought their lunches from home, bought a hamburger at the nearby Briar Patch or were bussed to the high school for lunch. Former students tell of fun bus rides to the cafeteria and the famous rolls made by Mrs. Leona Ransom, who worked in the high school cafeteria for years. Apparently, these rolls were the stuff that legends are made of, because several former students mentioned them. In the 1960s a kid could buy two of Mrs. Ransom’s rolls for a nickel and could snack on them all the way back to the grade school. Mrs. Ransom’s grandson, Travis Ransom, is now the mayor of Atlanta, Texas.
I spoke with Atlanta native James Joslin about some of the school day shenanigans that took place at Atlanta Miller Grade School. He says he came in from recess and headed straight to the bathroom to wash off that distinct smell fourth-grade boys have after playing hard on the playground. Unbeknownst to James, his friends, Marshall Brooks and Martin Miller, had loosened the glass globe soap dispenser in its metal ring holder. He remembers greeting the boys as he entered the bathroom and that they had very odd looks on their faces. When James firmly hit the skinny metal piece of the glass soap dispenser, it flew 15 feet in the air. James said, “I tried my best to catch that thing,” but to no avail. The glass globe hit the hard bathroom floor and shattered into a million pieces. Sliding on soap and glass, Marshall and Martin escaped the crime scene, but James ran right into the principal while trying to make a speedy exit. He says he repeatedly tried to explain the truth of the bathroom episode to Mr. Kennedy, but nevertheless he was found guilty while the real perpetrators got away. James does not remember how many licks he got that day, but he remembers after further investigation, Mr. Kennedy apprehended the real bathroom bandits and handed out their corporal punishment as well. James Joslin says when he got home that day, his NEIGHBOR, Principal Kennedy (ain’t that just a kick in the head), walked across the yard to report the day’s events to the elder Mr. Joslin which turned out to make double trouble for the innocent fourth grader. Mr. Kennedy was a bachelor at the time and was living with his mother, right next to the Joslins. James laughed as he said, “nobody in town was as happy as I was when the principal got married and moved across town with his new wife.”
When walking through Atlanta Miller Grade School, I see the progress of the restoration efforts being made by its former students. The restoration project participants pour their hearts into the old building they hold so dear. Their group is made up of former students and old friends who value what the old school represents. Through donations, fundraising and hard work, they continue in their efforts of drainage improvement, eave repair, window replacement, abatements for asbestos and a long list of other improvements. They even planted new grass in front of the school this past fall. There is still so much work to be done, but its former students are up for the task, as the happy memories are still very vivid in their minds.
Atlanta Miller Grade School in Atlanta, Texas stands as a monument to a number of adults who spent much of their childhood there. There are infinite stories from those who attended. I noticed the common thread regarding time spent in that building was that they were happy times, which made for lasting memories. Take a second out of your day and think back on your time in grade school. It definitely brings a smile to my face when I remember that time in my own life-the funny stories, the friends I haven’t seen in years, and the teachers for whom I still hold the utmost respect. Grade school is where I got passed my first do-you-like-me-check-yes-or-no-box note. It’s where I found my love for reading and writing and where I learned to use my own brain to figure things out. It’s where I learned the lessons that still influence my life today, starting with a green ice cream cone.
