HISTORY OF THE
by Mary E. Robbins Gifford(former student and teacher)
November 1978
"Forerunner of Rose Bud Consolidation"
1913-1918
INTRODUCTION:
It was the dream of a Rose Bud BOY to start an accredited high school for his hometown, as it was the lack of a good school at Rose Bud that necessitated his attending the Prep School at Ouachita Baptist College for THREE years before he could become a college student. Four years later he received the Bachelor of Arts Degree, totaling seven years at the college. (1906-1913).
He was OSCAR B. ROBBINS, the oldest of the six children of Mr. and Mrs. WILL ROBBINS. His five younger brothers and sisters followed him to Ouachita for their higher education.
Oscar was hired to teach the Rose Bud School that fall of 1913. Here was the chance to lay the ground work and sow the seeds for a consolidated school. He worked feverishly all that summer speaking at meetings and talking to private individuals over the entire township. By fall he had THREE districts to come to Rose Bud School. It would now have two teachers instead of ONE, nine grades instead of seven, and a seven month school term instead of five. He was principal of the school and teacher of the three higher grades. The assistant principal was DENT MARTIN of Rose Bud, who taught the elementary grades.
The wheels of progress moved slowly, and before going forward to further consolidation with more districts, spirit began to lag. World events were now entering in the life of OSCAR B. ROBBINS. World War 1 clouds were gathering, there was a need for recruiting officers. So he left the education field, in the hands of others, for war duties as a 1st Lt. He was a supply officer on the firing line in France when the armistice was signed Nov. 11, 1918, coinciding that fall with the full fledged Rose Bud Consolidated School. Reverend HENRY A. STROUP, a graduate of Hendrix College, founder and pastor of the Rose Bud Methodist Church took the helm at continuing the work that ROBBINS had begun.
In September 1921, the new school building on the hill was struck by lightening and burned to the ground. Patrons immediately rebuilt a similar building only to be lost again by fire in 1943. The school was rebuilt, but this time at the present site at Rose Bud.
The author of this (booklet) is the younger sister of O. B. ROBBINS, an authentic writer on this subject, as she was a living witness to that which took place during the development of the Rose Bud Consolidated School. She too was born and reared at Rose Bud. Other data are the historical papers and pictures that the Reverend STROUP had preserved on his works in the Rose Bud Community 1914-1921. This he presented to the J. S. GIFFORDS in 1954.
Special acknowledgement is also due to Mr. ERNEST SCHNEBLY, present superintendent and to Mrs. LADOTTA BARLOW, secretary, for their cooperation in providing current statistics on the entire Rose Bud Consolidated School Plant. (1977)
This address was given by Reverend HENRY A. STROUP, regarding Rose Bud Consolidation, at Berea College, Berea, Kentucky in 1920. During this time, Reverend STROUP was in demand as a speaker of the subject of rural consolidation.
Rose Bud, a village of one hundred fifty inhabitants, is in Kentucky township, the extreme north west corner of White County, Arkansas, twenty three miles from Searcy, the county seat; and it is fourteen miles from Heber Springs, the nearest railroad point. Rose Bud is located in the uplands where the people are engaged in raising cotton, corn, hay, and stock.
In Kentucky Township in 1918, there were six churches, three Methodist, one Free Will Baptist, and two Missionary Baptist Churches, and there were six school districts employing seven teachers. The schools ran from three to six months a year. There were five distinct communities in the township.
In the three districts that were consolidated, there were three schools, three Methodist churches, and one Missionary Baptist church. There were also three distinct and separate communities that had very little in common with the exception of a trading point and cotton gin in the village, and one store and gin are located out of the village, which helped to hinder unity. There were about eight hundred people within these districts which comprised twenty five sections of land.
The school spirit had been growing in Kentucky Township for some time, but it takes a long time to educate separate rural communities to a point where they will cooperate in any important interest.
The seed sowing began in 1914 when a young Ouachita college graduate, O. B. ROBBINS, returned home to Rose Bud to teach in his community and to lead, assisted by some of the citizens, County Supt. J. F. BOGGS, and State Rural School Agent, J. L. BOND, in a movement to consolidate five districts. They were planning to build the school house in the village on one side of the district, and the people in the districts without the village opposed the movement, for they did not want this school in town. They wanted it more centrally located. They failed in this movement, but good seed were sown.
In 1915, Bethesda, another one of these districts attempted to build a high school and providentially failed, for they were not able to support it and, also, it was on one side of the district.
In 1914, another event happened which has had something to do with consolidation of these districts. In the summer between my Junior and Senior years at Hendrix College, I was sent to Rose Bud to hold a meeting. For thirty days, under the shades of some oak trees, I preached to these people. Having one middle aged man, Mr. W. H. FOREMAN, on whom I could lean for spiritual help. There were one hundred professions. Seventy joined the Methodist church and a local church was organized, composed principally of new members. Before I left the community for school, nearly enough money had been subscribed to erect a church building. The building was seated with opera chairs and later, a piano was added. The people give the most credit to three men in carrying on the plans for the completion of this building. These men were W. E. PLANT, W. L. ROBBINS, and E. H. BILES, two merchants and a farmer. To the women in due the honor of furnishing this church led by Mrs. G. G. GIFFORD, a member of the Progressive Christian Church. In this church work, the businessmen and the wealthiest people were given something to do and were put in tough with the preachers in a way that they had never been before.
The Baptists never had, except for a few years, a local pastor in this township, and the Methodist pastors had always lived from ten to seventeen miles away. In December 1916, the first Methodist pastor was located in Rose Bud. In September of 1917, I was called back to this community to hold a meeting and lead them in raising the balance due on the church building. The meeting was a success, the money was subscribed and later collected by them.
Since there was no man in the communities whom they would all follow in a school movement and since the men who failed before did not have faith to try the consolidation again, the Baptist people, among them a resident preacher, Rev. GEORGE NORMAN; the Methodist people and many non-church members requested me to serve them next year, principally to lead them in their school consolidation. I consented, for I saw what I believed a chance to work out some of my ideas of rural development that I received at college.
I reached Rose Bud in December of 1917 and had three churches in Kentucky Township under my charge, and another one fourteen miles away. The winter was sever and the ground was covered with snow and ice for more than two months. I had an excellent chance to plan and to serve the people. They were expecting me to take up the school question any time, but I let them talk until the middle of March, when I set the fifth Sunday in March for a public discussion of the school question. By the advice of several men, only the Rev. GEORGE NORMAN, a Baptist preacher, who was a resident of the community, but not a pastor in this township, and I went to the three districts to discuss the needs of consolidation. We held the meetings in the three Methodist churches. Some of the people thought that we were doing the wrong thing to take this matter up on Sunday. Some even stayed away from the meetings, but those who came went away feeling better. When we finished talking, nearly every one held up his hand favoring consolidation, if we would build one mile from Rose Bud on forty acres of state school land.
By our request, County Supt. J. WOOD HENRY and State Rural School Agent, Prof. W. E. HALBROOK came to assist us in our movement. They tried to get two other adjoining districts to come into the movement for consolidation, but failed. These men killed most of the church prejudice that had arisen against me leading the movement. The directors of five districts were called to meet, but only representatives from the three that we believed were ready came. Prof. HALBROOK had charge of the meeting and they came to two conclusions; first, to hold the election as soon as possible while the sentiment was favorable; second, to elect two directors from each of the three districts, Rose Bud, Plant's Chapel, and Bethesda, to save prejudice and to let each community be properly represented. Prof. HALBROOK drew up the petition for the election and helped me to plan for future procedure. I secured the petition, went before the court and had the election called on April 27, putting in men as judges, who favored consolidation. Eight days from the time the notices appeared for the election, it was held and seventy-seven voted for consolidation and seven against it. Six middle aged men were elected as directors, namely S.F. THOMAS, W. H. FOREMAN, M. M. REID, B. M. MADDOX, W. L. ROBBINS, AND D. P. BILES; five farmers and one business man. Only two of these men were directors in the old districts. They had no fixed ideas, but wanted to serve the people.
For six weeks I had given all of my time to the movement, preaching on some phase of education on Sunday and working privately through the week. We had to keep at work for the May election was ahead. We kept the same board and voted a twelve mills tax without a dissenting vote.
Now the state school land had to be sold. We petitioned the court for a sale and bought the forty acres.
The important thing ahead of us yet, was a principal. We secured after some time, Prof. T. M. NORWOOD whom Rose Bud had wanted for four years. I had to consent to stay on this charge for at least one more year and the presiding elder had to agree to leave me there, before Mr. NORWOOD would accept the position. The people were delighted at the choice of principal and teachers and opposition began to give way.
The principal and I were appointed to secure plans for the building. We visited the Arkansas State Normal School, the State Department of Education, and an architect. We secured two suggested plans. A one story plan was accepted. We had only a ground scheme for the building and we worked out the plan to suit our needs.
One of the county banks, the Peoples Bank of Searcy, through the influence of the merchant, W. L. ROBBINS of the board, agreed to finance the building if it would not cost too much, taking time warrants, for the people were afraid of bonds.
The building was started in August with TOM BLASSINGAME of Quitman as head carpenter.
Prof. NORWOOD started a subscription school for the eighth, ninth, and tenth grades on September 1st, in the old building in Rose Bud. This helped the spirit of the people.
I thought my work was over, but I was asked by the board and principal to go back and supervise the building. I also had to see to the hauling of some lumber and some material, doing part of it myself. So I put in another two months most of the time on this work, and failed on my course of study assigned by the church to be done, but had a good conscience that my work was well done.
School opened in the new building on November 18, 1918, although the building was not completed. The people were getting nervous and anxious. This changed even the most pessimistic person, even those who believed that I would get in into the hands of the Methodist Church. The building included four class rooms, two halls, a General Science room, a Home Economics room, and an auditorium which is forty-eight feet by eighty feet with arched ceiling, inclined floor, two dressing rooms, and circle stage, with a piano and an $85.00 curtain. It is seated with plank benches at present, and lighted with gasoline lamps. The class rooms are modern as to lighting, heating, ventilation, and cloak rooms. Hyloplate blackboards are used and there are single desks and a teacher's desk in each room. The rooms are heated with "Hero" fresh air heaters. The inside of the building is wainscoted and papered. The wood work is hard oiled and the floors are oiled to deep down dust. The equipment for the Home Economics room cost $150.00 and for the General Science room $200.00.
In 1919, two thirds of the Black Jack district, one that refused to come in at the beginning, came to the Rose Bud School and we had to build another class room. We also built an eight room bungalow including two sleeping porches, for the teachers. This was the first teacherage in the county.(SEE PHOTO). The principal and family occupy five rooms and the lady teachers had three rooms. The principal of the school, the secretary of the school board and I were the building committee for this room and the teacherage. We are finishing a large school barn for some of those who had to drive to school. Some of them come five miles but they prefer this to the old type of school near their homes. However, nearly all of the people are in a radius of three miles of the school.
We will have a ten acre campus for the building, play grounds, ball ground and courts and a three acre park which is covered with hickory and oak trees. The rest of the forty acres will be used for the buildings and the clearing of the grounds have been donated by the people, Bethesda doing more than either one of the other districts. The people have cut the wood for the school both winters.
At the time of consolidation, there were six persons in the district who had had some high school training, and now we have twenty six. By this time next year I can safely say we will have forty.
The Numeration last July was 270, the enrollment is 276, there others coming into the community. The enrollment is 25% more and the attendance, regardless of distance, is 25% more than before consolidation. The grade of work done by the school is 50% more efficient than before consolidation. The general effect of the school on the community is 50% greater than before consolidation. The increase in the value of real estate is 20%, at least ten times the cost of the buildings.
The school has not only kept many substantial families in the community, but it has caused many excellent families to rent and buy homes in the community. The school helped bring the organization of the road improvement district earlier. The road will run through the district in two hundred yards of the building and a lateral may run by the building into the remotest part of the district. The community roads have been worked more since we built the school in order that the children my get to the school more easily.
Several new homes have been built and modeled after the teacherage. The school has put more zeal and ambition into the people. It has enlarged their vision. They will produce more because they have a task to perform. As an illustration, since a twelve mills tax will not run the school and retire the debt, we put on a campaign in December 1919, for the school funds and finished the campaign January 12, 1920. We raised $8,500 in money and notes and had 15 acres of cotton subscribed the the SMITH-HUGHES boys to be paid into the treasury of the school within the next for years. I am financial agent for the school and manager of this campaign. The State Department of Education, as well as the County Supt. and Faculty of the Arkansas State Normal, rendered us great assistance in this campaign.
We had before consolidation in these four districts, $1,000 worth of property. One building sold for $100, one for $30, and the other was worth $50, and one district used a rented house and lodge room. We now have $25,000 in property.
We paid out before consolidation $1,200 a year for teachers where we now pay the same number $3,500. We had only an average of five months school before consolidation; we now have eight. We had only seven grades, we now have 10, in addition we have, a Smith-Hughes man and a Home Economics teacher.
We paid out before consolidation only $1,200 a year for education, where as, we now pay out including both State and Federal aid $6,500 a year. Our success in part is due to seed previously sown. "One man sows and another reaps." There are several agencies that brought it about, first, the seed sowing of county and state workers as well as the unsuccessful movement for consolidation in 1914 at Rose Bud and for a high school at Bethesda in 1915.
Second, the meeting that I held in 1914 which led to Rose Bud becoming a home for the preacher, bringing the three Methodist churches into some cooperation and giving the preacher a chance to be with the people to help them in their tasks.
Third, strong men for a Board of Directors who could and did sacrifice their own interests for the school.
Fourth, the merchants, E. A. ROBBINS and Brother WILL who let us use their money without interest when we needed it.
Fifth, the influence of the secretary of the board, W. L. ROBBINS, in securing money from the bank.
Sixth, Our success in finding competent teachers with a strong community spirit.
Seventh, the loyalty, faith and whole-heartedness of the people.
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