They don't build 'em like this anymore. The corner stone dates 1917,the year my Dad was born. He ,my Mom,all my uncles and aunts walked these stairs. My brothers,sisters cousins and I all made our way up and down. My nieces and nephews attended here as well. Soon a new generation will follow. How many more will follow when I am long gone?
The school sits on the site of the old Purvis Lumber Yard. From these grounds sprung the careers of all the prominent Purvis family members who used to so well know in our town. Three Purvis homes in town are the tudor home across from the library, the large white house on the right hand side going up N. McKean street, and the Leo Purvis home which is the large Victorian gray house that sits behind the yellow brick 1950's ranch home on the corner of Franklin and East Pearl Streets.
The real name of this school is the John A. Gibson Senior High School. It is engraved on the outside of this entrance in the gray stone work above the the last story of classrooms. John A. Gibson was superintendent of Butler for around 40 years and the school was renamed in his honor when he retired in 1937.
I attended BHS from 1952 to 1956. I always found it to be quicker to use the back stairs to enter and leave.
My memories of BHS are not as rosy as some. It the 1950's the informal small town caste system was enforced by the BHS guidance office. I was content to leave BHS and study in an environment that practiced meritocracy.
You may classify me as a native son that is gone for good.
Good for you native son, but something drew you back and I'm sure BHS molded a part of the little nitch you carved out where ever you are. My memories of the staircase are that I never walked up or down the staircase unless I was escorting a girl. Usually I was running. Al Mohn
My Granddaughter is now a seventh grade student in this building, which is now Butler Junior High. This beautiful staircase is currently known as the "Cinderella Stairs"....
Molded would not be the exact descriptor I would use for result of my time spent at BHS. As I remember the experience, the lesson I learned was how to survive in a hostile environment at all levels. In the mid 1950's upward mobility of the underclass was actively discouraged be the BHS staff. Thankfully we were able to escape and eventually fulfill all of our wildest dreams. The Native Son That Has Gone For Good.
11 comments:
30 yrs. I've walked these
I always felt that the school I went to had real class every time I walked up.
They don't build 'em like this anymore. The corner stone dates 1917,the year my Dad was born. He ,my Mom,all my uncles and aunts walked these stairs. My brothers,sisters cousins and I all made our way up and down. My nieces and nephews attended here as well. Soon a new generation will follow. How many more will follow when I am long gone?
Bob Dorcy
The school sits on the site of the old Purvis Lumber Yard. From these grounds sprung the careers of all the prominent Purvis family members who used to so well know in our town. Three Purvis homes in town are the tudor home across from the library, the large white house on the right hand side going up N. McKean street, and the Leo Purvis home which is the large Victorian gray house that sits behind the yellow brick 1950's ranch home on the corner of Franklin and East Pearl Streets.
The real name of this school is the John A. Gibson Senior High School. It is engraved on the outside of this entrance in the gray stone work above the the last story of classrooms. John A. Gibson was superintendent of Butler for around 40 years and the school was renamed in his honor when he retired in 1937.
Can anyone who graduated from that building forget walking the halls before school and at lunch time?
I attended BHS from 1952 to 1956. I always found it to be quicker to use the back stairs to enter and leave.
My memories of BHS are not as rosy as some. It the 1950's the informal small town caste system was enforced by the BHS guidance office. I was content to leave BHS and study in an environment that practiced meritocracy.
You may classify me as a native son that is gone for good.
Good for you native son, but something drew you back and I'm sure BHS molded a part of the little nitch you carved out where ever you are.
My memories of the staircase are that I never walked up or down the staircase unless I was escorting a girl. Usually I was running.
Al Mohn
I fell down these!
My Granddaughter is now a seventh grade student in this building, which is now Butler Junior High. This beautiful staircase is currently known as the "Cinderella Stairs"....
Molded would not be the exact descriptor I would use for result of my time spent at BHS.
As I remember the experience, the lesson I learned was how to survive in a hostile environment at all levels.
In the mid 1950's upward mobility of the underclass was actively discouraged be the BHS staff.
Thankfully we were able to escape and eventually fulfill all of our wildest dreams.
The Native Son That Has Gone For Good.
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