Why Was Superintendent Heald There? The Story Behind a 1922 School Photo

By Don Taylor

I recently reviewed a photo of the North Scarborough School (Coal Kiln Corners School) from about 1920.  It was quite a plain building; it had two entrances, one for boys and one for girls. Today, I am reviewing a photo of the same school from 1922. It is quite different. It has a single entrance with a portico. The windows along the side of the building changed from three separate to five adjoining windows. Also, Superintendent F. H. B. Heald is in the photo. I had never seen Superintendent Heald in an outside class photo before, so I wondered what was going on with the school that it would have so many changes, and Mr. Heald would be there.

Town reports are often a goldmine of information. Sure enough, in the 1920 Town Report, Superintendent Heald reported that the State Department of Education established a new program for the “Standardization and Beautification of Elementary Buildings.” None of the Scarborough schools met the new standards. Being the smallest of the schools, North Scarborough would be the first brought up to the new standards “in the matters of heating, lighting, ventilation, and toilet facilities. The 1922 report stated that standardization work at the North Scarborough school was completed, and the expenditures totaled $640.58 (about $12,585 in today’s dollars).

I’m sure that Superintendent Heald was at this photo event because North Scarborough was the first school to undergo the standardization.

In October 1995, Lena (Dow) Bachelder provided the identifications for most of the individuals.

Back L to R

• ·       Freddie Hillock
• ·       Perley Jones
• ·       Olan Jones
• ·       Stanley Hillock
• ·       Joe Sherman
• ·       Lena Sherman
• ·       Mr. Heald
• ·       Oliver Jones
• ·       Donald Hillock
• ·       Harold Tripp

Next row L to R

• ·       Geneva Meserve
• ·       Helen Bickford
• ·       (Unnamed person)
• ·       Lena Dow
• ·       Velma Jones
• ·       Catheline Glines

Middle Row L to R

• ·       Anna Meserve
• ·       (Unnamed person)
• ·       _(?)_ Hillock
• ·       Ethel Thomas
• ·       Ruth McClellan
• ·       Henrietta Meserve
• ·       Cornelia Tripp
• ·       Vivian Bickford

Front Row L to R

• ·       Robert Winship
• ·       Willis Reed
• ·       Arnold Hillock
• ·       Warren Jones
• ·       Phineas Meserve
• ·       Russell Libby