A long-time Marple resident donated several old high school diplomas to the Historical Society last week, one for Marple school and one for Newtown. Neither of the schools was a “Marple-Newtown” school because that idea was realized several years later.
Iona W. Dickinson graduated from the Marple School on May 28, 1909. There were 108 pupils in the whole of Marple, and most of them went to school at Marple Seminary No. 1, a 2-story building at the corner of Marple Road and Church Lane, now the Marple Little League parking lot. The school was two stories; the lower school children were taught on the first floor, while the upper school students learned upstairs. Teaching was spread out among four teachers, who earned between $50 and $55 per month.
Miss Dickinson’s diploma noted her studies in orthography, reading, penmanship, arithmetic, geography, history, grammar, physiology and hygiene. The whole Marple graduating class of 1909 was likely less than 10 students. In nearby Newtown, also a small farming community, the story was the same. Their high school-aged students attended a red brick schoolhouse on Rt 252 with all of the other grades within walking distance of that school. In that building of three rooms, three teachers taught ten grades, including a two-year high school curriculum.
The doctor who served both communities, Dr. John G. Thomas, had an estate on West Chester Pike, halfway between the two existing schools. He was also the long-time president of the Newtown school board, and very involved in the education of the children of the community. He proposed that the two communities combine to build one high school to serve Marple and Newtown, and offered his property as the location for the new school. His idea and his offer were accepted, and on the Thomas farm (now the Gauntlett Center), the first Marple Newtown High School was constructed and opened in 1914. We’ve been together ever since.
And what happened to our graduate? I have not been able to find a trace of her. In fact, I am not certain of her first name: Iona and Lona were my best guesses, and I searched for both, without success. I checked every Dickinson family in Marple in the 1900 and 1910 censuses but did not find a name that could be our graduate. If you see her, let her know I am looking for her!
For more on the history of Marple, visit the Marple Historical Society website and Facebook page, and join the Society to keep up to date on coming events: www.MarpleHistoricalSociety.org.
