Every Life Is a Part of History

 

“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.”  Michael Crichton

In 1978 principal, Phil DeBerry, handed to me, the newly hired library media specialist, three worn P.T.A. scrapbooks and said to keep them. Reading those faded pages gave me a sense of belonging in a town that was rapidly growing. I noticed immediately that nearly everything was proudly drawn, handwritten, or carefully typed. I began to wonder even then who those talented caring people were.

Architect rendering of blonde brick building 1959-1986. 

One Sunday when several teachers and our children were in the building the tornado sirens screamed. We carefully lifted those old cellar doors in the floor and climbed down into dirt hallway filled with pipes. However, I grabbed those three books and took them with me. I knew those pages had stories to tell.

Sitting underground that day I began to tell the only story I knew about
Jefferson—that the students reported how the building would sway when the tornadic winds blew across the prairie. Suddenly, that basement was not as scary. We realized that it was the stories that connected all of us.

Letty Watt, Trae Carson, Daniel Hargrave, ?
James Smith

What began in 1978 reached closure in December 2025. Yes, there were a few distractions. Thanks to principal Lynne Miller construction began in 1983 to modernize and connect all buildings together. For the first time since 1958 the original bell was part of the school again. A place that allowed us to ring the bell for celebrations, but not for a clock or call to school.

In the spring of 1984 Jefferson Elementary celebrated its 90^th birthday. Without the Internet I found few resources that shared our history. Thanks to the P.T.A. books and John Womack’s History of Norman, we could share our beginnings with why and how Eastside became the landsite school.

By 1990’s with principal Kathy Taber we looked ahead to 1994 and realized that we were sitting on a golden piece of history that needed to be to recorded and shared. Our first spiral bound booklet of personal stories sold out. Norman history came to life with the production of our play “Jefferson Now and Then” at the Sooner Theater. Every child shared a part of that production because everyone deserves to be a part of a bigger stage and recognized for his or her talents.

                                           1917-1959

There is a mural on a wall in our school depicting three distinct time periods of our school. Various pictures symbolize our history. In a “Memory” one student recalled walking by that mural every day. She wrote, “I can see that mural and those students playing marbles, swinging on a tire, jumping rope, and swinging on the witches hat, playground toys that we never had. In every passage the Jefferson bell stood proudly in the pictures and in my mind. When I graduated from fifth grade, I rang the same bell that those children in the mural rang. I am proud to a Jefferson Dragon.”

And then, life went on. My husband and I moved away but I never left behind those memories where we painstakingly built a culture of how best to educate children from all walks of life. A place where parents and children could each be recognized as valuable people.

Children are alike, they have the same needs, but their home lives differ greatly. Jefferson elementary school gives all of children a safe place to grow, to learn, and recognize their own strengths and those of their classmates.

With retirement I found time to reflect. Reflection I observed comes with age and time. I discovered as Kierkegaard once said, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

In 2019 a team of three began collecting stories and photos from people whose families held history with our school and from former students who now had time to reflect. People came with zeal to share their history with us. I wanted to honor those families, some who sent multiple generations of children through our hallways.

1945-1946 Mr. Risenhoover, Principal; Mr. Middleton, band director.

Being apart of that energy gave me the purpose to collect and write a thorough history of a place where lives were changed. As a writer, storytelling, and an older wiser woman I can see the truth to these words:

“Everyone dies twice. Once when their souls leave their bodies and a second time, when their story is no longer told.”

 

If you love history and stories, may I recommend reading this collection of 182 memories between the years 1889—2025. In 1889 the Methodist Episcopal Church opened the first subscription school. From the beginning, education played a role in the lives of our early Norman settlers.

**Contact me by replying to this blog or email historyofjefferson@gmail.com If you live in the Norman area your may go to Jefferson Elementary between 9:00-2:00 on a school day to purchase the book for cash or check $30.

***There is also a Jefferson School link where you can use your credit card, and the book will be mailed to you at a total cost of $40.00. https://sfnd.io/q7z2v-historybook