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HISTORY OF THE GRAND COULEE PUBLIC LIBRARY
In October of 1937 the Welfare Director of the Grand Coulee Dam area, Mr. Burhans, received a letter from Mrs. Lucia Bogardus of Seattle. On behalf of the Federated Women's Clubs of that city, she offered a donation of over 3000 books if a library could be started in the area. Mr. Burhans called together a group representing theprominent service organizations of the area to discuss the possibilities of establishing a library in the area. Mrs. Bogardus' offer was accepted and the Grand Coulee Library Association was formed to work toward providing quarters to house the gift of books. Mrs. John Heidt was named the first president. Other members of the executive board represented the communities of Elmerton, Electric City, Mason City, Grand Coulee, Coulee Dam, Osborne and Delano.
Since no desirable building was available on a long-term rental basis, it was decided to buy a building for use for a library. This involved various fund-raising projects and much hard work on the part of the Library Association members. An old store building was purchased and moved to a site on Continental Heights, across the street from the Moose Hall. With solicited work from labor unions and donations from merchants and individuals the small building was renovated.
Approximately a year later the library opened. The flooring was of rough boards, it was heated by a wood-burning stove and staffed with volunteer workers. Some of the women who worked in those early days to help provide library service to the ever-changing population of the area were Mrs. O. R. Hartman, Mrs. Wendell Rice, Mrs. William Cowles, Mrs. Doris Angell, Mrs. Dayma Evans, Mrs. Harold Daum and many others. The library had no operating funds except from donations and an occasional State Grant. In 1948 the city of Grand Coulee agreed to provide a yearly budget for the maintenance of the library. In 1958 it was decided the little building was no longer adequate and the books were moved to new quarters in the Grand Coulee City Hall. In 1961 the city began contracting with the North Central Regional Library District for the services it provides, thus making available to its patrons a wider selection of books and materials.
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By 1971, due to the growth of population in the area, the library had again outgrown its quarters and an effort was made to pass a bond issue to construct a new library building. The bond issue failed. Undaunted, the Library Trustees again presented the issue in 1973. After waging a hard-faught campaign, the $97,000 bond issue was passed. In the spring of 1974 construction began on the new building located at the corner of Noble Road and Federal Avenue. The library building was completed by January 1975 and again the books and materials were moved. Dedication ceremonies were held on February 23, 1975 and were well attended. Proof that the new facility has been well received by the public was the 72 per cent increase in circulation during the remainder of 1975.
The newest acquisition of the library is a microfiche reader and the new Washington State Library Network Card Catalog on microfiche. In addition to North Central Regional Library materials, the holdings of eight other library systems, including the State Library at Olympia and The University of Alaska are listed and available by request through the interloan department.
A board of seven Library Trustees, acting in conjunction witht he City Council and the Regional Library System, make the decisions and policies by which the Library functions. The present Board consists of Mrs. Frank Brice, Chairperson, Mrs. Richard Behrens, Mrs. Robert Ludolph, Mrs. Felix Marcolin, Mrs. George Ruthhart, Mrs. Andrew Seresun and Mrs. Clarence Ziegler.
Throughout the years we have been fortunate to be served by efficient and dedicated librarians. Mrs. Doris Angell holds the record for the longest years of service -- 23 years. She retired in 1965. Mrs. Lorna Thomas was the next librarian, serving from 1965 to 1968. She left for other employment and Mrs. Darlene Smelcer took her place. Mrs. Smelcer was librarian for approximatelly two years, until she moved away from the area in 1970. Mrs. Thomas again became librarian and worked in that capacity until her husband retired from the Bureau in january of 1976 and they returned to their permanent home in Moses Lake. The current librarian is Mrs. Etheta Anderson, who has had many years of experience as an elementary school librarian in the public schools.
Mrs. Swante Anderson
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A HISTORY OF THE COULEE DAM (MASON CITY) PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Probably no other schools ever came into being so strangely as the ones in Coulee Dam when they opened late in 1935. They consisted of a grade school building constructed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and first used as an office building, and a high school which was first a plumber's shop and then an office building, after which it was remodeled into four school rooms and named Mason City High School. The elementary building was called the Coulee Dam Grade School.
At the end of the first year of the high school's existence, under the guidance of the first superintendent, W. C. Ryan, the school had attained state accreditation and graduated six students. A number of students who had been attending the Almira schools elected to remain there until the end of 1935. By the end of the school year, 1937-1938, the high school was taken into the Northwest Association of Secondary Schools. During these three years the students had to go across the river in order to have Physical Education. The Coulee Dam Grade School had the only gym.
During the summer of 1938 two new buildings were built - a six room high school building and a building housing a gymnasium with a stage and three class rooms. It was also this year that the school began making itself known to the rest of the county, especially in the field of athletics.
Through the years the enrollment in the schools was increasing. The Coulee Dam Grade School was beginning to bulge at the seams, so the United States Bureau of Reclamation built another elementary school building in 1946. This building was named Central School and the Coulee Dam Grade School was changed to Columbia Grade School, later shortened to Columbia School. At the beginning of the 1947-1948 School Year, the School District's name was legally changed from Joint District 123-79J to Coulee Dam School District 401 and the name of the high school became Coulee Dam High School. By 1949 enrollments had increased so much that an additional wing was built on Central School and in late 1950 ground was broken for a new high school building and at the opening of the 1951-52 school year students were using the new building. It is still in use and the only change -- it is now a senior high school housing the 10th, 11th and 12th grades, due to the consolidation of the Grand Coulee and Coulee Dam School Districts in 1971.
Mrs. Ruth Markus Hansen
Editor's* Note:
Since 1955-56 Nespelem high school students have been bussed here; since 1966-67 grades 7 and 8 also. Under consolidation the 7th grade occupied Columbia School until 1976-77. These students are now at the Grand Coulee Dam Junior High School in Grand Coulee. Currently Columbia School is being used for a variety of community activities while a citizens' group studies recommendations for its future.
*It is not clear who is the editor of the 1976 part.--C.S.
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THE EDWARD L. GREENE MEMORIAL FIELD AND SCHOLARSHIP
On May 15, 1957, the Star Newspaper in Grand Coulee Published the following item: "Honoring the memory of Edward L. Greene, Bureau of Reclamation Engineer, who was killed in an automobile-train accident in Ephrata nearly a year ago, the Coulee Dam School Board approved the naming of a school athletic field at Coulee Dam the 'Edward L. Greene Memorial Field.'"
Mr. Greene served several years as a member of the Coulee Dam School Board and was active in other phases of educational and recreational opportunities for children. He was assistant office engineer for the Columbia Basin Project here from 1934-1942 and rejoined the bureau last year and rejoined the Bureau last year after war-time service as a Kaiser Company executive in Vancouver, Washington, and New York City. In his last assignment with the Bureau he was assistant irrigation engineer for the project.
In a letter to Mr. Greene's widow, who resides in Vancouver, Washington, District Manager Frank A. Banks of the Bureau explained the School Board's action in naming the field was "in recognition of the outstanding and unselfish service that Mr. Greene had given to the Coulee Dam Schools at all times during his residence here."
The athletic field, overlooking the Columbia River on the east bank, has facilities for football, track, baseball, and tennis. School officials said dedication ceremonies will be held in naming the area "Edward L. Greene Memorial Field."
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Was it ever so dedicated? No further evidence has been found. Does anyone know?
The sign which hangs at the west end of the field near the highway reads: "Edward L. Greene Memorial Field". It was painted by Bert Whiting. The cost of lighting the field was assumed by the Student Body of Coulee Dam High School in October, 1947. The field itself was built in March, 1947, by the United States Bureau of Reclamation.
The accident which killed Mr. Greene occurred May 10, 1956. A memorial scholarship has been established at the Coulee Dam High School, now Lake Roosevelt High School, by Mrs. Edward L. Greene, who now lives in Eugene, Oregon. The scholarship is designed to assist a worthy student in the first year of college and is based on these qualifications: scholarship, citizenship, character, and financial needs. Candidates write a letter to the Scholarship Committee at Lake Roosevelt in which they explain their plans
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for financing their college education, their major field of interest, and their choice of a college. The amount of assistance has doubled over the years from $300 to $600. These are the students who have benefited from Mrs. Greene's generous memorial: 1956 - Nancy Mullen; 1957 - David Ranger; 1958 - Brend Kale; 1959 - Diane Keefer; 1960 - George Anthony; 1961 - Don Morley; 1962 - Terry Skorheim; 1963 - Willa Schwartz; 1964 - Divona Jolly; 1965 - Steve Rasnick; 1966 - Barbara Stevens; 1967 - Joann Milliken; 1968 - Louise Todd; 1969 - Don Chase; 1970 - Cathy Lynch; 1971 - Beverly Steed; 1972 - Cindy Corpe; 1973 - Robin Kiser; 1974 - Carol Snapp; 1975 - Terry Beaty; 1976 - Debra Downing.
Welthy M. Buchholz
GRAND COULEE SCHOOLS
The last week of school of the 1950-51 term we moved into the new Grand Coulee Center Elementary School on Spokane Way. I thought it was the nicest school I had ever seen with modern classrooms and painted a chartreuse green on the outside. The blackboards were no longer black but rather a dark green and the windows were so big and the rooms so sunny I thought that school would surely be a pleasure there. The building was two-story except the cafeteria which was one-story. The addition of a cafeteria was a real luxury to me as it meant no more sack lunches. Also, the new playground equipment would offer hours of enjoyment.
We used the gymnasium on the hill for some time after the school was vacated for such events as dances, plays, etc. I don't remember what year it was torn down but in 1953 the new gymnasium beside the Grand Coulee High School was opened and we used that gym mainly. The new gymnasium was constructed in 1952 and on January 30, 1953 the first basketball game was played in the gym, a game between Grand Coulee and Wilson Creek. The gym was built by Busboom and Rauh Contractors out of Spokane and the cost was to be $225,000. At the time of its construction the school district considered moving the old gym to the rear of the grade school but decided the cost would be tremendous. For a time the new gymnasium was one of the biggest in the district and several district tournaments were held here. At that time we were a "B" Class school. The new gym was quite large and had seating in the balconies on each side plus space for bleachers to be set up on the floor if additional seating was required.
This new gymnasium was attached to the Grand Coulee High School building which had been built in 1947. This new high school building was designed by Whitehouse and Price, architects of Spokane. it is 234 feet long and 61 feet wide and a brick structure, one-story in front and two-story in the rear, each
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being at ground level. At the time of construction, a football and track field (113' x 250') was leveled at the rear of the building. It is situated on approximately 10 acres and the cost was to be more than $220,000. Students began moving into the building after the Christmas holidays in January 1948. It was a four-year high school with Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior classes. At the time I attended there (1958-1962) the enrollment numbered approximately 120 students. Of course my class contained only 16 pupils, which was one of the smallest classes ever graduated there, excluding the very early years of Grand Coulee High School when it was on the hill. The enrollment increased after we graduated. The school offered a well-rounded education and prepared many students for college or other professions. The school always had plenty of school spirit and turned out many good teams and athletes in various sports. The school year of 1959-1960, our basketball team won the State "B" Championship.
This building was used as Grand Coulee High School until 1971 which meant 23 classes graduated from high school there and that's a lot of laughter in the hallways.
September 1, 1971 was the first day of school for the new consolidated Grand Coulee Dam School District #301J. The old Grand Coulee High School building then became the Grand Coulee Dam Junior High serving grades eight and nine - the old Coulee Dam High School became Lake Roosevelt High School serving grades ten, eleven, and twelve. The mascots were changed from Grand Coulee "Tigers" and Coulee Dam "Beavers" to the Lake Roosevelt "Raiders". Columbia School in west Coulee Dam served as the seventh grade for several years after consolidation but in 1976-77 these students were moved into the Junior High in Grand Coulee. Center Elementary School in Grand Coulee and Central Elementary in Coulee Dam remained as grade schools but the grades were then Kindergarten through the sixth grade, instead of Kindergarten through the eighth.
Darlene Rice Dittmer
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The following article which appeared in the Grand Coulee Star on Thursday, Mar. 5, 1964, was added to this post on 12 October 2011. Charles is my first cousin. He did not go to the Naval Academy, instead graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in engineering. - C.S.
Charles Seaton is GC Salutatorian
Charles Seaton, a senior at the Grand Coulee High School, received a telegram from Senator Warren G. Magnuson informing him that he had been selected as a first alternate to the Naval Academy. First alternate is a candidate that is second in line for an appointment, depending on whither or not the principle candidate passes scholastic and physical tests held in early March.
Charles also received word from Representative Catherine May, that he was nominated along with 11 other boys on a competitive basis. From this group the Naval Academy will select two principle candidates after the final Academy examination is given in march.
Charles is the salutatorian of the 1964 graduating class. He is the son of Mrs. Lorene Gilman and Mr. Clair Seaton.
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