By Ryan Flahive

On the 23rd of February, the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives opened a new photographic exhibit. This eclectic group of historic images is focused around the subject of early elementary schools of Prescott, and is entitled, "Good Morning Mr. Rogers: Early Prescott Schools." You might ask yourself, who is this Rogers fellow, and why is he, and not the other great pioneer teachers of Prescott, chosen for the title? In the following historical article, I would like to explain who Samuel Curtis Rogers was, and why the exhibit bears his name.

A piece of correspondence gently cared for in the Archives of Sharlot Hall Museum is an illuminating letter from Rogers to his great granddaughter, Marjorie, dated 26 June 1908. The letter describes his schoolhouse, generally regarded as the first public school in Prescott. "..I herewith enclose a rude drawing of the pioneers school house built by me in Prescott in the year 1867 at that time there was not a house on Granite Creek above where the street crossed the creek at the island and none below for about 200 feet." The "pioneers school house" was built at the corner of Granite and Carleton Streets to provide free public education to the children of Prescott. Although this was not the first educational opportunity to be offered in Prescott (private schooling was available as early as 1864), Rogers's schoolhouse provided Prescott with a starting point for the great American institution: free public schools. 

The letter continues to describe Rogers's schoolhouse and its construction: "I did all the work in building the house except one day's work which Mr. Joseph Ehle helped one days work in putting on the roof.. the old school house has been so altered that one would hardly recognize it now as the same. Door cut in the street side and it has been occupied for a carpenter shop and residence etc..I can't now call to memory any except John Stevens and Sarah Baker now in Prescott who attended my school in that house." The old schoolhouse stood until it tragically burned to the ground in 1948. The Kiwanis Club built a replica in 1962 on the Sharlot Hall Museum grounds, commemorating the original schoolhouse. 

Rogers was highly regarded in the education community. He was founder of the first rural public school district in California in 1852. Later, the Moreland School District (the district he founded) named a school after Rogers. After arriving in Arizona around 1866, and building and teaching in the schoolhouse in Prescott, he "persuasively wrote about the problems he faced and made recommendations which were incorporated into the Ochoa-Safford school law of 1871," the legislation which officially created the Arizona Public School System. He is listed in the 'Honor Roll' with only nine other notable Arizonians including Gov. Anson P.K. Safford, the 'father of Arizona schools' in the publication, "Dust in Our Desks: Territorial Days to the Present in Arizona Schools." His importance to the school system would seem to be quite apparent by these facts. 

However there has been some disagreement in regards to Rogers's construction and involvement in the schoolhouse. In "History of the Prescott Schools" written in 1939 by Russell A. Ramage, former principle of Prescott High School, Ramage remembers a different story in regards to the schoolhouse. "In the fall and winter of 1864-65 education began. Mrs. Mary Leib, Mrs. Harriet Turner, and Mrs. Fanny Stephens were responsible for these first lessons. Soon the first school building, a log cabin which still stands on the bank of Granite Creek, was built. Mrs. Stephens taught here also and was followed here by Mr. Samuel Rogers." A reference citation was absent for these conclusions. 

In "A History of Public Schools in Prescott, Arizona" a thesis done at Colorado State University in Fort Collins by William E. Oswald in 1945, Oswald claims the schoolhouse was not built in 1867 but in 1873. "..it was not until October 4, 1873, that the first public school building was completed. This small, but sturdy, building was constructed and equipped by Col. H.A. Bigelow and Dr. D.H. Kendall. It was built of logs on a site donated by the 'town fathers.' The first teacher to be in charge was Miss Annie Kelly." This finding was referenced to the Arizona Journal Miner dated October 4, 1873. However, upon review of the reference, this author has discovered that these statements were unfounded and mistaken. The article in the Miner reads, "Parents and children will do well to recollect the fall term of our public school will commence Monday next. Col. Bigelow, the only member of Board of Trustees in our midst, has devoted much time and attention to preparing the school house, which is now ready for Miss Kelly and her pupils." Never in the article were the words 'constructed' or 'equipped' written, nor was Dr. D.H. Kendall mentioned as part of the project. Moreover, never was it implied that Kelly was the first teacher, but only that Miss Kelly was the present teacher. Such an event as the building of the first schoolhouse would not have been pushed to the third page of the newspaper where it was found, but rather would have been on the front page in full view. Oswald misinterpreted the newspaper article of October 4, 1873, and was not aware of the 1867 event. It is the conclusion of this author that Mr. Oswald was incorrect in assuming the schoolhouse was built in 1873, but it was rather built prior to that date. 

Two other publications, "The Three R's in Early Prescott," written in 1964 by Prescott High School student William Miller, and "An Historical Study of the Growth and Development of the Prescott School System, 1912-1961," a field project for a Masters of Education degree at Brigham Young University by Claude Alan Balser in 1962 also referenced the schoolhouse as being built by Bigelow in 1873. However, both their findings are based upon Oswald's work previously noted as incorrect concerning the building of the schoolhouse. As sometimes happens in historical research, later writers using these erroneous references as facts can compound an earlier mistake. Mr. Oswald's mistaken conclusions led both Miller and Balser to perpetuate the 1873 date rather than the correct 1867 date for the building of the schoolhouse. 

In a publication entitled "Prescott, Arizona Public Schools" published by the Authority of the Board of Trustees in 1906, the unknown author, by the authority given to him by the Board of trustees confirms Rogers's involvement in the first schoolhouse. "The first public school in Prescott was opened in the year 1867, and was taught by Mr. S.C. Rogers..." Although a reference citation is once again absent in the publication, the date of publication, two years prior to the 1908 letter describing the building of the schoolhouse, helps to indirectly validate the statement. When the publication was released in 1906, Mr. Rogers was 82 years of age, living in Yavapai County in the vicinity of Walnut Creek. His presence and respectable stature in regards to education in the community may have influenced the author's and the Board of Trustee's findings. 

It would be safe to conclude that the schoolhouse was built, not in 1873, but prior, and even more conclusive is the evidence that it was indeed built in 1867. Frank Lockwood, in his seminal work, "Pioneer Days in Arizona," writes, "Travelers and newspaper correspondents give us snapshots of Prescott in 1867, there is a post office, a schoolhouse, a new hotel." But the most conclusive piece of evidence is the Rogers letter to his great-granddaughter. What motive might he have to lie about his construction of the schoolhouse? Why might he risk discrediting his work in pioneering Education in Arizona? 

In conclusion, review of the literature and primary source material about early education in Prescott finds several discrepancies in regards to the schoolhouse, none of which can be concretely proven; the actual facts are lost to time. However, the literature does confirm the building of the first public school in Prescott in 1867 by Samuel Curtis Rogers. The Rogers letter, the 1906 official publication by the Board of Trustees, and the work of Lockwood help to confirm these facts. Thus, "Good Morning Mr. Rogers..", and not Good Morning Ms. Stevens or Good Morning Ms. Kelly is the title of the exhibit. 

"Good Morning Mr. Rogers: Early Prescott Schools" is scheduled to be on display for the remainder of 2006. An online version will soon be available on www.sharlothallmuseum.org with a detailed exhibit catalog to follow in the coming months. Please come down to the museum and discover the photographic heritage of Prescott public schools. For more information regarding, Archives, Days Past, the exhibit, or the museum in general, please call 445-3122. 

(Ryan Flahive is the Archivist at Sharlot Hall Museum.) 

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(bus5046pa)
Reuse only by permission.
The Pioneers schoolhouse at the corner of Granite and Carleton Streets, built by Samuel Curtis Rogers in 1867. It was the first free public school built in Prescott. The old schoolhouse stood here until it tragically burned to the ground in 1948. A replica of this schoolhouse presently stands on the grounds of the Sharlot Hall Museum, built by the Kiwanis Club in 1962, in commemoration of Mr. Rogers's schoolhouse. 

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(bus5025pe)
Reuse only by permission.
Prescott Free Academy, the first graded school in the Territory, shown here in front of Washington School on Gurley Street, 1903.