Cooper Center School
Cooper Township
Location: (District #2) – Section 17, west side of Douglas, north of D Avenue (not right at the intersection).
Kalamazoo County 1873. Published by F. W. Beers. Local History Room
Photo by Sarah Hultmark, c. 1981, History Room Photo File P-1265.
The 1880 Kalamazoo County history says: “As early as 1836 a school was organized at Cooper Centre. Its sessions were held in a log house of very primitive construction, and presided over by Miss Adeline Hicks, now Mrs. George Hart, who had about 20 pupils.” At some point it was replaced by a brick building which was demolished in the fall of 1878 and replaced by a new one on the same site. It appears to have been replaced at least once more.
Class photo 1923
Class photo 1925
Class photo 1928
Class photo 1930
Teachers
1836 Adeline Hicks
1883 Charles H. Barber
1895 John A. Hurlburt
1898 Susie McClean
1900 Gertrude Squires
1902 Harold Blair, Mr. Reebs
1903 Mr. Davis
1925-26 Harriett Farnsworth
1927-28 Kittie Korstange, Mable Webster
1929-30 Mable Webster, Helen Anderson
1930-32 Rachel Randall, Helen Anderson
1932-34 Louise Oliver, Mae Edgerton
1934-35 Howard F. Bargwell, Ruth Whelan
1935-36 Howard F. Bargwell, Carrie Barney
1936-37 Carrie Barney, Jeanette Lancaster
1937-39 Viola Musson, Jeanette Lancaster
1939-40 Viola Musson, Marian Knoblock
1940-41 Viola Musson, Eva Hayse
1941-42 Viola Musson, Jeanette Lancaster Barnes
1942-43 Helen King, Florence Carpenter
1943-44 Jeanette Barnes, Mildred Kreider
1944-45 Jeanette Barnes, Isobel Dobson
1945-46 Clara Adams, Mary Ruth Amey
1946-47 Clara Adams, Ruth Early
1947-48 Clara Adams, Laura Ferris
1948-50 Raymond Jones, Laura Ferris
1951-52 George Moran, Eva Day, Bernice Kruizinga
1952-53 Eva Burns, Eva D. Day, Roberta Reiley
1953-54 Roland Miller, Roberta Reiley, Janice Barr
Compiled by Catherine Larson, Local History Specialist, Kalamazoo Public Library, 1999. Mapped October 2008. Last updated 21 October 2021.
Sources
Manuscripts
List of one-room schools still standing in Kalamazoo County in 1982
- Hultmark, Sarah.
- Manuscript, Local History Collection, Kalamazoo Public Library
- Cabinet #1, shelf 3, box #3, History Room Storage
- These are early business records and do not name teachers or students.
Books
History of Kalamazoo County, Michigan…, 1880
- Durant, Samuel W.
- Evansville, IN: Unigraphic, 1976
- H 977.417 H67u (oversize), page 401
Manual of the Public Schools of Kalamazoo County, Michigan for 1898-1899
J. W. Hazard, Commissioner of Schools
Kalamazoo: Ihling Bros. & Everard, Printers, 1898
History Room Orange Dot File: Education (Kalamazoo County)
Articles
“West Cooper”
- Kalamazoo Gazette, 22 October 1878, page 1.
“Looking Back: They made things lively at Cooper Center School in 1930”
- Kalamazoo Gazette, 26 March 1995, page D2, column 2. Identified photograph of students.
“Looking Back: These students filled Cooper Center’s two schoolrooms”
- Kalamazoo Gazette, 22 September 1996, page C2, column 2. Photograph of students in 1936. All are identified.
Files
History Room Subject File: Cooper Center School
Teachers’ and school officers’ directory, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, 1925-1954
- Shelved in a pamphlet box with H 379.774 K149 (History Room Storage)
Maps and atlases
USGS topographic map for Kalamazoo County, 1918 (Kalamazoo Quadrangle)
- History Room topographic map case, drawer 7A, folder 21A