BRYANT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

The original Bryant School. Photo courtesy: William K. Hammel.

BRYANT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. Originally known as the South Dodge Street School. The wooden structure built in 1869 along (Wilde) Mt. Loretta and (South Dodge), Bryant was renamed on December 23, 1889. It has been suggested that the action followed the desire of the board of education to name all the buildings in honor of famous Americans, however, no mention of any person named Bryant was included in the board minutes. In a June 1997 article in the Telegraph Herald it was stated that the name came from William Cullen Bryant, considered America's first great poet, who wrote "The Prairies" about American expansion. (1)

A petition to build a new Bryant School was filed on October 6, 1916. Another, filed with the board on February 6, 1918, was rejected as being inadequate and not in legal form. Bryant was finally chosen for replacement in 1938. It was then the oldest school in the district. The modern Bryant School was accepted by the board on February 23, 1940.

Bryant opened for classes on April 9, 1940. Although the first of Dubuque's four new elementary schools--followed by Lincoln, Fulton and Marshall--the new school opened with equipment taken from the old building. New equipment was not scheduled to be delivered for three weeks. The school board also decided that there would be one dedication program for all four buildings. The date would be determined later, but Lincoln was chosen as the site because it was more centrally located. The four schools were constructed with 45% paid for with a Public Works Administration grant. (2)

Mothers of students at Bryant Elementary in 1927 announced their intention of implementing an organized program of sun bathing at their children's school. It was their belief that ultraviolet rays from the sun would strength the children and help prevent disease. All that was required was grouping the students in a manner to be sure each had a specified amount of exposure to the light. Separate boys' and girls' groups would be used with the boys group beginning the program. "As little clothing as possible would be worn...since the ultraviolet rays do not penetrate materials from which clothing is made." The group intended to take their idea to the President's Council of PTA in the city and then to the school board. (3)

In 2008 Bryant was named a 2007 Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor that a United States school can achieve marking the school as scoring in the top ten percent in state assessments. Conferred by the U. S. Department of Education, less than 2% of all U. S. schools earned the designation. (4)

In 2015 John E. and Alice BUTLER donated $780,000 to replace eighty-eight windows with energy-efficient ones that matched the style of the original 1940 windows and ten doors at the school. (5)

Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

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Source:

1. "Area Well-Schooled in Patriotic Names," Telegraph Herald, June 13, 1997, p. 3A. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19970613&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

2. "Lincoln Due to be Opened a Week Later," Telegraph-Herald, April 2, 1940, p. 1

3. "Sun Baths May be Given Children of Dubuque Schools," Telegraph-Herald and Times-Journal(2nd Edition), May 22, 1927, p. 1

4. Powers, C. A. "Blue Ribbon Day for Bryant," Telegraph Herald, January 12, 2008, p. 1

5. "2015: A By-The-Numbers Review of the Year in the Tri-States," Telegraph Herald, January 3, 2016, p. 2