Museum display spotlights Salem’s schools
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Sentinel Photo/DENNIS ROSENBERGER
SCHOOL HISTORY — Frank Brinkerhoff shows off some of the items that are on display inside of the Salem Area Historical Museum that focus on the history of local schools.
Sentinel Photo/DENNIS ROSENBERGER
WINDOW DISPLAY — Items on the south side of the window display at the Salem Area Historical Museum focus on the old Central and Oak Park schools in Salem.
SALEM — A new window display at the Salem Area Historical Museum in downtown Salem spotlights the history of Central School, Oak Park School and Salem Community High School.
Salem Historical Commission members noted that the history of the schools in Salem is important for the community, as even going back to the early days, Salem residents wanted to make sure that their children were well educated.
“The window display this month is promoting education in Salem,” said Historical Commission member Myron Lloyd.
A large part of the display focuses on Central School, with the original three-story building first constructed in 1872 and was known as Salem Public School.
Additions to the Central School building were added over the years and in the late 1960s the original 1872 portion of the building was closed and Central was rebuilt and remodeled, reopening to classes in early 1970s, along with the new Hawthorn and Franklin Park schools.
Central School would continue to be used by the Salem Elementary School District as the kindergarten center until the 2000s, when the school building was closed and sold to serve as the new home of Bryan-Bennett Library in Salem.
In addition to Central School, Oak Park, which is now used as the Salem Community Activities Center, was opened in 1914, when the high school and part of the grade school were moved to that new location, according to Salem historian Frank Brinkerhoff. Then in 1934, another building, which is now Oak Park Apartments, was added.
In the early 1940s, Brinkerhoff explained, a plan was in place to build a new high school building, but after Pearl Harbor in December of 1941 and the United States’ entry into World War II, that plan was put on hold.
Finally, in 1951, the new Salem Community High School building was officially opened and continues to serve as the high school today.
Many of the items featured in the window display at the museum come from Brinkerhoff’s collection, and he is happy to provide those items to the museum to help educate the city’s residents about the history of the schools.
In addition to the window display, Brinkerhoff noted that there are also many other items from the schools featured in a display inside of the museum on South Broadway, including old yearbooks from the high school, photos and many other historical items.
Museum officials invite the public to stop by and check out the window display anytime over the next six weeks, and they can also stop by and visit the museum during their regular public hours on Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to noon.
