Finding Aid of Old Mission Peninsula School records, 2021

Dublin Core

Title

Finding Aid of Old Mission Peninsula School records, 2021

Subject

Traverse City (Mich.)
Schoolhouses--Michigan.

Description

Finding aid of Old Mission Peninsula School records, 1860-1992. Details the collection of records of Old Mission Peninsula School, donated to and collected by the Peninsula Community Library staff. Series include: Annual Reports, Publications, Reminiscences, Student Work, Treasurer Records, Patents, School Inspectors, Student Records.

Creator

Barritt, Amy; Morgan, Mary 1860 -

Source

Local History Collections, Peninsula Community Library, Traverse City (Mich.)

Publisher

Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City (Mich.)

Date

2021

Contributor

None

Rights

This document is protected by copyright law. Contact the Peninsula Community Library for permission to reproduce, display or transmit this document.

Relation

Old Mission Peninsula School records, 1860-1992

Format

PDF

Language

English

Type

Text

Identifier

LHC002pcl-findingaid.pdf

Coverage

Peninsula Township, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

PDF Text

Text

Peninsula Community Library
Local History Collections
Old Mission Peninsula School records, 1

LOCAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS
PENINSULA COMMUNITY LIBRARY
2893 Island View Road Traverse City, MI 49686

Creator: Staff and Students of Old Mission Peninsula School
Title: Old Mission Peninsula School records
Inclusive dates: 1860-1992
Bulk dates: 1890s, 1920s
Extent: 1 linear foot
Call number: LHC 002 Pcl

Language: Material is in English.
Acquisition: Reassigned to archive at end of primary use; some of the collection acquired through anonymous donation.
Accruals: Periodic additions to the collection are expected.
Access: The collection is open without restriction.
Photographs: Volume 1; In the Reminiscences series.
A-V Material: None.
Digital Material: None.
Copyright: Copyright is held by the Peninsula Community Library.
Processed By: Amy Barritt, 2013, Mary Morgan 2020, 2021

Peninsula Community Library
Local History Collections
Old Mission Peninsula School records, 2

Abstract

Records of Old Mission Peninsula School, donated to and collected by the Peninsula Community Library staff. Series include: Annual Reports, Newspaper Clippings, Publications, Reminiscences, Student Work, Treasurer Records, Patents, School Inspectors, Student Records.

History

Old Mission Peninsula School was founded after a township vote passed to consolidate the 7 one-room schoolhouses in the various districts of Old Mission in the Spring of 1954. The original one-room schoolhouses were: Old Mission, Bowers Harbor, Ogdensburg, Stoney Beach, Mapleton, McKinley and Maple Grove. Prior to 1893, Stoney Beach and Maple Grove were one school known as Archie School which was housed in a log cabin. When the log cabin burned down, Stoney Beach and Mapleton were built.

In 1955, residents supported the new school by passing a $300,000 bond issue to build the current school building. The School opened in September 1956, and educated students from kindergarten through the eighth grades. In 1968, new state law required that public education must be offered through the twelfth grade, and the School was annexed to Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS). The School educated students from kindergarten through the sixth grade.

The Peninsula Community Library has long been tied to the School, hence many of the donations that make up this collection were donated to the Library for safe-keeping. The Library was opened in the Summer of 1957, on the stage in the gym at the School, and moved into a larger, semi-permanent space the following year. The Library worked closely with Traverse City Area Public Schools to offer services and support to the School and students.

In late 2015, TCAPS announced that they would be closing a number of smaller schools in their district due to low enrollment and financial distress. After months of public hearings and hours of deliberations the TCAPS Board unanimously voted, on March 8th, 2016 to close Bertha Vos and Interlochen Elementary, at the end of the school year. Due to the vocal efforts of a Community Group that was formed by Old Mission residents, a decision to close the OM School was delayed.

During this uncertain time, in late 2016, a decision was made by the Board of the Peninsula Community Library, to build a new Library on the land that the Library had owned since 1980. In under three years, a fundraising campaign raised over 2.5 million dollars, all in donations. Architects, site engineers, and builders were hired and a

Peninsula Community Library
Local History Collections
Old Mission Peninsula School records, 3

beautiful farmhouse style building arose at the corner of Island View and Center Roads. The Library opened its doors to the public on September 7th, 2019.

Simultaneously, informal discussions among two TCAPS board members, the Superintendent and a lead community member were conducted and regular meetings took place, working on ways to save the school. One community member offered up $800,000 to cover the overhead cost of the school for two more years while the group continued to work on ways to keep OMPS afloat. As negotiations continued to founder, a group of six community members began designing a concept for a foundation. Old Mission Peninsula Education Foundation (OMPEF) was officially incorporated on September 14, 2016. The incorporating members included Allison O’Keefe – President, Corey Phelps – Vice President, Jennifer Coleman – Treasurer, Susan Shipman – Secretary and Jacquie Harding and Dena Schweitzer – Trustees.

Ultimately, OMPEF purchased the school, with donor funds, from TCAPS for $1.1 million, a price that included both the building and its contents. The building title officially transferred on July 1, 2018. The Foundation received charter authorization from Grand Valley State University to open a new school, and opened their doors as a charter school in September, 2018, continuing the mission of enhancing educational opportunities on Old Mission Peninsula. [Information gleaned from the OMPEF website at https://www.ompef.org/about-us/our-history/ on October 12, 2020]

Peninsula Community Library
Local History Collections
Old Mission Peninsula School records, 4

Scope and Content Note

Artifacts from Peninsula Township’s one-room schoolhouses and the Old Mission Peninsula School located on Island View Road. Items include pupil records (District 7), which contains pupil names, grades and attendance records (1918-1920), School Inspector Board Minutes which contains maps showing the creation of the seven different districts (1860-1910), and information on the formation of the consolidated Old Mission Peninsula School. Series include: Annual Reports, Newspaper Clippings, Publications, Reminiscences, Student Work, Treasurer Records, Patents, School Inspectors, Student Records and Scrapbook.

Container No. Description

Annual Reports [series]:

Box 1 Statistics, 1898-1901, 1923-1924, 1926

Box 1 Bond and Retirement Fund Records, 1891-1932

Box 1 Teacher’s Contracts, 1930-1932

Newspaper Clippings [series]:

Box 1 Various newspaper clippings, 1960-1961

Publications [series]:

Box 1 “Getting to know us at Old Mission Peninsula School: a handbook for student
teachers at Old Mission School,” compiled by Liz Tousain and
Marie Grassa, 1971

Box 1 “Guide to the Old Mission Peninsula School Outdoor Laboratory and Karyl
Tompkins Memorial Trail”, 1992

Box 1 “Peninsula Schools and the Future”, compiled by Harold Titus, Robert Dean, and Ellis Wunsch (pamphlet ~1954)

Box 1 “Hagar’s Elementary Arithmetic”, text book – part of Hagar’s Mathematical Series (late 1800’s/early 1900’s)

Box 1 “Essentials of Arithmetic”, Boston, MA: Ginn and Company by Wentworth, G. A., & D. E. Smith. (1915).

Peninsula Community Library
Local History Collections
Old Mission Peninsula School records, 5

Reminiscences [series]:

Box 1 Various dates and authors, includes photographs of Old Mission High School
(and Hart High School, Hart, Michigan) from Edith Courtade’s scrapbook album, dated 1916 (pcl002.1; pcl002.2; pcl002.3); also of Stoney Beach School students, undated (pcl002.4)

Student Work [series]:

Box 1 ca. 1895

Box 1 Kitchi-Wik-We-Don-Sing (La Grand Traverse in Chippewa Indian Language)”,
Old Mission Peninsula School’s eighth grade class, ca. 1964 (4 copies)

Box 1 “Si Quarus Peninsula Amceman Circumspice” (a history of Old Mission),
Old Mission Peninsula School’s seventh grade class, 1970-1971

Treasurer Records [series]:

Box 1 1903-1906
Box 2 1929-1938 (McKinley School)

Box 2 1905-1925 (Mapleton School)


Yearbooks [series]:

Box 1 The Wildcat, 1953

Box 1 The Pines, 1912, 1921

Box 1 Old Mission Elementary School, 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012

Patents [series]:

Box 1 Indentures dated 1953, 1954, 1956, 1968, and 1974

Box 2 Copy of original land patent for school grounds

School Inspectors Board Minutes [series]:

Box 2 School District 5, 17 November 1860-September 1884

Box 2 Peninsula Township, 9 December 1865-24 September 1910

Peninsula Community Library
Local History Collections
Old Mission Peninsula School records, 6

Student Records [series]:

Box 2 Peninsula Township School District 7, 1918-1920

Scrapbook [series]:

Volume 1 Early history of Old Mission Peninsula School

Volume 2 “Bits from Old Mission,” 1959-1984 Drawer 2

Volume 3 “Old Mission Peninsula School, 2000-2002: Students Parents Staff Events”
Drawer 3

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Text

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