The excitement of a new school year has swept across Hamilton County in recent weeks with announcements of enhanced academic programs, new principals assigned to 13 schools, an increased security presence and an acknowledgement of recent legislation mandating protocol changes. A return to school always creates ripples of anticipation and some hesitancy as families and communities come together in the yearly tradition of shopping for school supplies, readying new clothes and organizing after-school activities and child care. Identifying with one’s school is a unifying community tradition.
And it was true in November 1936 when the Bess T. Shepherd School, a new school designed to serve the Tyner, Silverdale, Shepherd and Harrison communities, was dedicated with community fanfare. The construction of the school, named for Hamilton County Board of Education member Mrs. Will Shepherd, cost about $50,000 and was funded by local school allocations, with additional appropriations from a recently created federal Public Works Administration program. The school, featuring 10 classrooms and a cafeteria, satisfied years of community requests and the vocal advocacy of Mrs. Shepherd.
A crowd estimated at “several hundred citizens” listened intently as local attorney S. Bartow Strang delivered the dedicatory challenge following a stirring admonition for “our Father’s protection” and “community involvement” in the opening invocation by the Rev. Dr. John A. Huff, pastor of First Baptist Church in Chattanooga. The Bonny Oaks Industrial School’s choir, directed by Cortez Tipton, provided a musical program, including historic patriotic songs, hymns of faith and traditional spirituals.
County Judge Will Cummings, unable to attend due to illness, was represented by local attorney Bruce Freeman, who spoke briefly and then introduced Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Arthur L. Rankin. The ceremony continued with Mrs. Harry R. Lacey, chairman of the school board, presenting the school to the community and Mrs. Shepherd accepting it “on behalf of the thousands of children who will attend this school into the future,” noting that a local school will assure access to education and result in positive community change.
County Attorney T. Pope Shepherd and Apison’s school board representative, Dr. E.S. Blair, joined together to introduce Shepherd School Principal Miss Elnora Walker, who in turn introduced two individuals whom she credited with “tremendous support in the opening of a new school.” Mrs. J.T. Jones of Hixson, president of the Hamilton County Council of the Parent-Teacher Association, and Mrs. W.E. Walker, president of Shepherd School’s new PTA, pledged to work together for the “greater good” of the communities whose children would “step across the threshold of knowledge.” The formal dedication concluded with a benediction offered by Mrs. W.E. Brock, wife of former U.S. Sen. William Emerson Brock.