My first encounter with the Alexander Baker School occurred in September 1954 when I arrived for kindergarten in the “bay window” room.
I came equipped with a napping rug with my name on it: “Kim” as I was called then in reference to my middle name “Kimberly”. I was placed in the charge of a great teacher and my first experience with school proved to be nothing but positive.
There were new friends to meet, hardwood blocks to build with, projects involving finger paints, clay, making a plaster cast of my handprint for mom and dad, nap time, recess on the playground and a four-block walk to school from our home on Ninth Street. Most of the details seem to have disappeared over the intervening 58 years but I do recall my first trip to the “big” bathroom out in the main hall and its gigantic urinal towering over me like a bath tub on end.
After spending a year in first grade in the Forestland School and a second grade year in St. Peter, I returned to the AB School for third grade on the second floor. Renewing friendships, another great teacher who read wonderful stories to us, the view to the west out the massive windows and watching an occasional movie in a special room equipped with a projector on the second floor. Other memories include coming back to school following an illness with my dad and checking with the school nurse, Miss/Mrs. Renell; Cub Scout meetings after school with Mrs. LeDuc as our den mother and on meeting days attended school fully uniformed in Cub Scout blue and gold.
The summer after third grade was the last we lived in the Falls. My father’s career would take us to St. Peter and then to the Twin Cities with visits up north only for holidays and summer vacations. Those memories stayed with me and prompted a life-long desire to someday return here to live. Who would have predicted that a return to my hometown would involve a second career working in those buildings I first came to know in 1954?
Many people I encounter have special memories about the AB and Backus Buildings. It might be the eighth grader who was sentenced to spend a week doing homework in the ticket booth as penance for his part in a student walk-out in the late 40’s or it could be a junior high boy (coming from St. Thomas School) and his shock at having the phy. ed. teacher instruct the boys how to shower after gym class. Many people remember their locker location and some even their locker combinations. People recall special teachers, custodians or Principal Stanley Helleloid.
A play, concert or performance in the Auditorium might be remembered. Someone recalled a patriotic speech given at graduation on the eve of World War II. Mrs. Virginia Milette reminisced about coming to the Backus Building with her father, Superintendent James Sathrum, and the smell of freshly poured cement. She remembered the architect Nairne Fisher dining with her family on his visits to the Falls in 1936-37.
The Alexander Baker School has been part of the fabric of our lives since its construction began 100 years ago in 1912. Since its completion in 1914, thousands of us have sat in its classrooms, walked in its hallways and learned from perhaps hundreds of dedicated teachers. Some of you watched the construction of Backus begin in 1936 during the midst of the Great Depression. Hundreds of students who attended school in Backus Jr. High would become part of the “Greatest Generation” and a number of them would give their lives during the course of World War II. The Backus Building was the most expensive of the seven public works projects completed in the Falls as part of FDR’s “New Deal.” At a cost of $391,000 it provided not only a school for 700 junior high students but also a boost to the local economy.
This fall we celebrate several milestones in the history of the AB and Backus Buildings: 100 years since the construction of AB began, 75 years since Backus was completed and opened to students, and 10 years since Citizens for Backus/AB acquired the two historic buildings. While some community members favored demolition of the buildings and many thought Citizens for Backus/AB might fail in their attempt to restore and reuse the buildings, we can all celebrate ten years of success and increasing use of the complex.
The goard of directors is pleased to invite all citizens, young and old, to a complimentary dinner and program on Thursday at 5 p.m. to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Citizens for Backus/AB. Enjoy a delicious spaghetti dinner beginning at 5 p.m. and a brief program at 6 p.m. with a raffle drawing for cash prizes.
