Emerson School Bell

Emerson School Bell. . , The Emerson School bell and concrete nameplate once graced Flagstaff's first permanent education institution, built by the city with a bond generated in an 1893 election. The following year, the Territorial Legislature encouraged school districts with 2,000 or more inhabitants to establish "high schools" specifically. Although the school contained all grades, the nameplate that can be seen over the front door in this photograph reads "Emerson High School." The bell was housed in the cupola on the roof above the front entry. , As Flagstaff grew, Mexican, Hispanic, and African-American families arrived in increasing numbers settling primarily on the south side of the railroad tracks. Emerson remained the only school serving Flagstaff, and the adjacent neighborhood was then characterized as the "whiter" side of town. Local newspaperman Platt Cline noted that more than 40 percent of the students were from the south side of town, and "a new elementary school might be built in their neighborhood." In 1936, South Beaver School opened primarily for the children of the Hispanic, Mexican, and African-American millworkers from that neighborhood. The opening of South Beaver School effectively achieved school segregation in Flagstaff.