-H-

The material in this section includes a copies of a number of Godwin Histories. To some extent the newer ones were built on the older ones. But in 1964 yet some people had access to a school archive of photographs, papers, and theses written as college projects about Godwin. The school does not appear to have any of this material as of 2006, and whether it still exists at all is an open question for now.

The item above somewhat sums up the situation with regard to the early history of schools, and the history of Godwin in particular. As of year 2006 it is closer to 90 years since E.B.Fisher made his comment, and a great deal more historical material has been lost. Now and then the notebook(s) of school meetings will appear for a small school of the past, and one can see the decision making processes at work, as well as the names of the participants. In general the process was the same, but photographs and other details are mostly missing, and now will likely remain so. Communities were not required to keep the detailed records that a modern bureaucracy is, and mostly did not apparently.

For similar reasons, the history of Godwin much before about 1925 will likely remain unknown now. Frank Rackett would have known more about the period between 1900 and 1925, but probably no one thought to ask him, or anyone else, to write anything down. Early teachers could have recorded things. If any of them did, the question would now only be where the material is, and whether it was tossed over the years. Things still turn up. There have been many efforts over the years to write a more complete history of Godwin. And material to support those efforts was available at the time. But all of the efforts have mostly disappeared, and it is unclear what has become of the material. In some cases material exists, but is in what can only be described as private hands - those having it will not allow it to be viewed by others for the most part.

Experience is showing that a surprising amount of material is still around in attics and basements, and hopefully more will come to light for scanning and inclusion on this web site. In a very few cases material has been gathered by individuals, supplied by Godwin alumni who believed it would become part of a Golden G archive, and for reasons of their own they will now not permit the material to be scanned. Hopefully this situation will change in time. For now, the material contained in this section does provide a growing look at the Godwin of many years ago. None of them come with an index, so for now those interested will have to locate items of interest the old fashioned way - read them.

Perhaps needless to say, if anyone has any additional material along these lines, please contact me, either directly, or via just about any Golden G member.

Left click on any page below for a larger version.

Material provided by Lillian Annis, class of 1941

Charles Saur had a sure eye for the needs of Godwin during his tenure as superintendent. The last two paragraphs of the piece above summarize both his philosophy about education and a realization that the world would be a different place after WWII.

One immediately result was the creation of commercial, industrial, and college prep areas of concentration. A large Quonset hut style building was purchased surplus, and in 1946 was in place and supporting an industrial arts program. Godwin thus supplied students trains in many of the things needed for the local auto industry. Office help of all kinds, and at all levels, was provided by the commercial program. Those wishing to go to college could take more specialized courses. By the time Charles Saur left Godwin in 1950 the school was well position to provide the educational needs of the community. Together with "the development of good citizens," most Godwin students became productive, supportive members of the community.

It is amusing to read that Frank Rackett was initially elected to the Godwin school board only because no one else wanted the job, and he was not at the election meeting to say no. ( To this day this is how many people find themselves on unpopular committees... ) But as mentioned, once elected, he took the job to heart, and stayed for another 40 years. His chance meeting with Charles Saur in 1923, following a flat tire on Charles Saur's car right in from of Frank Rackett's house, started a chain of events that would result in Godwin becoming a first rate high school.

In 1943, Harriet Cutler Richards wrote a history of the Godwin school system. Apparently part of the Cutler family which was the core of Cutlerville, centered on 68th Street and Division Avenue, she taught for many years at Godwin, retiring in 1941.

From ancestry.com one learns that Harriet Christina Cutler was born on 18 November 1874, in Cutlerville, to John Isaac Cutler, 1836 to 1911, and Harriet Elizabeth Church, 1837 to 1934. She married Wallace William Richards on 10 May 1895. In 1900 they lived in Grand Rapids, and in 1910, Paris Township. In 1920 they lived in Grand Rapids again. Harriet Richards died in Chelsea, MI, in 1966 - Washtenaw County. Siblings are Mary Marie Cutler, 1865-1948, John Calvin Cutler, 1867-1957, Frank Daniel Cutler, 1869-1954, and Nellie J. Cutler, 1878-1939.

A son, Howard Richards, was born in 1900, but is not mentioned in the US census after 1920.

Just what sources of information were used to create the history is not altogether clear. Some, and perhaps much, of it came from Frank Rackett, who knew the history of the Godwin area in great detail, and owned some relevant documents that were probably lost with the house in 1959. She points out, for example, where the Godwin Hotel once stood, and that the original Godwin residence burned down. The house on Division Avenue that also burned in 1954 is said to have been a replacement of the original house.

Richards was a principal at the Division Avenue building in 1929, as can be seen in section "T". She also taught courses in the one room - later two room - school house for the students in the first 12th grade class at Godwin, the class of 1927.

The history includes the formation of Godwin as a school system, as well as many details about the early school boards, so crucial in guiding the development of the system.

A very valuable document now, the only negative comment is that it uses landmarks that were well known in 1943, but obscure today. e.g., street names that no longer exist, and owners of various houses and farms, often all long gone as of year 2012.

History of Godwin

	A Brief History of the Godwin Heights Schools
	From a circular distributed by the school. Date unknown.
	----------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Wyoming Township became a reality on March 9, 1848, by an act of the State
	Legislature.
	
	The main road was Gull Prairie Road (now Division Ave.) A trip from Grand
	Rapids to Kalamazoo took two days. In 1854 the road was made into a plank
	road. This enabled travels to shorten their trip to one day. People
	traveling this modern thoroughfare paid a toll.
	
	One toll gate was at 36th and Division where the Administration Building now
	stands. Tolls were 10 cents for a team and 5 cents for a one horse rig.
	
	Taverns were built along this road to accommodate the stage travelers. One
	of these - the Godwin House - was the scene of the birth of our Godwin
	School System.
	
	Augustine Godwin gave of himself to the others of the community in which he
	lived. His father, William, was one of the original settlers.
	
	At this time the children were attending a one room log school house that
	was located at Clyde Park and 36th Streets. It was soon evident that this
	school was poorly located and did not supply the needs of the district. A
	more central location was needed. At a meeting held at the Godwin House on
	April 27, 1867, the Fractional School District #6 of Paris and Wyoming was
	formed.
	
	Voters unanimously approved construction of a one room brick school house -
	cost not to exceed $1500.00. In September, 1867, voters were asked to
	approve an additional $427.72 that was needed before the school could be
	completed. This was done and the school opened for the winter term of
	1867-1868.
	
	Charlie Howard was the teacher and he received $1.00 per day. Miss Lena
	Anway taught the summer term at the same rate.
	
	The school then occupied the site where the District Media Center now stands
	
	One of the major purchases made for the first building was a bell bought for
	$100.00. The sound of it called three or four generations of youngsters to
	their daily tasks. There can be no doubt that good use was made of the bell
	for there are entries in the reports which call for a new bell rope at least
	twice a year.
	
	1927 was a year of firsts for Godwin: First commencement exercise, first
	graduating class of five girls, first eighth grade graduation, and the first
	time to be placed on the University list.
	
	In 1929 a new high school building was built. A special feature of this
	facility was the new and modern gymnasium that boasted a stage of its own
	and could double as an auditorium.
	
	The senior high school classes had exclusive use of this building until 1938
	when an addition made it possible to move the junior high classes out of the
	building at 36th and Division. This building then was used for elementary
	classes only.
	
	In 1941 an addition was made to the east of the senior high building and a
	new brick front given to the whole structure. The growth from 1925 to 1942
	was remarkable and for several years Godwin was the largest rural school in
	the country.
	
	The library building was completed in 1937. It was a W.P.A. project as was
	the senior high building and most of the additions there-to. The collection
	of books numbered at that time.
	
	The business affairs of the school district were taken up at the annual
	school meetings. Although most matters were handled with harmony, there were
	bound to be some differences of opinion. It is said that a few of these
	first differences were settled by the use of fists.
	
	These "physical debates" furnished a motive to all for wanting "ringside
	seats" when the action started. Due to this fact there were four yearly
	events whose coming excited much interest - the Circus, the County Fair,
	Town Meeting Day - and the Annual School Meeting!
	
	Mr. Frank Rackett's rare animal museum includes every variety of bird found
	in Michigan and he donated this museum to the school district. This was the
	largest school museum of its kind in the country and the community was
	indeed fortunate to have such a gift.
	
	Mr. Rackett's farm, located across Division to the West was purchased in
	1937. The two conditions of the purchase of this area were that Mr. Rackett
	had tenure of the house during his lifetime and that the property would be
	used for school purposes only or some program pertaining to public
	education.
	----------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Transcriber: JKG
	----------------------------------------------------------------------------
	URL: http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikent/schools/ghsdhistory.html
	Created: 12 March 1999
	Last updated: Sunday, 13-Feb-2000 02:36:32 PST
	466th visitor.
	Contact: 

Godwin's Centennial occurred in 1967. This was one hundred years from the formation of Fractional School District #6 of Paris and Wyoming, also named the Godwin District, after Augutine Godwin. Construction of a one room, brick school, on land supplied by a landowner name R. Cole (1876 plat map), or possibly his predacessor, H. Weste (1855 plat map ), commenced the same year. Just why the school was named Godwin, rather than the more common practice of using the name of the person providing the land is unclear.

In about 1966 a project was started to create a history of Godwin. A great deal of material was collected, but the project apparently never came to anything. What happened to the material is unknown. Some found it's way to the Godwin library, where most ended up in a waste can, but a small amount was saved, and is included on this website. Even people in the class of 1927 would have only been in their mid 50's at the time, and some of the big players, like the Saurs, and long serving school board member Jay Doxtor, were available for information.

Alas, the opportunity was lost. When this website was begun in year 2000, only Gladys Saur was still alive, and that was only for six more months. At that point all of the major actors in the development of Godwin were gone, and this website is probably the last best chance to at least get historical material about Godwin in place. The detailed stories that people might have supplied back in 1966 are of course gone forever.

Left click on the images below for larger versions.

Jose Hernandez, class of 1969, provided the program above.

Material provided by Joanne ( Dulyea) Hamilton, class of 1951.

Godwin memories

History

Access to the document provided by the Godwin librarian, Ruth Jackson.

The history above does not contain an index. A few items of possible interest follow.

Note on the bottom of page 17 and the top of page 18 mention of a card belonging to Frank Rackett (a consummate collector of just about anything ) announcing a Christmas Ball at the Godwin House, on December 25, 1868. It featured a band famous at the time. At $3, a considerable amount of money in 1868, it must have been a lavish event. One can wonder what became of the card. It is probably one of many things of historical value that simply disappeared with the departure of Frank Rackett from his house in 1948, and the subsequent vandalizing of it for another decade. The best evidence suggests that Frank Rackett never really moved out of the house on the corner of 36th and Division Avenue - he simply closed the door and left, with most of the house's contents in place. Much of what he owned would have been old even in 1948 already, and likely some of it would have held significant historical interest.

Note also that the Godwin Hotel ( variously called Godwin House ) burned in 1871. It is not clear at this time exactly where the hotel was located, or whether any photograph ever exited. It is now clear that it was an important meeting place at the time for both travelers and those conducting all manner of local business. As indicated on page 18, the proprietor was A. ( Augustine ) Godwin, Godwin School's namesake.

Left click on the images below for larger versions.

Material provided for scanning by Jalene Doxtator, class of 1947.

History of Godwin - 1969

History of Cutlerville

From There to Here in Kentwood Public Schools

The history below is of interest in part because it contains information about a large number of one room school houses in Paris Township. Many Godwin students attended these one room school houses up to perhaps eighth grade, and then finished highschool at Godwin. Godwin was in fact Paris #6 school in the days when it was a one room school house. These naming conventions seem quaint in year 2006, but in a day when there was a grid of one and two room school houses about every two miles apart, and students walked the mile there and back each day, the numbered schools were convenient. Many also had a local name, usually that of the farmer donating the land, typically a quarter acre, on which the school was located. For example, Gaines Township fractional school #2 was long known as the "Red School."

The history shown below contains a wealth of information about the history of many of the fractional school in the part of Paris Township that is now part of Kentwood, a city incorporated in 1969, the same year the history was written. Sadly, the sources used are mostly not specified. Some of the information came from the author, people she knew, and relatives of the pioneers who formed the schools. For the most part, the details of the formation of each school is sketchy, and mostly comes down to Ernest B. Fisher's 1918 comment that when enough pioneers congregated in an area. a school soon followed. In a few rare cases, some of the details are available, in the form of school board records.

In the history below one will see details of those behind the formation of several of the old schools, and those for whom small towns and streams were named. Names like Bowen, Buck, and Smith. In year 2006 what were highly rural areas in the 1950s yet are so altered and "developed" that one has difficulty placing the areas and their significance in their time. Some of the old schools do still exist as private residences. Otherwise, little burgs like Cutlerville have very little real meaning in year 2006. At one time Cutlerville was a small commercial area, catering to local farming interests. Later it was known to some as the southern most stop of the Division Avenue Bus Line. In year 2006, it is just part of the continuum of commerce that inexorably spreads south from Grand Rapids, and has no clear cut identity of it's own. Fifty and more years ago commercial areas like Burton Heights, Godwin Heights, Southlawn, and Home Acres, were independent, well bounded shopping areas. Today, even those familiar with the areas 65 years ago are hard put to identify just where they are, and their extent. The world of 2006 is one strip mall and set of stores in every direction, no matter where one goes.

Left click on the item below to read

From There to Here in Kentwood Public Schools.

Dale Heyboar, Godwin class of 1947, and owner of a Centennial Farm on 52nd Street, about a mile east of Kalamazoo Avenue, attended Smith school before going to Godwin to finish highschool. He obtained the minutes of the Smith School school board meetings covering the years 1849 to 1936. It is a somewhat rare look at the operations of a one room school house from the viewpoint of those spending the money and making decisions (pretty much one and the same thing... ).

Dale made the book available for scanning, and it is presented below. See section "O" for more information about Smith School. Dale attempted to get the new school named Smith as a way of preserving some local history and tradition, but the proposal was wildly turned down by all who could vote, including students, who already have no idea what the issue was. In this way, history continues to be lost, and more and more, new communities have no sense of history at all. In part, developers tend to like it this way, because any historical issue or construct could mean a delay in the development process. So, another force against preserving history.

Smith School board minutes 1849 - 1936.

Note the handwriting on some of the early pages. Penmanship was strongly emphasized in schools in the US in the 1800s. In year 2006, most people write about as well as doctors.

Godwin facts from the past.

Left click on any image for a larger version.

Material provided by the Godwin librarian, Ruth Jackson.

The item above is a collection of "facts" from sources of unknown origin. On page 2, near the bottom, "July of 1823" should read "July of 1923."

1956 Hudsonville tornado

Left click on any image for a larger version.

Tornadoes do not seem to be common in Michigan, but clearly they do happen. Many people can remember the new experience of hiding in the southwest corner of their basements that spring evening, April 3, 1956, and seeing the sky turn an eerie green. Clearly the tornado did a lot of damage in parts of western Michigan.

Although there have been many warnings in the intervening 50 years, the 1956 tornado still stands as almost a singular disaster.

Left click on the images below for larger versions.