Guy-Perkins explained
When Attorney William B. Brady asked the Log Cabin Democrat to shed some light on a dilemma he faced, he had little notion that a curious situation was to come to light.
The Little Rock attorney tells of coming across an obituary that revealed the deceased had attended Perkins School and also Guy-Perkins School. This had the earmarks of double talk or at least a contradiction. It had to be one or the other, he wrote. But the obit was correct; the woman had attended both schools.
He is familiar with Guy-Perkins School. But “Perkins”? He said the only Arkansas place named “Perkins” was in Howard County and not shown reachable by any state or county road but as a stop on the railroad tracks between Dierks and Nashville. In addition, a town named “Perkins” does not exist on any Arkansas or county map.
Who in Faulkner County had the answer to an apparent riddle?
No one among the scores of people contacted. The answer was not forthcoming despite many inquiries. People approached seemed to be bewildered.
Even officials at Guy-Perkins School were daunted by the inquiry - until an intrepid reporter was directed toward Debbie Reeves, business manager of the school district, who it was said, could possibly cast a glimmer of light on the question.
“Yes, I think I can,” said the compliant woman. She was to unearth a “History of Guy-Perkins School” among dusty tomes in the school. It became clear that a school consolidation was at the heart of the querying. Still, why was the name Perkins attached to the school at Guy?
History reveals that what occurred in the town of Guy was typical of many school districts in rural areas of Faulkner County, and elsewhere in Arkansas, during the 19th and early 20th century.
Thus, Guy-Perkins was created by the inclusion of eight small schools in proximity of Guy - Chinquapin, Cooperage Springs, Wolf Branch, Old Texas, Hendrickson, Rowlett, Solomon Grove and, of course, Perkins. Each was limited in the number of pupils enrolled.
Incidentally, the Solomon Grove District was made up of three black schools. It was formed in 1879 and consolidated with Guy-Perkins in 1949. Its high school students continued to attend the Pine Street School in Conway until 1964. The grade school was transferred to Guy in 1966.
The modest Perkins School, located hard by the town of Guy, was created in the 1880s. It pursued its course of instruction for some 50 years or so until consolidation with Guy was proposed on November 26, 1930.
Consolidation was agreed upon, but certain stipulations had to find agreement between both schools. For one thing, the grade school was to continue at Perkins. It was moved to Guy in 1936. In addition, the Perkins District patrons insisted that they would not agree to consolidation unless its name was included, making it Guy-Perkins. They also would have a resident of Perkins serving on the new school board. Agreed.
Subsequent information revealed that Guy-Perkins was the first Faulkner County school to offer lunch in its cafeteria - the price being 10 cents.
The district operated smoothly until 1948. At that time consolidation became a cause celebre in Arkansas schools. New state Education Department regulations demanded that Guy-Perkins District and others would be under the threat of consolidation unless an enrollment of 350 students was reported. Unfortunately, the Guy-Perkins district was well below this figure and, perforce, it searched around to annex other territories, hoping to make the score.
Nearby Centerville was approached as a possibility for consolidation. But for some unknown reason turned a cold shoulder toward the Guy-Perkins entreaty. Later Centerville’s snub became bitter when news of its merger with the Quitman School District surfaced.
Guy-Perkins now turned toward Solomon Grove’s black school. Its officials agreed to come on board, but separate schools would have to be maintained. This agreement put the number of students at 307, still bereft of the required number.
Frantically, Guy-Perkins School District cast around for other sites in need and found two other nearby black schools talking consolidation - at Clinton and Formosa. After many contacts and tense meetings, the schools got together. The Guy-Perkins place and storied name remained intact when its enrollment now reached 551.
Comments (12)
Add commentGreat article
Great article, Mr. Petrucelli! I was raised in Guy and will always be a Thunderbird at heart. I believe it was Copperas Springs (like the cemetery), not Cooperage, but I could be wrong. It was told in my family that Perkins was the 2nd largest school and a major hold-out in the consolidation. They insisted on the hyphenated name and that the new school be located midway between the two communities. That's why the school is so far on the edge of town. The Guy School was located about 1/4 mile down Highway 310 west of town. The foundation was still visible when I was a child. No one ever showed me where the Perkins school was - wish I knew!
Perkins School
I'm a native of Guy & when I was in high school in the 1980's, my history class was sent out to gather information on the history of the school. Unfortunately, the reports we turned in were never returned to us by the teacher. If I remember correctly, Perkins school was down North Bolden Hill Rd at the homeplace of Mrs. Rosie Glover. I believe that Mrs. Rosie even taught school there. Also unfortunately, those people I interviewed then are all gone now, so we can't go back & ask them. What I would give to have those reports in my hand!
Perkins School
This has started a whole new discussion among my friends & so far, I have 3 possible locations for Perkins school. I will consult my 86 year old aunt who was raised in Guy & see if she can shed some light on this & report back.
Perkins School
Perkins School was located in the New Home Community between Quitman and Guy. Perkins school was never located west of Guy on what is now know as the Pinnacle Springs Road. A school was located west of Guy on Pinnacle Springs Road that my Grandmother, Rosie Glover taught in (teaching certificate from Normal-now UCA in Conway). This school was a big two story white building.The school referred to in another comment on North Bolden Hill Road was not Perkins School. My grandmother did not teach in the school on North Bolden Hill Road but was the place of residence for my grandmother and her husband Thomas Andrew Glover. That property is still family property. Also, a Rowlett school was located in the cross roads area. My aunt thought the school on my grandparents homeplace might be the oldest.
Curious as to who you are
I'll bet I know you. Would you post just your initials? I spout off too much to divulge my identity on here. LOL
U.S. Geological Survey data
According to the USGS Geographic Names Information System, the Perkins School was located at latitude 35.3495253, longitude -92.2704306.
Here is a Google Map and satellite view showing that location -
http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gazpublic/getgooglemap?p_lat=35.3495253&p_l...
Perkins School
After talking to older & wiser folks from the Guy community, Perkins school was indeed located in the New Home community. Location being in the big right hand curve just past New Home church. My Grandmother & her siblings went to grade school there. I did say previously that I was not sure as to the accuracy of my memory about its location. I would dearly love to know the name of the school that was on North Bolden Hill Rd!
Wolf Branch
I believe the school you're referring to was the Wolf Branch school. Mr. & Mrs. Glover lived there after it was converted to a house, but Mrs. Glover taught in the Guy School that was located just west of Guy. I agree that the Perkins school was somewhere in the New Home community but I never learned the exact location.
Faulkner County Schools
csc2-k - Here is a list of all Faulkner County schools found in the USGS GNIS database. It seems to be incomplete, it does not mention all of the "eight small schools in proximity of Guy" listed in the article, but it does list several other schools around Guy -
Brannan School (historical) Barney
Brewers School (historical) Barney
Barney School (historical) Barney
Whiteoak School (historical) Barney
Mount Meto School (historical) Cato
Antioch School (historical) Cato
Oakland School (historical) Cato
Mount Pisgah School (historical) Cato
Cadron Gap School (historical) Conway
Barley School (historical) Conway
Hendrix College Conway
Nutter School (historical) Conway
Ledrick School (historical) Conway
Reeves School (historical) Conway
Conway High West School Conway
Conway High School Conway
Julia Lee Moore Elementary School Conway
Carl Stuart Middle School Conway
Pine Street High School Conway
Conway Junior High School Conway
Sallie Cone Elementary School Conway
Conway High East School Conway
Marguerite Vann Elementary School Conway
Conway Middle School Conway
Green School (historical) Conway
Pickles Gap School (historical) Conway
Central College for Young Women (historical) Conway
Peabody School (historical) Conway
University of Central Arkansas Conway
Central Baptist College Conway
Saint Joseph High School Conway
Fairside School Conway
Germantown School (historical) Conway
Ida Burns Elementary School Conway
Theodore Jones Elementary School Conway
Fairview School (historical) Conway
Ellen Smith Elementary School Conway
Bob Courtway Middle School Conway
Florence Mattison Elementary School Conway
Bethel School (historical) Conway
Caney School (historical) Conway
Solomon Grove School Damascus
Chinquapin School (historical) Damascus
Republican School (historical) Damascus
Bono School (historical) Damascus
Oakvale School (historical) Enola
Oak Grove School (historical) Enola
Mount Vernon Elementary School Enola
Mount Vernon-Enola High School Enola
Mount Vernon High School Enola
Cross Roads School (historical) Enola
Garland Springs School (historical) Enola
Mount Tabor School (historical) Enola
Haw Thicket School (historical) Enola
Curtis School (historical) Enola
Enola High School Enola
Sharon School (historical) Enola
Naylor School (historical) Enola
Mount Vernon-Enola Elementary School Enola
Enola Elementary School Enola
Union Valley School (historical) Enola
Lollie School (historical) Fourche
Ruth Doyle Intermediate School Gleason
Red Hill School (historical) Gleason
Dew Drop School (historical) Gleason
Jim Stone Elementary School Gleason
Horseshoe Mountain School (historical) Greenbrier
Stony Point School (historical) Greenbrier
Shady Grove School (historical) Greenbrier
Greenbrier High School Greenbrier
Greenbrier Westside Elementary School Greenbrier
Greenbrier Junior High School Greenbrier
Greenbrier Elementary School Greenbrier
Greenbrier Middle School Greenbrier
Springhill School (historical) Greenbrier
Greenbrier Eastside Elementary School Greenbrier
Walnut Grove School (historical) Greenbrier
Wooster School (historical) Greenbrier
Friendship School (historical) Greenbrier
Pleasant Valley School (historical) Greenbrier
Rowlett School (historical) Guy
Guy Perkins School Guy
Guy-Perkins Elementary School Guy
Perkins School (historical) Guy
Guy-Perkins High School Guy
Hendrickson School (historical) Guy
Fairview School (historical) Guy
Glover School (historical) Guy
Union Grove School (historical) Guy
Black Fork School (historical) Guy
Davis School (historical) Hamlet
Oak Bowery School (historical) Hamlet
Sunny Gap School (historical) Hamlet
Browns School (historical) Hamlet
Duncan School (historical) Hamlet
Rocky Ridge School (historical) Hamlet
Jeffries School (historical) Hamlet
Vilonia Primary School Hamlet
Liberty School Hamlet
Tucker School (historical) Hamlet
New Hope School (historical) Holland
Melrose School (historical) Holland
Happy Hollow School (historical) Holland
Oakland School (historical) Holland
Shady Grove School (historical) Holland
Mayflower Middle School Mayflower
Mayflower High School Mayflower
Washam School (historical) Mayflower
Mayflower Elementary School Mayflower
Arkansas Christian College (historical) Unknown
Burks School (historical) Unknown
Belmont School (historical) Vilonia
Marshall School (historical) Vilonia
Ebenezer School (historical) Vilonia
Vilonia Junior High School Vilonia
Woodrow School (historical) Vilonia
Vilonia Middle School Vilonia
Center Point School (historical) Vilonia
Vilonia High School Vilonia
Vilonia Elementary School Vilonia
Brannan
Wonder why they would say it was at Barney. The old Brannan community is off hwy 124 between Quitman And Rosebud. Take the dirt road just across from Center Point Church and go back about three miles. The site used to be marked. Don't know if it still is. I grew up less the 5 miles from the site of the community and the school site. Was glad to see someone mention it here. Brought back fond childhood memories, I even knew people from the community it was named for. Amon Brannan work at the Quitman Esso station for years.