Wilmette Public Library Local History Digital Collection

Robert A. Harper (1910-2007) oral history

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Track 4, Transcript p. 6-10: Track 4, Transcript p. 6-10
Transcription: Track 4 RH: Well, of course, he experienced a tremendous growth in the school system.... RA: Oh, yes. RH:…and, as I recall, when he took over the school there was two and perhaps three buildings there at the.corner of Tenth and Central. RA: Um hum. RH: There was the old, uh, eight room Central Building and an adjacent eight room building and then perhaps shortly after he joined the system and Byron Stolp School was built with a gymnasium auditorium. RA: Was that built before the Logan School - the old Logan School was built - or was the old Logan School there? RH: Uh, I believe the old Logan School was there perhaps before the Stolp Building. RA: I see. It was my understanding that that was primarily vocational. Did you ever get that feeling? RH: No. No. The Logan School was the west side school and we had an unfortunate division, uh, in Wilmette at that time - the east and west side divided by the tracks and, uh, I was born in 1910 so I attended the Logan School.... RA: Um hum. RH: …through, uh, sixth grade. Robert Harper, cont. p.7 RA: Um hum. RH: …and then went to the junior high school where the entire village would - which was then in the Stolp School.... RA: Yes. RH: …and, um, adjacent to the Logan School was a, uh, another building which was a manual training building and that may be where.... RA: It was another building. RH: It was the second building which, uh, which burned. I recall the night when that building burned. That must have been before I started school, but it was a complete loss. RA: Well, it must have been prior to 1932. RH: Oh, yes. Well, long before that. RA: Yes. RH: No, that was.... RA; That explains it then. RH: Well, I imagine that was around 1915 that that building.... RA: I see. RH: …something in the plus or minus two years there. RA: I see. RH: I'm not sure just when the Laurel School was built. RA: That must have been almost, uh.... RH: About the same time. RA: ....configuratively.... Robert Harper, cont. p.8 RH: Yes. The school district at that time only extended to Ridge Road.... RA: Um hum. RH: …and, uh, the school district to the west of that, uh, got into some kind of a hassle and finally broke up. RA: It was a county school, wasn't it? RH: Yes, but that they had the present Highcrest Building or.... RA: Um hum. .RH: ...a small portion of that and they came into the Wilmette School District and, uh, for a few years the Highcrest School then was mothballed, uh, but as the population grew to the west, why it began to be used and, of course, was, uh, added on to.... RA; Um hum. . RH: …and in 1941 the, um, Harper School was built and, um, named for Dad just as he was retiring in 1942. Of course, there have been two additions to it since then. RA: Um hum. RH: He came back for the dedication of each one of those, I recall. RA; Oh, yes. Did they at that time. Bob, close the, uh, Highcrest School as a school? RH: Well.... RA: It was taken in to the.... RH: Well, as I recall, when the Highcrest District came intoWilmette, uh, the Highcrest School was closed and then it Robert Harper, cent. p.9 was reopened as the population in the western side of the district grew.... RA: Um hum. RH: …and they needed more classroom space out there. RA: Um hum. RH: So it was reopened within a few years after, uh, that district joined Wilmette. RA: Um hum. RH: Uh, he was, uh, both Mother and Dad were - had been brought up as Presbyterians. When they came to Wilmette they thought they should, uh, join a church in the village and there was no Presbyterian church here so they joined the Methodist church and, uh, of course, were active in it, uh, all of their lives in Wilmette. RA: Of course, that was the United church in the beginning of many congregations, was...it not and then, I believe, we have a preliminary history of it and the agreement - the abstract says that whoever gave money - whenever their particular faith was large enough within the community, they would refund the money to them - to put into a new church and that's the way the Congregational Church.... RH: I hadn't heard.... RA: ....was started. RH; I hadn't heard that. RA: Well, we do have that early, early abstract in our files at the Library. So - but it interests me that the Robert Harper, cont. p.10 Presbyterian church did not exist when they came here in.... RH: Well, they came in 1906..... RA; Oh/ yes.
Creators: Harper, Robert A., 1910-2007, Interviewee; Adler, Rhea Saul, 1906-1990
, Interviewer
Media Type: Audio; Image; Text
Item Type: Audiocassettes
Description: Interview with Robert A. Harper by Rhea Adler in Wilmette on March 11, 1982.

Abstract:

Born and has lived in Wilmette his entire life - son of Dora and J. Robb Harper, Superintendent of Wilmette Schools 1908-1942
Life of his father - one of four children on Ohio farm - put himself through college - married a teacher in the college who was daughter of a Presbyterian minister
J.R. Harper became a science teacher at New Trier H.S. 1906 -Superintendent of Wilmette Schools 1908
Expansion of the school system - Highcrest School became part of District 39 - Harper School built 1941
J.R. Harper retired and moved to a dairy farm in Michigan
George Harper taught at New Trier H.S. until 1925 when he re¬tired to Tucson, Arizona - Clara Groves (Mrs. J.R.H. sister) taught sixth grade for many years
Mrs. J.R.H. active in community - charter member P.T.A. -President of M.E. Church Ladies Aid - Woman's Club
J.R.H. also active in community - Rotary Club charter member -President of 1930-31 - Library Board many years -purchased farm in Michigan 1914 to which they retired in 1942 - dairy farm - later subdivided - after 20 years they came to Presbyterian Westminster Place in Evanston, but continued spending winters in Florida - his death there in 1970 aged 94 - she passed away 1975 at age of 102 years
Robert and Margaret Harper's family - children and their
activities - their Vermont summer home - his activities at New Trier
Summary
Place of Publication: Wilmette, Illinois
Date of Original: 11 March 1982
Subject(s): School superintendents
Teachers
Oral histories
Wilmette (Ill.) -- Residents
Personal Name(s): Harper, Robert A.
Local identifier: R 977.31 HA
Language of Item: English
Copyright Statement: Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Copyright Date: 1982
Copyright Holder: Wilmette Public Library
Copyright Holder Contact Information: 1242 Wilmette Ave.
Wilmette, IL 60091
U.S.A.
Recommended Citation: Harper, Robert A., 1910-2007 and Rhea Saul Adler. Robert Harper. Wilmette, Ill: Wilmette Public Library District, 1982.
Contact: Wilmette Public Library
Email:refdesk@wilmettelibrary.info
Website:
https://www.wilmettelibrary.info/

Agency street/mail address:
1242 Wilmette Avenue
Wilmette, IL
60091-2558
U.S.A. Phone: 847-256-6930

Robert A. Harper (1910-2007) oral history

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Track 1, Transcript p. 1

Track 2, Transcript p. 1-4

Track 3, Transcript p. 4-6

Track 4, Transcript p. 6-10

Track 5 Transcript p. 10-12

Track 6 Transcript p. 12-15

Track 7 Transcript p. 15-18

Track 8 Transcript p. 18-22

Track 9 Transcript p. 22-23

Track 10 Transcript p. 23-24

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