Last month, the Remembering Rogers column was about the year 1956, the Diamond Jubilee of the birth of Rogers. This column jumps ahead 25 years to the year 1981 the centennial year of Rogers. It is interesting to look back and notice some of the major changes in Rogers and its citizens over that period.
In conjunction with the start of the new school year, the Rogers Historical Museum has a "Back to School" exhibit (Aug. 27-Oct. 29) that looks at ways families prepared for their children to go to school at the turn of the 20th century, told via guided tours of the 1895 Hawkins House. This exhibit inspired me to review the memories of Grace Hill, an educator who began teaching in 1946 and continued until she retired from the Rogers school system in 1981. Hill spoke at the Rogers History Club on May 19, 2011, and recounted flawlessly the history and expansion of Rogers schools during her lifetime. All of the meetings of the Rogers History Club from its beginning until today were audio recorded by the museum. I listened to her amazing memories and thought how fortunate we were to have this living encyclopedia of information about our schools. Hill was introduced by one of her former students, John Wayne Ford. Here are excerpts from that talk: