Beginnings
Grit, struggle, and community support have been essential to the survival of formal education in Washington County, Utah. With no permanent structures yet built, St. George settlers organized schools and selected teachers in 1861.[1] Still, in these early years settler families often had to prioritize farming over education and education opportunities remained very limited.[2] Schools often had to share space with churches.[3] There were early attempts to create a high school, but these were short-lived.[4] The most successful of these efforts in the 19th century was the first St. George Stake Academy, established in 1888 and closed in 1893.[5] Later, a successful permanent public school was completed in 1901 and named the Woodward school, but it only educated students as high as 10th grade.[6] Students who sought higher levels of education were forced to move and pay for room and board in farther cities, the closest being Cedar City, Utah where the Branch Normal School (later Southern Utah University) was located.[7]
Local religious leaders, including Stake President Edward H. Snow, worked to lobby the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help fund an academy of higher education in St. George.[8] The local community provided the remaining funds and labor.[9] Donations were solicited through local papers and in church meetings.[10] The Board of Education discussed multiple locations but eventually decided to build in the heart of the St. George community, on the same block as the St. George Tabernacle.[11]
Construction began in 1909, and a new St. George Stake Academy opened its doors for students in 1911.[12] The opening events were full of optimism. Edward H. Snow proclaimed:
From the day that the idea had been projected of erecting this school there had never been a dissenting word nor a thought that it could not be built. They said they could do it and with the help of God and the help of parents they had been successful.[13]
He paid special tribute to a "Brother Orton" who had promised only $200 but had instead donated $1000. The local Washington County News extolled the benefits of the Academy: keeping children nearby, bringing and retaining money in the community, the “superb winter climate,” and “the absence of saloons and other baneful influences.”[14] The original 1911 building still stands and is now the home of the St. George Children’s Museum.[15]
Despite initial optimism, the school still needed significant support and continued to call on citizens and church leaders for donations.[16] Stake and school leaders encouraged citizens to take a personal interest in the academy’s welfare. The opening announcements for the 1912 school year included the following remark: “It has been the purpose to build a school toward which every parent and child can look with pride mingled with that keen satisfaction of personal ownership...the school needs the support of every person loyal to Dixie.”[17]
When hired, some employees donated part of their salaries back to the school.[18] Graduating classes started a tradition to provide a gift to the school before they graduated, such as the class of 1913, which installed sidewalks around the school; and the class of 1925 gave a new cyclorama curtain for the theater.[19]
The school also gave back to the community. The Academy gave the community access to many of its resources, such as the library and gymnasium on certain days of the week.[20] In 1916, Washington County completed a public library on the same block as the college that benefited both the community and the college.[21]
The school struggled through difficulties that faced the entire nation. Several students enlisted in the military during World War I.[22] The Dixie 1918 yearbook was dedicated to “our soldier boys.”[23] The yearbook staff wrote a tribute to the soldiers and included pictures of each in uniform. In February of 1920, the school quarantined for the [Spanish] influenza epidemic.[24] The 1920 yearbook described this time as “miserable days with the bed, cough medicine, and quinine.”[25] College president Erastus Snow Romney died from pneumonia following the influenza.[26] He was well loved by the school and community and the yearbook was dedicated to his memory.[27] In remembrance of students who had died, the 1921 junior class left an empty photograph space with the words “sacred to the memory of those ‘juniors’ we did not get.”[28]
Citations
[1] James G. Bleak, The Annals of the Southern Mission: A Record of the History of the Settlement of Southern Utah (Draper, UT: Greg Kofford Books, 2019), 53.;
John H. Schmutz, “John Henry Schmutz: A Lifespan from the Oxcart to the Moon,” by Pearl Ghormley (Salt Lake City: Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1973), Utah Tech University Special Collections and Archives, 4.;
Nephi M. Savage, Nephi M. Savage to James G. Bleak, March 17, 1890, letter, Church Board of Education Records – Photocopy, 1888-1893 (UA-027), Utah Tech University Special Collections and Archives, https://archives.utahtech.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/10704.
[3] Mary A. Hafen, Recollections of a Handcart Pioneer of 1860: With Some Account of Frontier Life in Utah and Nevada, 2nd ed., (St. George, UT: Heritage Press, 1980), 44.
[4] Andrew Karl Larson, I Was Called to Dixie (Andrew Karl Larson, 1979) 2nd printing, 548-553.
[5] James G. Bleak, Annals of the Southern Utah Mission, 701.;
Douglas D. Alder, A Century of Dixie State College of Utah (St. George, UT: Dixie State College, 2010), 1-4, 10-11.
[6] Heber C. Jones, History of the Woodward School: 99 Years, 1901-2000 (St. George, UT: The Committee for the Restoration of the Woodward School, 2000), 15.;
Thomas G. Alexander, Edward Hunter Snow: Pioneer, Educator, Statesman (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2012), 167.
[7] "Good Prospects for Dixie," Washington County News (St. George, UT), December 30, 1909, 2, Utah Digital Newspapers, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s62c0c48.;
"The Branch Normal School [Advertisement]," Washington County News (St. George, UT), August 26, 1909, 1, Utah Digital Newspapers, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6n88qwj.
[8] Alexander, Edward Hunter Snow, 167-171; Alder, Century, 16-19.
[9] Labor’s Account Ledger, Bulk: 1909-1913, UA-031, box 1, folder 1, Utah Tech University Special Collections and Archives, https://archives.utahtech.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/10948.
[10] "QR.[Quarter] Conference," Washington County News (St. George, UT), December 15, 1910, 1, Utah Digital Newspapers. https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6087khp.;
Snow, Edward H., Thomas P. Cottom, and G.F. Whitehead, "Stake Academy Noitce [sic]," Washington County News (St. George, UT), April 20, 1911, 4, Utah Digital Newspapers, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6db9g2s.
[11] St. George Stake Academy Board of Education. Stake Board of Education- Meeting Minutes- Photocopy, 1907-1933, UA-027, Box: 1, Folder: 4, 5-6, Utah Tech University Special Collections and Archives.
[12] "Academy Open," Washington County News (St. George, UT), October 5, 1911, 1, Utah Digital Newspapers, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6f4937q.
[13] "Academy Open," 1.
[14] "Help the Academy," Washington County News (St. George, UT), October 6, 1910, 2, Utah Digital Newspapers, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s68p7dpg.
[15] "Museum History," St. George Children's Museum, accessed July 18, 2024, https://www.sgchildrensmuseum.org/about-us/museum-history/.
[16] Douglas D. Alder, A Century of Dixie State College of Utah (St. George, UT: Dixie State College, 2010), 26-27.
[17] "Stake Academy Opening Announcements," Washington County News (St. George, UT), August 15, 1912, 1, Utah Digital Newspapers, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6d23btz.
[18] St. George Stake Academy Board of Education. Stake Board of Education- Meeting Minutes- Photocopy, 1907-1933, UA-027, Box: 1, Folder: 4, 11, 17-18, Utah Tech University Special Collections and Archives.
[19] Academy Editorial Staff, "The Dixie," Washington County News (St. George, UT), April 17, 1913, 1, Utah Digital Newspapers. https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s64f34v7.;
"Graduating Classes Present Gifts," The Dixie News (St. George, UT), May 5, 1925, 1, Utah Digital Newspapers, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s69k9xmt.
[20] Stake Board of Education Meeting Minutes, 15-16.
[21] Alder, Century, 26-28.
[22] Dixie 1918 (St. George, UT: Dixie Normal College, 1918), digital pages 6-19, Utah Tech University Library Digital Collections, https://digital.library.utahtech.edu/items/show/685.
[23] Dixie 1918, digital pages 6-19.
[24] Dixie 1920 (St. George, UT: Dixie Normal College Student Body, 1920), 41, Utah Tech University Library Digital Collections, https://digital.library.utahtech.edu/items/show/686.
[25] Dixie 1920, 41.
[26] "Pres. E. S. Romney Called, “Washington County News (St. George, UT), February 12, 1920, 1, Utah Digital Newspapers, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6dr48q2.;
Dixie 1920, 41.
[27] Dixie 1920, 6-10.;
"Erastus Snow Romney Passed Useful Life," Washington County News (St. George, UT), February 19, 1920, 1, Utah Digital Newspapers. https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6dr48q2.;
[28] The Dixie 1920-1921 (St. George, UT: Dixie Normal College Student Body, 1921), digital page 20, Utah Tech University Library Digital Collections, https://digital.library.utahtech.edu/items/show/687#.
Images
The Dixie 1914 (St. George, UT: St. George Stake Academy, 1914), Utah Tech University Special Collections and Archives, https://digital.library.utahtech.edu/items/show/782.
The Dixie 1918 (St. George, UT: Dixie Normal College, 1918), Utah Tech University Special Collections and Archives, https://digital.library.utahtech.edu/items/show/685.
The Dixie 1920 (St. George, UT: Dixie Normal College, 1920), Utah Tech University Special Collections and Archives, https://digital.library.utahtech.edu/items/show/686.
The Dixie 1920-1921 (St. George, UT: Dixie Normal College, 1921), Utah Tech University Special Collections and Archives, https://digital.library.utahtech.edu/items/show/687.
Woodward School from West Tabernacle, St. George Panoramic, Accession 1900-621_03 DSU Photographs, 1850-1994, Utah Tech University Special Collections and Archives.