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In February 1905, a special election was held to ratify a bill incorporating The Andrews School District, after the passage was secured by J.Q. Barker and Mayor David Samuel Russell. In addition, the question of a tax for the maintenance of the school and the erection of other school buildings was submitted to the residents in the school district, but was met with a lot of opposition.
Not to be defeated, Mr. Barker and Mayor Russell took account of the entire district and set out to explain to the people the necessity of the proposal and encouraged the residents to vote for it. The election was held Sept. 12, 1905, and it was passed by a majority of more than two to one.
The team then began to find some land and make the preparations necessary to build the school. On Oct. 27, 1906, the school building was dedicated, and was the first unit of the Andrews School System.
Wade Crawford was the first superintendent. The building was huge and many parents doubted that there were enough children to fill all the rooms. But the large influx of students soon filled the space, and the second new building was constructed in 1915, which was the new high school.
One of the most outstanding superintendents of the Andrews School System was Isham Barney Hudson, who held that position from 1934-50. Under his supervision, the school district experienced phenomenal growth for the entire 16 years that he served as superintendent.
I remember my uncle, Dr. Wray Birchfield, used to tell us what an honorable man Mr. Hudson was. He told the story about his parents splitting up during the Depression, when his mother went to Arkansas to work in her Uncle Joe’s general store, and his father went to Florida to find work. But he stayed in Andrews with his older brother because he wanted to graduate from high school.
Wray worked for his brother in the evenings at the “Blue Goose,” a beer joint located at the foot of Granny Squirrel. He would get up every morning before daylight and run to the Riverside Hotel to stoke the coal furnace before going to school and then again after school. But he kept his grades up and was named valedictorian of the Class of 1939.
He said some of the school board members wanted to name another student the valedictorian because he was from a “prominent family” in Andrews. But Mr. Hudson put his foot down and said that Wray’s grades were far above the other student and he would not stand for that, and gave Wray the honor he deserved.
Wray said that Mr. Hudson believed in him and put him on the path to higher education. After receiving his master’s degree at the University of Florida, he got his doctorate degree in Plant Pathology at LSU, where he remained a professor for more than 30 years. He was also one of the top 10 agricultural research scientist in the United States.
The new high school building that was built in 1915 was destroyed by fire in 1962, burning all the irreplaceable pictures of the valedictorians and other honor students that lined the hallowed halls.
A quote by an unknown author sums up how educators can make a difference in the life of a student – “Good deeds of guiding and encouraging learners may be rewarded with positive ramifications many years after the student graduates.”
Kandy Barnard is a columnist for the Cherokee Scout. To talk about the Andrews Valley, call her at 361-3268 or email kandybarnard@gmail.com.