Today Ill begin a series about prominent citizens of North Adams from the past. The first honoree is Sarah T. Haskins. Sarah T. Haskins January 1838 – April 1927 By Sherry Pikul “For anyone who has ever driven on State Street, the name Sarah T. Haskins is not unfamiliar; the name is written boldly across the school next to Joe Wolfe Field. “Miss Haskins was born in January in 1838, the daughter of R.W. and Arabella (Chapin) Haskins. She attended public schools there and later studied privately under the Reverend S.I. Lincoln. “Her teaching career began at the tender age of 15, when she took a position at the school in Stamford, VT. She taught there for a year and then returned to school as a student the following fall. In the coming years, she taught in Heath and at the undergraduate school in Rowe. In 1856, at the age of 18, Miss Haskins took a position in New Salem, VT where she held her first job as principal. Upon returning to Rowe, she opened a private school where she taught for several years. “With the outbreak of the Civil War, she and her family moved to North Adams. It was here that Miss Haskins’ career truly developed. The public school in the Wesleyan Hill district was very poorly run, so she opened a private school there. The parents of that neighborhood removed their children from the public school and sent them to Miss Haskins. She has as many as 50 students at one time, more than a few of whom would later become known in their own right, such as the late H.W. Clark. “Later on, she was persuaded to work for the public school on Chestnut Street. She also taught at Drury Academy and the Veazie Street School before being made principal at the State Street School [which was actually on the corner of Hooker and Francis Streets] in 1897. “Miss Haskins retired in 1914. Thirteen years later she passed away in 1927 at the age of 89, five years after the new State Street School was built and named in her honor. Sarah Haskins was the classic American educator. She put a great deal of emphasis on the three basic subjects, reading, writing and arithmetic. She had little patience with the many educational “fads” of her day, such as vertical writing and teaching with pictures. “Sarah Haskins accomplished a great deal in her lifetime and was a woman to be much admired. She was described as “…a woman of many fine characteristics”, possessing a strong belief in God and a strong belief in her methods.” Sherry Pikul was a student at Drury when this was written. The newspaper column was part of weekly series on important people in North Adams History to commemorate the city’s centennial. It was written with the assistance of the North Adams Historical Society. This article is the first time I’ve heard of a school in the “Wesleyan Hill district” or on Chestnut Street. I don’t recall seeing their names in the city directory either. I don’t know if either building is still standing. I do know that the old State Street School building is there. It’s being used as an apartment building now. Here’s a picture of Sarah T. Haskins, Haskins School and the old State Street School.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 11:52:12 +0000
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