In 1871 at the age of 14, Mary Todd graduated from West High as the class valedictorian. A year later she was a West "teacher in the grades." Todd served as the high school principal from 1884-1887 before taking a year off. In 1888, she was elected Supervisor of Drawing and teacher of Mathematics. She finally resigned from teaching 1917 and died four years later. The first high school annual ever published was dedicated to Todd with a poem. It reads, in part, "Since thou so cheeringly hast filled thy place/ And left upon thy friends so deep a trace/ Of all thy goodness; we unforgetful, try/ To render some small part of what’s thy due." In 1923 Oak Street School was renamed Mary A. Todd School. The original school on this site, begun in 1852, was called the Stone School and later Old Stone School. At least two additions were built, the last being a 4th floor used as the first high school on the west side. The school burned in 1885 and was replaced in 1886. |
