The Cooper Files: An Inside Look At The Mine Subsidence Of 1940 (Part 4)

(Editor’s Note: This series was made possible by the discovery of nearly 200 documents in the former J.W. Cooper Memorial High School building pertaining to the Shenandoah School District’s response to the mine subsidence of 1940, provided to the Sentinel by Kent Steinmetz.)

If you missed Part 3, you can read it here.

Outbreak of WWII Another Roadblock

On Dec. 7, 1941, the nation was plunged into a state of war. War materials were rationed, especially steel needed for the rehabilitation of the Cooper building.

As early as January of 1942, the district was sending letters out seeking priority “for sufficient steel to repair” the building. On Jan. 21, P.J. Brennan, board secretary, sent out four such letters to state and federal officials and agencies.

The district received a letter on Feb. 18 from the U.S. Office of Education, noting that a Schools section was being created in the Governmental Requirements branch of the War Production Board.

Two days later, Ratchford penned a letter to the man named to lead that section, George Frank, explaining the district’s situation and pleading for assistance.

He wrote that the district had conferred with the state, county, WPA, and Girard Estate, and “no such assistance has been granted.”

A reply was received from Maury Maverick, Chief of the Governmental Requirements Bureau on Feb. 26.

“We can state that structural steel is very critical and urgently needed for our war effort. Priorities high enough to obtain the small quantities available for civilian use must show an extremely critical need,” Maverick wrote. “It is suggested that temporary quarters be provided if possible until the end of the present emergency.”

That letter came one week short of two years that the district’s high schoolers were spread across the neighborhood elementary schools.

With all funding avenues exhausted, the district turned to a bond issue. They sought authorization from voters in the May 19, 1942 election to issue a $150,000 bond.

“Do you know that the school board can get no help from the state, the WPA, or any other governmental agency to help repair the high school building,” an election leaflet says. “Do you know that the school board has tried for over two years to secure help from the state, the WPA, and the Girard Estate?”

“Do you know that your children are being deprived of physical education and many other essential education activities,” it continues. “Do you know that your High School children are housed in inadequate grade school buildings?”

The bond issue passed, providing the district funding to finally fix the building.

In July 1942, Donald P. Davis, Senior Specialist on School Facilities with the U.S. Office of Education, visited town to inspect the Cooper school.

In his report, he had echoed that all efforts to receive financial aid failed, leading to the bond issue.

Davis noted that exposed cracks in the walls of the building and inner floors would continue to “deteriorate if not rehabilitated promptly.”

He also said that “the offering of regular subjects have been decreased to such an extent that the postponement of the elimination of half day sessions of the high school in elementary buildings should not be postponed longer.”

“Early and favorable consideration is recommended for approval for the School District of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania of a favorable priority rating for securing critical materials for the rehabilitation of the J.W. Cooper High school building in accord with the advice of competent mining engineers,” Davis wrote.

On Sept. 7, 1942, the War Production Board gave the school district a rating to receive a diminutive amount of materials, totaling $6,799, though with an attachment excluding structural steel, reinforcing steel, among other materials necessary to repair the Cooper school.

Reilly, the Cooper’s architect, suggested in May of 1943 that the district personally take an application for rating to Washington to try to procure the materials.

Work Finally Begins

Finally, in December, the War Production Board approved the district to receive the necessary materials and, in March of 1944, the district awarded bids for the job. The J.J. O’Hearn Estate, of Shenandoah, won the bid at a cost of $173,692, or $3.7 Million today.

Ratchford exchanged letters with Cooper Principal John Downey about various items, like preserving furniture and equipment or whether or not to replace dilapidated lockers in the locker rooms.

The district additionally sent letters to various state agencies seeking grants. They also formally requested that the Girard Estate contribute $200,000 toward repairing the Cooper and $150,000 towards the Washington.

“The school board makes this compromising request with the full understanding that the schools in question have been damaged in an amount far in excess of the above request,” Board President N.C. Brennan wrote to Senator G. Harold Watkins on June 23, 1944.

By Oct. 1944, Ratchford reported that much of the materials needed were in the hands of the architect and ready, and that work would begin on the Lehigh Annex soon.

That same month, the board lamented the refusal of other governmental entities to assist.

“Since the mine subsidence of 1940, the school district, the borough council, and the citizens of this community have pleaded and begged assistance from the Girard Estate, the State, and the Federal Government, and from Government agencies such as the now defunct WPA, PWA, etc.,” the board wrote. “The results of the mine subsidence were examined personally by the former Governor, Arthur James, by State mining engineers, by Washington officials of the Public Works Administration, and by others.”

“From time to time by communication and through the public Press, officials of all these agencies promised financial assistance in this crisis,” they continued. “For four long years, the people of the community have patiently awaited some concrete assistance. Instead of receiving this promised support, the patience of the people has been constantly abused.”

Part 5: https://shensentinel.com/news/the-cooper-files-an-inside-look-at-the-mine-subsidence-of-1940-part-5/

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