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The building that eventually became the High School, c. 1907-1908

By Donna Hatfield

Special to the Copper Basin News

As Homecoming 2014 approaches, a little history of Ray High School is in order. A little research revealed a little about the old school, which turned into a lot of research and so much information that it became overwhelming. Here are some of the facts, trivia and stories about Ray School, up to the years the schools were closed in Ray and Sonora and classes were moved to Kearny.

One of the first things learned is that the buildings that become the high school were built much earlier, and were recognized only as a public school. The earliest mention of a school in Ray was in the September 2, 1907 issue of theArizona Republican, today’sArizona Republic.

The article stated: “The Ray school house is nearly completed and will be ready for occupancy when the school term begins, which is in about two weeks.” The article goes on to say the credit for this accomplishment is given to H.R. Wiggins, G. Ake, and Arthur Forman for their efforts in getting a school for “the camp”.

The school is at the north end of the camp, and can accommodate about twenty students. The new teacher, Miss Margaret Fairholon will be arriving the 10th of the month”.

The north end of “the camp” was in the area of what became Zachary Hill, or the school hill to those of us with memories of Ray.

Another bit of information about the early school in Ray was from the 1956 yearbook, which read: “It was not possible to find out exactly when our school was built, but we do know that in 1908 it was just a two room school, which became what is now the study hall. It wasn’t even named Ray High, but was called Dunham School and was the only school in the area at that time.” Thank you, Ann Ramsey, for the use of your family’s yearbooks.

The high school was originally a one-story building. According to the 1956 yearbook, it was heated by wood and coal stoves, with chimneys on both sides of the building. In the March 28, 1911 issue of theArizona Republican, the writer talked about Ray being not such a little town. He referred to it as “quite a town, with some big stores. There are really three towns, Old Town is the portion which was first built. New Town is for the most part residences erected within the last year or two, and Sonora Town. There is no lack of building material in Ray. At the present, the Hercules Company is building a hotel of stone quarried right off the mountain on which Ray is built and moved only a few hundred yards. I understand this hotel is to have 200 rooms. There is a schoolhouse built of the same stone, which certainly makes a handsome building.”

From the 1956 Roundup, “The first enlargement that was made to the school is the section that is now the history room and library. Shortly after this addition was completed, the wind blew the roof off the whole building and instead of repairing the damage, a second story was added. The annex building, now the office and science room, was built in 1941. The last addition was a fire escape, just outside the typing room.”

Becky Drew was called upon for help in this fact-finding mission, and, she provided newspaper articles, archive websites, and pretty much anything else sought. From the archives of the State Library of Arizona, a plot map from Sanborn Insurance Company from 1915 shows a public school in Ray. Another map from the same company, from 1919, shows the same public school, with the addition of Lincoln Elementary School.

TheBisbee Daily Review, in an article from July 26, 1917 stated, “New School for Ray.” . “In keeping with the prevalent spirit in Ray, that there is nothing too good for her citizens and residents. It was decided at a meeting of the school trustees to build a new and modern school structure, provided a market could be found for the bonds it would be necessary to vote.”

“While Ray’s school system is one of the best in the county, the number of children of school age has increased so rapidly that the present quarters have become too cramped and it is not possible to give them the proper training. It is planned to ascertain if there can be a market found for the bonds and if a market is found, a bond election will be called.”

That new school building was Lincoln Elementary in Ray, which was located within walking distance from the high school on Zachary Hill. It was a beautiful and stately, red brick two-story building with great arched windows on the upper floor, overlooking the mountains.

The bronze cornerstone plaque from Lincoln was recovered from the rubble after the school was razed, and gave the date the school was dedicated at 1918. The plaque also named the Board of Trustees for Ray Schools on April 1. 1917 as L.S. Cates (the General Manager for Ray Consolidated Copper Company) J. Backstein from Sonora, C.M. Kinsey from Ray, and V.O. Wallingham, the architect. This plaque is now at the Florence museum, along with a large wall clock that hung in either the high school or Lincoln Elementary.

Many newspaper articles were found with information about teachers coming to Ray, such as Mr. Charles T. Jennings, who was teaching in Ray in 1917. He traveled to Tempe to be married to Miss Laura Jensen and they both returned to Ray to teach, (AZ Republican, June 21, 1917). A Miss Laudermilch was to begin her teaching service in Rayon August 30, 1919. Apparently, this was news worthy of mention in that day.

According to theBisbee Daily Review, the August 23, 1919 edition, there were 1600 students attending school in Ray and Sonora. Both towns had elementary schools, but the only high school was in Ray.

As the research began to take on more depth, this article from theTombstone Epitaph, dated April 13, 1919, was found, which recounts the story of a kidnapping at the Ray School Building:

“Mysterious Bandits Use Ray School Building as Lair: Hold Boy Captive

Phoenix, Ariz.: April 10

The new $30,000 school building at Ray, Arizona has a mystery according to advices from there tonight.

Nick Montgomery, a 15 year old son of R.O.Montgomery, chief clerk of the Hercules Copper Company, while passing the school building at night, heard men’s voices, investigated, saw two figures entering the school and followed. When he stumbled and fell in the darkness he was discovered, and according to his story, the pair bound him with the belfry rope and shout him in a closet. The school children discovered him in the morning unconscious from exhaustion and cold, after his father had spent the night in a fruitless search.”

The article mentions the new school building, probably referring to Lincoln Elementary. It is known that Lincoln had a bell, which is now in Ray High School.

Joe and Oralia Tovar provided much information. In one of the many conversations with Joe, he mentioned that long-time area resident, Benita Streecter, had once said she was in the first graduating class from Ray in 1921. This seemed unlikely, since the school was built much earlier, but, according to a copy of the Bearcat newspaper from 1962, provided by Rose Bradford, the class of ‘62 was the 41st graduating class from Ray. This would put the first graduating class at 1921. Why this is so, no definitive answer has been found to explain, yet. However, in “History of Public School Education in Arizona” , it’s mentioned that in 1908, there were only five high schools in the Arizona Territory, none of them in Ray.

It wasn’t until 1914 that any “distinctly rural” high schools in Arizona appeared, and at that time there was only about 500 high school age students attending high school in the entire state. Most students of the day only attended school through the eighth grade or until the age of 14. Therefore, it may be that there weren’t enough students that stayed in school, before 1921, to achieve graduation.

Valerie Kelley provided copies of the commencement programs from Ray High School, classes of 1929 and 1930. The Class of ‘29’s motto was “I am Master of my Fate, the Captain of my Soul.” They graduated 12 students on Thursday, May 16 at the Iris Theater, which was the movie house in downtown Ray. Their class colors were blue and silver. The commencement address was given by Dr. J. W. Clarson, Jr., Dean of the College of Education, University of Arizona.

The Class of 1930’s motto was “Success Waits at Labor’s Gate.” They graduated 14 students, again at the Iris Theater. Mr. J.J. Oaks was Principal the class flower was the pink rose, class colors were old rose and gold. The Iris Theater seemed to be the venue of high school graduations, at least until the high school gym was built in 1952. From then on, all graduations were held in the new gym.

In a 1938 Bearcat newspaper, it was reported that Ray would put its first football team on the field in the fall of 1939. It would be a six-man team, to be coached by Mr. George Rich, a local merchant.

According to Ms. Leonor Lopez in her book, “Forever Sonora, Ray, Barcelona”, Ray had its first basketball team in 1923, the Ray Bear Cats. The school gym wasn’t built until 1952, so basketball games prior to that were played in downtown Ray, outside on a cement court.

The baseball team was started some time in the 1920’s, but, baseball in Ray went back to around 1910. The field was built by the copper mines as a semi-pro field, and teams came from other towns to play Ray’s team. Thanks to Dr. Jim Celis for this information.

By the fall of 1954, the Bearcat football team was under the leadership of Coaches G.E. Crandall and Joe Duarte. They were four and three in their conference and won the B East Conference Championship for six-man football. Perry Hatfield and Ronnie Deen remember riding in a flatbed truck to Hayden to play football. The field was down by today’s Hayden Golf Course.

They did get to ride a bus to the Superior games, however. It was a bus loaned to the school by the company, used to bring contractors and miners in to work, referred to as “the turtle” which seated 12. Some of the younger players had to sit on the floor of the bus. Ray played six-man football until the autumn of 1956, when they were able to field an 11 man team.

There was only one athletic field and it was used for football, baseball and track. No one recalled any grass on the field; just dirt and lots of rocks It is also worth noting that in 1952, Ray had its first All State Player. HIs name was John Brewer and he was the quarterback on the 1952 All-State six-man football team.

Besides football, basketball and baseball, the boys had track and, later, tennis. Apparently, the boy’s “R” Club was started in 1952.

The girls had their sports as well. By 1958, they had volleyball, basketball, tennis, badminton and softball. The Girls Athletic Association, or GAA, was started when Miss Wilhite, a P.E. major from Pepperdine came to Ray in February of 1955. After Miss Wilhite, Edyth Walden, or as she was best known to us all, Edyth Walden Alexander, took it over and sponsored it until her retirement. Mrs. Alexander also coached all the girl’s sports teams throughout the years, and was proud of the girls, always referring to them as “my athletes”.

The 1923 basketball team was the Bearcats and their colors were maroon and white. Research into when and where the Bearcat Mascot came into being was unfruitful, beyond that point. Each class had their own class colors and flowers, which lends confusion to the issue.

The Superintendent for Ray Schools, at that time, was D.M. Hibner. Mr. Hibner also sat on the State Board of Education and was the Superintendent of City Schools. He was superintendent at Ray from 1924 until his death in 1950.

Mr. Hershel Hooper took over as Superintendent in 1950. He is credited with starting the student government, having a gym built in 1952 along with an addition to the high school, and starting a driver’s training course in 1955. Joyce Hughes came onboard as office secretary on November 11, 1954, replacing Mrs. Ettie Crossland.

The high school newspaper was called Bearcat, and goes back, at least, until the school year 1938/39. In 1962, the Ray Bearcat newspaper won, for the first time in school history, the Best of the Bests award at the U of A’s annual Journalism Day. The award designated the best mimeographed high school newspaper in the state.

The yearbook was called ‘Round Up’ and its inaugural year was 1947. In 1958, the name was changed to the Surveyor. The Round Up was also a fundraising event put on by the Ray Teacher’s Association to raise money for scholarships. It provided western-style entertainment for the whole community. There were dances, parades in which the whole community took part, food booths, spitting contests and old movies.

The 1955 Round Up featured, as its main event, a wrestling match between ‘Killer Kirk’ and ‘Murderer Murch’, Mr. Steve Kuykendall and Mr. Dan Murchison. The Round Up was the precursor to Kearny’s Annual Pioneer Days. The last Round Up (prophetic) was held in the Ray gym in 1963.

The first “R” was built by the class of 1955. It was built on Hercules Hill above the high school in Ray. The Class of ‘55 willed the R to the class of ‘56, and the tradition of whitewashing the R continues today.

When did the rivalry with Hayden start? All the yearbooks through the 1950’s mention it, but, when it started remains unclear. In the fall of 1961, Ray regained the KCC traveling trophy by beating Hayden 12-6. Had Ray lost, the trophy would have belonged to Hayden permanently.

The twirlers were the Ray Copper Queens. The flag squad was the Ray Copperettes, and the band was the Copper Kings.

They had Homecoming Royalty, Round Up Queens and Attendants, Prom Queens, Senior Day Princesses; they even had a Salad Bowl Princess and attendants. Any ideas what that is?

They had pep squads, glee clubs, choral groups, the Triple Trios, shorthand clubs, drama clubs, chess clubs, and, in 1959, the first Taft’s Terrors Science Club was founded, led by Mr. William Taft, who, after retiring from teaching, became Father Taft at the Infant Jesus of Prague Catholic Church. The list of clubs goes on.

The Bearcats had a tradition of ringing the bell at home games, after every Ray touchdown. The story about the bell is not verified, but, it is rumored that the original bell was stolen. The bell at the high school, today, is from Lincoln Elementary School. It was cast on July 8, 1918 and was donated to the school in September, 1988 by the Mike Bidegain family, so that the tradition of the bell could continue.

The last class to graduate from Old Ray was the class of 1960. High school students were then bussed to Kearny. The elementary schools continued until spring of 1963, when all students in Ray and Sonora were bussed to Kearny and the schools were closed for good.

The first class to graduate from the new school in Kearny was the class of 1961, and they graduated in the cafeteria. Mr. Hooper was still Superintendent. Succeeding Mr. Hooper was Mr. Robert Chastain, who later became Senator Chastain.

Many of the teachers came to the new high school in Kearny to continue teaching. Principal Lewis Crowell, Roy Woods, Edyth Alexander, William Taft, Gudrun Kelso, Mr. and Mrs. Case, Carl McGee, Oscar Avants, Joe Duarte and Wayne Smith, to name a few.

So much has been said, and written, about the closing or destruction of Ray, Sonora and Barcelona to make way for the mine, and, how Kearny became a sort of melting pot because of that. It should be noted that, for many years, before the towns were mined under, Ray High School was a melting pot of its own. The only high school in the area for many years, students from Ray and Sonora were brought together, there, to continue their education, create memories and forget lifelong friendships.

It is hoped that the students of Ray, today, will take a lesson from history. Take an interest in your school. Be proud of the fact that you attend a school so very rich in history and tradition, and, do what you can to preserve those traditions. Find out all you can about our school, be active, participate, and strive to be better, do better and make things better. If you have an interest in something, start a new club or build upon an old tradition.

In the writing of this article, stories were heard from many persons, some of them already mentioned, including former Kearny Mayor Rose Bradford and Nancy Wilkinson, Miss Pinal County 1959. Many photos were shared, including by Dr. Celis. Yearbooks, newspaper clippings, archives and the memories of many Ray alumni were scoured in an effort to learn of the past and to verify what was learned.

How fortunate we are to live in an area so rich in history; but, if we don’t take steps to preserve our history, we will lose it. That would be a shame.

Staff (5795 Posts)

There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.

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