Spokane’s Early Public School System and The Barefoot Schoolboy Act of 1895

SPOTLIGHT ON THE SPOKANE REGION

Spokane’s Early Public School System and

The Barefoot Schoolboy Act of 1895

by Kris Krell

The first school that opened in Spokane was in 1870 by Spokane Garry (1811-1892), a Spokane Indian, near what is today The Spokane House on Sunset Highway.  By 1875, Henry T Cowley, a Protestant missionary, opened a school in Spokane with the first white school teacher.  Cowley’s school, an Indian mission school, was the beginning of public school education in Spokane.  Cowley’s arrival also coincided with the development of the first Spokane school district—named District #8.  

At the beginning of Cowley’s school, most of the students, both children and adults,  were local Native Americans.  A few white children also attended the school.  As Spokane grew; however, the school quickly changed from a mission school to a white public school.  By January 1881, Native Americans were pressured to move to reservations when President Rutherford B Hayes signed an executive order declaring the Spokane Indian Reservation their new home.  Cowley retired soon after starting his school deciding to work in business and journalism. School attendance was sporadic for several years after 1875.

By 1878, a new school was built on Lincoln Street. The school was a wood frame building 20’ wide by 30’ long.  When the Northern Pacific Railroad built railroad tracks through Spokane, the school building was moved to Post and Sprague (where the Davenport is now).  The number of students increased steadily, and soon the small two-room school was too small; the school closed at the end of the school year 1883.

The larger new school began construction October 22, 1883; when construction was completed on the new school, three teachers were employed.  By 1884, a two-room addition was needed, and the addition was built onto the building. Originally all grades were taught in the new school, but by 1886, a new building was required for the primary grades. By 1886, the school enrollment was 523 pupils and seven teachers.  1887 enrollment was 715 students and 13 teachers.  

By 1889, School District #8 was reorganized to School District #81.  David Bemis, a Canadian with a school administration background, became Superintendent of the District and was responsible for the advancement and expansion of Spokane schools. By this time, nearly 2,000 students attended school.  

An 1890 Board of Education report stated that the District required “four large ward schoolhouses and a large central building for the high school.”  $250,000 more dollars were required than those provided through normal tax levy; Spokane citizens voted to issue the bonds needed—the new high school and six elementary schools were built.

Although Spokane approved levies to raise the money for new schools, many towns didn’t have the funds due to small populations among other difficulties to support a public school system.  

On November 11, 1889, Washington became a state.  The progressive 1889 Constitution of the State of Washington declared that “it is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex.”  

In 1895, The Barefoot Schoolboy Act of 1895, was enacted to levy new taxes and established a statewide $6 allocation for every school-aged child.

Sources:  WA State Digital Archives, The History of Washington Public Education at the Digital Archives, HistoryLink.org-Spokane Early Education