- Sydney Holds the Sign
I’m not sure what prompted me to wake up thinking of Edison Elementary School in Alameda, California, circa 1941. Perhaps it was soft gray sky out my window. Perhaps it was anticipating my morning stroll with the Walking Women of Oysterville. Perhaps an already forgotten dream…
Nevertheless, my early morning thoughts were mostly questions. How far was it that I walked to school every morning? And did I walk all the way by myself, even in first grade? What about rainy days? (Of course, in my mind every childhood day was sunny!)
Knowing that Google could probably supply some of the answers or at least a memory-jog, I spent a few minutes doing a bit of research. There was a plethora of information. I was immediately welcomed to the “home of the otters,” and learned that the school is one of the oldest schools in Alameda. (That figures!)
I remember moving to Alameda in the fall of 1941. My father worked for Montgomery Ward in the Catalog Order Department and had been transferred from Portland, Oregon to the Oakland, California office. We rented a house on Versailles Avenue on the island of Alameda which meant about a mile-long walk to work for him and a 0.45 mile walk to school for me. We didn’t have a car.
The history of the school made interesting reading. Apparently, in 1941 Edison School had not yet really opened nor had it yet been named. The collection of “gray colored wooden bungalows” near the construction site was called “Versailles School” – information that triggered a memory of our first grade teacher telling us that “Versailles” was a French word and should be pronounced Ver-sigh, not Ver-sales. We continued to pronounce it incorrectly…
MapQuest shows that it was five blocks from our house at 1320 Versailles Avenue to the school. I remember stopping by for my friend and classmate, Verna Schott, who lived only a block or so from the school playground. I imagine that my mother walked me to school for the first few days or even weeks. I have a vague memory of being taught the rules of crossing the busy streets along the way.
But it wasn’t very long before the war broke out and Mom went to work in the shipyards. That, no doubt, was the beginning of my independence – at least in the getting-to-school-department. It was not until September 1942 that Edison School officially opened. I wonder if I attended the ceremony. Or if there even was one.
Wow, Sydney, you took me back to my first grade days some 1,000 miles (and a couple of years) from yours. Phantom Lake Elementary School, is the sub-development of Bellevue called Lake Hills wasn’t yet finished when I started making the trek six plus blocks to the partially finished school. I don’t remember if WE had a grand opening, but before the other wings were finished I’d met my still-to-this-day-best-friend, who was being bused to Lake Hills Elementary. I well remember the day that those students who lived in the Phantom Lake attendance area, but had been at the other school, arrived via bus. I well recall standing by the window in Mrs. Aduttle’s room watching the big yellow buses arrive with the rest of our new school and how I strained to see a familiar face in the bus windows. That was 1957 and yet it seems like it was just a few years ago. I’m glad your memories jogged mine!
Hello, I enjoyed reading your article and I, too, was checking Google for the elementary school I attended when I was in kindergarten in Alameda. My father worked in the shipyards and we lived in what I was told was naval housing.
I had to walk to school at the age of 4 1/2 and I’m sure my mother took my little brother and sister and walked me to school at first but I soon was on my own.
I remember that we were supposed to only cross the street at the corner which may have taken us under the street but I’m not positive about that. I just remember that one day several of us crossed in the middle of the street because that was the most direct route. For some reason I remember thinking that I didn’t like crossing where we were supposed to but am not sure why.
I also remember that there was a park across the street from our housing complex which, by the way, I remember as being a U-shaped two-story complex.
I would love to find the area to visit someday. If you have any idea of the location I am looking for, please contact me.
Hi Ida,
I’m afraid I’m not sure where you are talking about, but I have a friend who lived in Alameda at the same time we did and she actually was there through high school. (I moved after sixth grade so my knowledge of the city was pretty limited.) Anyway, my friend may have some idea of what school you went to. I’ll talk to her and get back to you if I learn anything..