| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.
2024:
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Merrill School is a one- to three-story educational building predominantly designed in the Art Deco style with additions featuring characteristic elements of mid-twentieth century styles. The building consists of six distinct volumes completed between 1901 and 1997 which are the original elementary school completed in 1901 and remodeled 1931; the junior high school gymnasium and classroom wing completed in 1931; the elementary school classroom wing and gymnasium addition completed 1954 and expanded in 1993; the first junior high school classroom wing addition completed 1966; the second junior high school classroom wing addition completed in 1993; and the third junior high school classroom wing addition completed 1997.
Initially referred to as the Tenth Ward School, the Merrill School was intentionally constructed at the present location to accommodate elementary school pupils from all directions in Oshkosh. The school was promptly named in honor of the late Oshkosh Mayor, J.H. Merrill. As it was initially constructed in 1901, the Merrill School was two-stories with a raised basement designed in the Romanesque Revival. Architect E.E. Stevens was commissioned to design the new school, and Frank Brown was awarded the construction contract. According to The Oshkosh Northwestern, the original elementary school was “constructed of Oshkosh brick and finished with Georgia pine.” The school included a kindergarten room and classrooms for first through fifth grades on the first floor, six through eight grades on the second floor, the principal’s office in the west tower mezzanine, and a general library in another tower mezzanine room.
In 1931, the original elementary school was extensively remodeled in conjunction with the construction of the junior high wing of the school such that the original massing and exterior Romanesque Revival features are no longer extant. The rusticated raised basement was refaced with cast stone, the exterior was refaced to match the new junior high school, the towers were truncated, and the dormers were removed. However, the original elementary school footprint and the cross-hipped roof are perceptible from aerial imagery. In the interior, the stairways were made less steep, and the lavatories were relocated to the first mezzanine of the towers. A one-story addition containing two kindergarten suites was appended to the west elevation of the original school; the junior high school gymnasium was appended to the east elevation of the original elementary school. The three-story, double loaded corridor junior high school classroom wing was constructed opposite the elementary school along the east elevation of the gymnasium.
The original elementary school (1901), the kindergarten suite addition (1931), and the junior high school gymnasium and classroom wing (1931) exhibit a unified exterior designed in the Art Deco style by Oshkosh architects Auler, Jensen, and Brown. The exteriors are of an orange-hued brick laid in common bond with a contrasting cast stone base and cast stone accents. Brick pilasters with fluted cast stone insets and angular finials punctuate the rhythmically placed windows that correspond to the classrooms in both the elementary school and junior high school. Between the pilasters, spandrels of geometric patterned brick are set below each window opening in the classroom wings. The characteristic vertical emphasis of the Art Deco style is further exhibited at the corners of both the elementary and junior high school classroom wings with a layered series of cascading paired brick pilasters that are finished with cast stone coping. The entrances in the classroom wings are marked by vertically stacked windows accented by a cast stone and a low relief “M”. The exterior of the gymnasium similarly features a series of brick pilasters with fluted cast stone insets punctuated by the rhythmically placed windows in the first story corridor and the gymnasium mezzanine.
Subsequent additions to the elementary school portion of Merrill School were completed in 1954 and 1993. In 1953–1954, a two-story, single-loaded corridor, classroom wing and gymnasium addition was appended to the south elevation of the elementary school building (1901/1931). This addition was itself expanded in 1993 into a double-loaded corridor wing with additional classrooms and a media center appended to the east perimeter of the 1966 corridor. The junior high school portion of Merrill School was expanded in 1966, 1993, and 1997. In 1965–1966, a classroom wing addition was appended to the south elevation of the junior high school classroom wing (1931). In 1993, a one-story, double loaded corridor addition was appended to the west elevation of the 1966 junior high school classroom wing addition, and in 1997, the junior high school was further expanded along the south elevations of the 1966 and 1993 additions.
HISTORIC CONTEXT
In the United States, amongst education reformers, the discussion of the junior high school began as early as the 1880s and 1890s; however, the first junior high school did not open until 1909. The development of junior high schools resulted from numerous social, economic, and political factors in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Dr. John H. Lounsbury, an educator and founder of the subsequent middle school movement, attributed the reorganization of the existing school system to a variety of factors including the desire for improved college preparation, a high drop-out rate, the need for specialized support for early adolescents, concurrent reactions against a traditional and philosophically derived education system, the perceived need for greater citizenship education for the increasing number of immigrants, the acknowledged need for vocational training, and a school building shortage caused by World War I. A commonality between the disparate junior high school advocates and the factors surrounding the movement was the desire to provide an educational program that met the distinctive needs of early adolescents.
In 1914, the State Superintendent of Schools in Wisconsin publicized recommendations for reorganizing the Wisconsin public school system into separate Junior and Senior High Schools stating that each local school district should “be organized as rapidly as local conditions will permit.” Some communities in Wisconsin had established junior high schools by the 1920s. In 1924, the Oshkosh board of education announced a proposed school building program which included plans for two junior high schools, of which one would be located near the existing Merrill School and one would located on the south side of the city. According to the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, Merrill School was constructed first, over the proposed south side junior high school, to alleviate crowding at the Oshkosh High School and grade schools on the north and west sides of the city. The board of education asked three local architectural firms to submit designs for the new junior high school. Of these, the design of Auler, Jensen, and Brown was selected for the “wisdom and economy” of incorporating the existing elementary school into the new combined elementary and junior high school building. However, before the new Merrill Elementary and Junior High School was complete, officials in Oshkosh had unanimously concurred that additional junior high schools should be constructed on the south and east sides of the city stating that, “Oshkosh cannot afford to let its public school system go backward and deteriorate. It must move forward and keep up with the times, for the sake of the rising generations of young people who seek and are entitled to an education.” Subsequent junior high schools were constructed in 1939–1940 (South Park), 1955 (Webster Stanley), and 1967 (Perry Tipler) prior to the adoption of the middle school movement and classification in Oshkosh.
Although often used interchangeably, it is imperative to note that a junior high school programmatically differs from a middle school. In the 1960s and 1970s, a distinct middle school movement began in the U.S. that both advocated for changes in teacher preparation and curriculum to better understand, educate, and enable personal growth in early adolescents. The movement further advocated for a change in name to reflect the shift toward middle level education and one that was subordinate to the high school system. As described by Lounsbury, “…during the 1960s the middle school emerged as an alternative to the junior high school, which was seen as intransigent and dominated by the senior high school.” For this reason, the junior high schools in Oshkosh, and elsewhere, are now referred to as middle schools.
Demolition of Merrill School is proposed in Fall 2024.
1978:
The original school was a stone building, designed by DeGellecke and Stevens. The present appearance exhibits a Moderne influence and was designed by Auler, jensen and Brown. Streamlined, pilasters separate the bands of windows. Piers at entrances are layered and molded in an appropriate Moderne manner. Interesting metal window grilles are evident on the circular bay.
This is the most sophisticated school design from the 1930s in terms of style and exterior detail. |
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| Bibliographic References: | “The Merrill School,” The Oshkosh Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 1 August 1900:7.
“Tenth Ward School on Dale Site,” The Oshkosh Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 9 February 1900:6; “Frank Brown is Awarded Contract,” The Oshkosh Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 4 April 1900:2.
“Frank Brown is Awarded Contract,” The Oshkosh Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 4 April 1900:2.
“All in Readiness for Opening of the Tenth Ward School,” The Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 22 December 1900:5.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin. Sanborn Map Company; Republished 1957 Vol. 1, 1957. Map.
John H. Lounsbury, How the Junior High School Came to Be, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1960. Archived online at https://files.ascd.org/staticfiles/ascd/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_196012_lounsbury.pdf.
“Would Reorganize Schools,” Oshkosh Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 19 November 1914:8.
Barabara Wyatt, Wisconsin Cultural Resource Management (Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Office, 1986), Volume 3, Education 3-6.
“New Junior High Schools Proposed,” Oshkosh Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 18 November 1931:8.
Oshkosh Daily Northwestern 9/15/1902, p. 1.
Telephone interview - Ted Irion by Steele 3/6/81. |
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