Scott Sarah profile

Wabash Valley profiles : a series of tributes to hometown heroes who have made a difference

Description:	One typed page including photograph; biography of Sarah Scott, school teacher. ABASH VALLEY WP R O F I L E SA series of tributes to hometown heroes who have made a difference.Sarah Scottmbued with an insatiable desire to improve her skills, Sarah Scott was an unpretentious Terre Haute school teacher for 40 years. Sarah Scott Middle School endures as a monument to her grit and passion 86 years after her death. Born Sept. 27, 1856, in Montezuma, Sarah moved with her parents, John Thornton and Rebecca Ellen (Jones) Scott, to Terre Haute when she was six years old. The family resided at 658 Chestnut St. and 901 S. Third before relocating in 1864 to a country place on three acres at what is now the southeast corner of North Seventh St. and Eighth Ave. Referred to as the Scott Homestead, the residence became an area landmark. The original name for Eighth Avenue was Scott Street. John T. Scott, a native of Glasgow, Ky., was a prominent lawyer in Montezuma (where he was elected prosecutor in 1860) and Terre Haute, Vigo County Court of Common Pleas judge (1868-1873) and judge of the Indiana Supreme Court (1879-1880). Sarah attended school at St. Vincents Academy (south of St. Josephs Church on South Fifth St.), Hook School (at Mulberry and Fourth St.) and Terre Haute High School, graduating in 1874. In addition she studied penmanship at Terre Haute Commercial College. Upon earning her high school diploma, Sarah taught a year at the Voorhees School at 635 N. Fifth St., before enrolling at Indiana State Normal, where she graduated in 1878. For three years, Scott taught at Normal Training School (later referred to as the Laboratory School) but returned to Voorhees School in 1881. When the new Terre Haute High School building opened at Seventh and Walnut streets in 1884, Sarah was asked to join the faculty to teach a variety of subjects. In order to cultivate her proficiencies in education, she attended summer schools at Chautauqua, N.Y., for three years, earning a special diploma. In the spring of 1896, Scott was assigned to teach high school mathematics. Nevertheless she spent evenings and weekends becoming proficient in French. During the two ensuing summers, Sarah attended summer schools at Indiana University and the University of Chicago. In addition, she took several correspondence courses from major colleges. In 1910 she took a leave of absence from the recently renamed Wiley High School to attend IU and was awarded a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics in 1911. She was elected head of the mathematics department at Wiley the next fall. In 1912 she attended summer school at the University of Wisconsin. In early 1915, Scott underwent abdominal surgery but did not fully recover. She died at the Scott home on Aug. 27, 1915, at age 58. In 1917 the Terre Haute School Board elected to name its new school at the southeast corner of Ninth and Minshall streets in her honor. The school opened March 17, 1919, two weeks after the school board recommended transferring seventh- and eighth-grade students to the new school from Montrose, Cruft, Fairbanks and Greenwood schools. Sarahs brother Charles, a Rose Poly graduate, became a prominent Terre Haute architect after serving as a draftsman for architect James Reid during the construction of the Hotel del Coronado near San Diego. Brother George was a prominent local attorney who lived to celebrate his 100th birthday.ITERRE HAUTE(812) 238-6000NATIONAL BANKAlways Close to HomeDate Published: Aug. 30, 2001Filename: Scott, Sarah profile
Origin:	2001-10-26
Created By:	McCormick, Mike
Publisher:	Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Source:	http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/vchs/id/581
Collection:	Vigo County Historical Society
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
Copyright:	Copyright Undetermined
Subjects:	Scott, Sarah, 1856-1915 Teachers Education People

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