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10/21/2015 09:15 AMWith the new Morgan School scheduled to open its doors next year, a committee has formed to search out artifacts and written words to put in the cornerstone.
The cornerstone will house three time capsules: one containing items from the original Morgan School, which welcomed its first students on Main Street in 1872; another comprising items from the present school; and a third capturing the history and community of Clinton.
Each time capsule will measure 6” x 11¾” x 15¾”.
The committee in charge of collecting items includes Jane Scully Welch, president of the Morgan Alumni Association; Keri Hagness, principal of the Morgan School; teacher Beth Nadeau; Gerry Vece, chair of the Morgan Building Committee; Deb Grass, former chair of the Board of Education; and Morgan Alumni Association members Keith Dauer and April Shuman.
“We’ve met a few times and are doing well gathering various items,” said Welch, “but what we really need is for the people of Clinton and neighboring towns to look through their things and see if they have any items that have to do with either of the Morgan schools or Clinton itself. Many great items from the original Morgan have been found in homes in Madison.”
In particular, the committee is looking for a marble plaque inscribed with an endowment from railroad and shipping magnate Charles Morgan “for the benefit of the educational interest of his native town.” The plaque had been displayed on the first floor of the original Morgan School, built in 1871. It is unclear whether the plaque was destroyed in the demolition of the original building, said Welch, or whether it was preserved.
“We would love to find it,” she said. “If someone knows of it or remembers it, we would ask them to contact us.”
The committee has a list of contents from Morgan’s original cornerstone, several of them identifying Charles Morgan as the benefactor. Also included are deeds and documents naming faculty and state officials.
“The existing Morgan School’s cornerstone is still in place, we think,” said Welch, “but its exact location is a mystery. Did they just build over it when they put on one of many additions? We know the general area, but without a jackhammer, we haven’t been able to get to it yet.”
The committee will be collecting artifacts over the next several months and anticipates laying the completed time capsules into the new cornerstone next September. Anyone with information or artifacts to share is asked to contact Jane Scully Welch at scullywelch@sbcglobal.net.