Historian Jeff Murray takes a look into West Hartford’s past to uncover some surprising information, stir up some memories, or reflect on how much life has changed – or hasn’t changed at all. Enjoy this week’s ‘From West Hartford’s Archives’ …

By Jeff Murray

Eva Belle Pease worked in the West Hartford school system for nearly 40 years. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, in the summer of 1888, Eva grew up as the second youngest child of Charles H. Pease and his wife, Ella.

Charles worked as a day laborer, renting the house outside Amherst they lived in. After graduating from Amherst High School, she moved to Windsor, where she worked as a teacher in 1908. After several years in Windsor, she was hired in West Hartford at the end of the 1916 term.

Pease came to West Hartford to teach the third and fourth grades at Charter Oak School at a time of immense growth. In the mid-1910s, the town was experiencing a building boom, especially in the southeast section.

Houses were being built along New Park Avenue, Darcy Street, and Flatbush Avenue. Streets were being laid out for a new development north of Flatbush, which would encompass Foley Street, Selldan Stret, Goodsell Street, and Ahern Street. Stretches of land along Oakwood Avenue were being carved out of old farms for real estate tracts.

Just a few years before she arrived, the population increase in this section prompted the construction of the Seymour Avenue School (now called Smith School). Within a few years, Eva was promoted to principal of Charter Oak School, although she retained the third and fourth grade classes.

She lived in Hartford (in fact, she lived right behind Hartford Public High School, which I found interesting) and she lobbied the town for better housing for teachers since most either lodged with families in town or outside of West Hartford. Newspaper articles note that her family all remained in Amherst, at least for the time being, and she spent vacations (and time sick) back home.

As schools in West Hartford expanded both in size and in number, Pease was retained at Charter Oak each year through the 1920s.

In the fall of 1926, a position opened up at the Elmwood Elementary School for principal after Myra Keep became supervisor of elementary schools in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Superintendent Lloyd Bugbee tapped Eva Pease for principal, noting her experience serving the Charter Oak School up to that point.

Pease was elected as head of the Americanization committee of the Elmwood Parent-Teacher Association. This committee was focused on helping immigrant families assimilate into American society, which meant promoting English language support, teaching American customs, civic values, and ideals, and encouraging community involvement.

In the late 1920s, Elmwood was packed with immigrant families – mainly Italian, Polish, and French Canadian – along New Park Avenue and New Britain Avenue. Teachers were the perfect vehicles for patriotic and cultural assimilation of incoming families. For example, in the fall of 1927, she supervised the showing of a free movie at Talcott Junior High School called “The Land of Opportunity.” She was very active during this time, organizing teacher picnics, children’s games outside school, and later other organizations, like the National Education Association, National Elementary Principals Association, the YWCA, and the Hartford Hearing League.

In the fall of 1928, two years after taking the principal job, Pease oversaw the brand new Elmwood Elementary School being built in the area of Burgoyne Street and New Britain Avenue. The original Elmwood Elementary School was at the site of the future Faxon Library and was much smaller.

The current Elmwood Community Center building was formerly Elmwood Elementary School, and the original lettering still remains. Photo credit: Ronni Newton (we-ha.com file photo)

This new school had an enrollment of 400 students across 16 rooms when it opened. It was designed almost the same as the Fern Street School (Morley).

She oversaw Elmwood’s vaccination campaign of school children in conjunction with the town – smallpox and diphtheria were major concerns at the time. She also was active in book contests and later the “kids quiz” program over the radio station WTIC in the early 1940s. Pease was principal at a time of immense change both in West Hartford and nationwide – she played a central role in shaping the moral, civic, and social education of students during the Great Depression and World War II.

In 1947, she was appointed to the board of directors of the Hartford League for the Hard of Hearing, in which she played an active role. By the early 1950s, heavy enrollment was being seen across the town, especially after the end of the war. Despite the fact that 52 children from the Elmwood Acres housing development were moved to Webster Hill, Elmwood still saw a record number of new incoming students in the fall of 1953 – 580 on opening day versus 567 the previous year.

By the end of that school year in 1954, Eva announced her retirement from the school system. She was given a silver service at her retirement in recognition of her nearly 40 years in West Hartford. She moved to the Victoria Rest Home in Hartford, where she died in 1977 at the age of 89. She was survived only by a sister in Massachusetts.

I came across this photograph years ago but did not know who it was and kept it around just in case. One day, I was showing a collection of photos to my neighbor, who attended the Elmwood Elementary School in the 1940s. I made it to this photo and he quickly exclaimed “That’s Miss Pease!” She lives on not only in the memories of her family, but also in the hearts of all of her students, even today.

Jeff Murray was born and raised in West Hartford and has been involved with the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society since 2011 when he was a high school student and won the Meyer Prize for his essay on local history. Jeff routinely volunteers as local history researcher uncovering information for numerous museum programs such as the West Hartford House Tour and West Hartford Hauntings. Jeff works as a data analyst at Pratt & Whitney.

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