Second in the series

The history of any organization, a nation or even a family presents a nearly presumptuous task and the only caveat that is lasting is the aphorism, “The only lasting thing is change.” No doubt any of the numberless (except to the true historian’s charts) superintendents of The Boys’ Industrial School would write the history almost entirely different than any previous or succeeding official. Right or wrong, history is often written as we see it, not as others might have seen it. The philosophy of a society or culture is under constant scrutiny and change is the only constant within any organization be it a family, a nation or any group between large and small entities. Naturally, ideas and the way things are done are the first casualties of change.

The very name of this state reform school for boys is an example of such changes. In 1858, the year of its beginning, “The Ohio Reform Farm & School” was the official name; words, phrases and terms were naturally different and would be as each generation followed. Succeeding administrations brought new and different people with concepts and procedures to fit the work as they saw it. Basics, although viewed or applied with verities of following administrations, were the change-less principles and precepts for this organization regardless what it was called.

Reading about the work the boys were required to do in 1858 compared to the work the boys were required to do in each succeeding “generation” is like visiting a library, going through doors of time. The very words “reform or reform school” came to mean something different as the times changed. Methods change as years pass and consequently people see issues differently and what was once thought to be proper or the best way are destined to become “old fashioned” or simply not in sync with the way things are done today.

The Ohio Reform & Farm School (name) was changed to The Boys’ Industrial School (B.I.S.) in 1885. In 1964 the name was changed to Fairfield School for Boys. In 1980 the Fairfield School for Boys (F.S.B.) was changed completely and became a prison for hardened criminals, replete with razor-fencing, etc. This series of essays is not to be regarded as a history of this Ohio Reform School, the Boys’ Industrial School or the Fairfield School for Boys. The purpose of this series of essays is merely a continued story of change and how it affected this particular reform school here in Fairfield County and the Hocking Hills region as it has been known for generations.

There is a song made popular by the Irish Tenors, which has a line in it that says, “And nothing stays the same…” Only a person with a tag or label, “Senior Citizen”, can hear that and not grin or perhaps even allow a tear to slide down our cheek. Lessons can either be learned or ignored as the torch of life’s circumstances is passed from one generation to another. This fact is so apparent in the business world that all eyes watch the third generation of a family business just to see what that generation will do with the business their grandfather started and their father continued; now history will reveal the success or failure of the third generation. Again, these essays are not really about this issue either, but rather the consequences of change can and will be seen to affect how this institution was run from one administration or generation to another. It is hoped that the reader can enjoy and appreciate simply reading how this all happened in the period from 1858 to 1980, over one hundred years of how Ohio addressed the problems of “boys who got in trouble”.

The very words used to describe the location of the B.I.S in its beginning days are descriptive of the times: “…three bathing houses, two shop buildings, two large barns, a wood house, bake house, lockup, wash house, ice house…” and the list goes on. Those terms are as foreign to us as night and day. In my own lifetime I have seen iceboxes replaced by refrigerators. As a child we used to go swimming at the public Miller’s Park swimming pool and customarily stop off at the Ice House to watch the delivery truck route men load their trucks with assorted sizes of ice blocks. Those men would use ice picks to break or divide larger blocks into smaller blocks and virtual piles of ice chips would be there and boys would grab assorted slivers of ice to suck on as they went on their way to further play or go back home. Today’s mothers would shutter to think of their children touching such ice today, let alone put it in their mouths.

In the early days of the B.I.S., the boys were regarded as human beings who, for the most part, did not have the privilege or blessing of being raised in a family but they had suffered greatly being from broken homes. The reform school attempted to instill in the boys under their care the need for an education, to learn how to “make an honest living when they leave us, to honor themselves, their commonwealth and their God.” It was recognized that many of the boys put into their care simply had no such rearing. Today our society even argues whether or not the name of God should be on our coins or biblical names or things, e.g., The Ten Commandments, should be prominent in public places. There was no shame felt for attempting to give boys in reform schools the fundamental principles of life that our country once felt essential. Similar examples of work ethics could be noted as an important part of life’s training.

Naturally times change and such adaptations were implemented as time went by at the Boys’ Industrial School. Where once it was felt the boys should even be taught how to sew, making the clothes (garments) that they wore and make shoes for their feet. Keeping boys busy was paramount and even as the “time changed” the principle was still the same – the objects in life simply took on new descriptions. Work, however, was an integral part in the farm of the B.I.S. A built-in task or labor force was there and made use of – thousands of fruit trees bore fruit that needed harvesting. Same with vegetable gardens, seedlings were planted and nourished into plants. Beef and pork were required staples for the dining tables. Cows needed to be milked; chickens were cared for, killed and dressed. Again, in my own lifetime I saw mothers tie the legs of a chicken on a clothes line in their back yards and using a sharp butcher knife cut off the chicken’s head and leave the animal bleed [dry]; later take that chicken and dip it in scalding water in preparation for removing (plucking) the feathers. Today, buying live chickens is not the way we shop or get a meal ready, at least in the United States. The B.I.S. taught the boys how to live in the society of that day; and such teaching changed as the society or culture of our country changed.

Looking back in the Boy’s Industrial School Journal of September 1930, one item lifted from Departmental News about the Carpenter Shop, on Page 23, was reported by one of the boys as follows:

“Well folks, we start the month of September with twelve all day boys. (Their names, although listed there, are not listed here with respect for their privacy)

”Now to explain in detail the work we were instructed to do during the last month. We will begin with Mr. Harmon and his chief carpenter, Schneider, who have been working down at the old power plant and also some of the amateur carpenters were helping out. (he again lists the ‘amateur carpenters, the B.I.S. boys). We also have a new instructor; his name is Mr. Rockey. He has done quite a bit of work around the School.

“We have been tearing down the old green house, while some of the boys were repairing crates. We have some boys who have been paroled; one was always feeling happy while another was singing the blues and yet another ‘doing the jig’. You can bust him up and he will keep smiling, you can give him a good calling down and he will still smile and feel happy and gay. [He named him because the boys would be reading this report later on and they would have a good laugh.]

”Well, all the same, we carpenters are pretty busy. Well, I guess we will close with our motto as follows: A good promise is poor pay if not kept.”

It is easily seen that the personality of any boy surfaced and how he reacted to either the work or the circumstances was evidence of how he regarded life as he knew it.

Next essay will tell about a couple more shops, e.g., the Shoe Shop and the Butcher Shop. Future essays will relate incidences about the Central School Library and The Commercial Class. Further episodes of The Poultry Yard and the Bake Shop will be featured. Communication was an important part of the lives of the boys “on the hill” and the boys in the Print Shop were a vital part of getting that word in print.

THE WORDWRIGHT