Towar School collection

Collection

Identifier: c-00599

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection contains two items: a program on the 50th anniversary and a manuscript on the history of the Towar Gardens. The program of Towar School’s 50th Anniversary Celebration on Arbor Day in 1987 contains a brief history of the building as well as an order of events and honorees who were instrumental in the beginning operations of Towar School. The other item is a copy of the manuscript detailing the history of Towar Gardens and Meridian School District #7, written by Barbara Grumbache and Virginia Sterling. The history began in 1850 with George Morris Towar, who built the first school building. His son, James Delos Towar, continued with his father’s tradition after his death in serving the community by working on expanding the city of East Lansing, Michigan. He has also claimed to be the person who first suggested the city’s name of East Lansing. The featured history in the program appears to be an abridged and edited version of the manuscript.

Dates

Creation: 1987

Creator

Grumbache, Barbara (Person)
Sterling, Virginia (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from this collection must be obtained from University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.

Historical Note

The Towar School opened in East Lansing, Michigan in 1937 soon after citizens realized the nearby Carl School was overflowing. After World War II, a $41,000 addition to Towar was constructed to accommodate the number of children who needed to be educated. In 1964, Meridian School District #7 was annexed into the East Lansing schools and Whitehills School was built. As a result, Towar School served as a school to teach special needs children until Beekman Center was built in 1968. After the transfer, the Towar School building became a bus facility for East Lansing Schools. In 1980, community citizens decided to utilize the building as a community center, serving after-school needs and other community activities.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Legal Status

Copyright: Donor(s) have transferred any applicable copyright to Michigan State University but the collection may contain third-party materials for which copyright was not transferred. Copyright restrictions may apply.

Property Rights: Michigan State University