E.S. Richardson Elementary School

E.S. Richardson Elementary School is a pre-kindergarten through fifth grade campus which serves parts of the eastern section of the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana. The school opened in 1950, with Wayne Wynn Williams, Sr. (1917-2000) http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi] , as the principal. It was the original companion school to William G. Stewart Elementary School, which serves the western side of Minden and opened in 1949. Both schools were part of a post-World War II bond issue. Richardson school is located at 505 West Todd Street. [ [http://www.richardsonelementary.org/ Welcome Back ] ]

In 1954, Williams, originally from Leesville, the seat of Vernon Parish in western Louisiana, switched positions with John L. Cathcart (1895-1969), the principal of Minden High School. Cathcart, a South Carolina native, hence took over the principalship at Richardson, as Williams went to Minden High School. [ [http://www.mindenmemories.org/Teachers%20II.htm Teachers II ] ]

Richardson has nearly five hundred students. [ [http://www.homes101.net/louisiana-schools/webster-parish-school-board-d8541/e-s-richardson-elementary-school-s75700/ School Information for E. S. Richardson Elementary School in Minden, LA ] ] The eastern side of Minden is also served by J.E. Harper Elementary School, which opened in 1969, originally under the “open-classroom” concept. Harper school is named for former Minden High School principal, Webster Parish School Board president, and banker-businessman James E. Harper (1893-1971).Richardson school is named for Edward S. Richardson (1875-1950), school superintendent of Bienville and then Webster parishes, and thereafter the president of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, the seat of Lincoln Parish as well as a national spokesman on educational issues. [ [http://www.nwlanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5436&Itemid=71 nwlanews.com - Your home for news in Bossier and Webster Parishes ] ]

Richardson school is 56 percent white in enrollment [ [http://louisiana.schooltree.org/public/E-S-Richardson-Elementary-037053.html E. S. Richardson Elementary School in Minden, Louisiana/LA - School Tree ] ] though Minden became, in the 2000 census, a majority African American community.

Notable faculty and administrators

*Alfred E. Day (1895—1972), [ [http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?lastname=DAY&firstname=ALFRED&start=41 Social Security Death Index Search Results ] ] , former businessman, fifth grade; Webster Parish School Board member, 1964-1969
*Gertrude R. Alsobrook (1914—1994), first grade
*Martha Belton (born 1942), first grade, 1979-1988; gifted and talented, 1989-1998; fourth and fifth grades, 1998-2002
*Mary Braley (1906—1983), librarian
*Vasta S. Green (1908—2002), third grade
*Audrey Hortman (1907—1974)
*Christine Sapp Hunt (1927—2005), former principal
*Elizabeth Ann Roberts (born 1934), fourth grade (1956—1967); relocated to Ouachita Parish, retired 1991 and resides in the Fairbanks Community east of Sterlington
*Ronald D. Rhymes (born 1947), current principal
*Myrtis Saint (1904—1973), second grade
*Ruby W. Salmon (1904—1968), fifth grade
*Susanella Schoenbrodt (1901—1980), second grade
*Eva Grace Sutton (1907—-2000), third grade
*Grace Turner Watson (1919—2002), sixth grade
*William Turner Watson (born 1948), former principal
*Marie Chambers Winn (1902—1997), fourth grade

References