WHO WAS STEPHEN FRANCIS GALE ?
Most of us heard that he opened Chicago’s first book store, but there is much more to the story. Stephen Francis Gale was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1812, and later moved to Boston. He came to Chicago in 1835, two years after Chicago was incorporated as a village (it became a city in 1837). He opened a book and stationery store on South Water Street near Clark Street. His residence was at Dearborn and Washington streets. He became a very successful businessman, making a fortune on real estate deals in addition to his bookstore. In 1839, he published "Gale’s Statutes", the
first law book published in Illinois. He administered the fire department from 1844 to 1847 and is remembered for his connection with the "Red Jackets", one of the early firefighting brigades. He was nominated for mayor of Chicago in 1849, but declined to run. In 1855 he retired from active business, and at the time of his death he was half owner of the Illinois Stone Company at Lemont, owner of several blocks of west side real estate, and heavily invested in the Pullman company, of which he was one of the ten charter members. Stephen Gale died in 1905 at the age of 93. Although Gale himself declined to run for public office, he was apparently still influential in politics. In 1915, his grandson -- William Hale "Big Bill" Thompson -- was elected mayor of Chicago. This is probably the main reason that Gale School, which was completed in 1922 and dedicated in 1923 during the Thompson administration, was named after the mayor’s illustrious grandfather. Nevertheless, a scandal erupted in 1923 amid charges of graft and inferior materials being used at several recently constructed buildings, including the Gale School.
Gale Street and the neighborhood of Galewood, both on the Northwest Side of Chicago, are NOT named after Stephen F. Gale, although they are sometimes erroneously attributed to him.
Sources: Chicago Tribune Archives, World Book Encyclopedia, Early Chicago Encyclopedia
GALE’S FIRST PRINCIPAL
The first principal of Gale School was Mary G. Guthrie. Miss Guthrie was a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree from Oxford College. She came to Chicago in 1898 and was a teacher and administrator in the Chicago Public Schools for more than 35 years, serving at schools such as Knickerbocker, Penn, and Kilmer. She also did graduate work at the University of Chicago. Miss Guthrie served as Gale’s principal from 1922 until 1930, when she left to become the first principal of the new Burbank Junior High School on the northwest side (now the Luther Burbank School). She retired in the mid-1930’s and died in 1938 at her home at 1639 W. Farwell Avenue in Rogers Park.
Source: Chicago Tribune Archives
ESTON TUBBS
Dr. Eston V. Tubbs had a very short tenure as principal of Gale School, serving in that capacity for only one year. However, he is remembered for his long involvement with the Chicago area education community where he had a reputation as an activist educator. Dr. Tubbs graduated from R
ossville High School in Centralia, Illinois, in 1902. He married Vinnie McAllister, also a Rossville graduate. Dr. Tubbs received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in 1909 and his doctorate from the University of Chicago. He was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi and Phi Beta Kappa fraternities and was secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa scholarship fraternity chapter in Chicago for many years. He wrote a number of articles for national educational periodicals and was the author of several books. Dr. Tubbs coached high school football from 1910 until at least 1912. He served as superintendent of New Trier Township High School in Winnetka from 1919 to 1923, and from 1921 to 1923 he was also a lecturer on education at Northwestern University. From 1924 to 1927, he was head of the department of education at Lewis Institute. He served as principal of several Chicago public elementary schools including the Brentano, Salmon P. Chase, and Lyman Budlong schools, and finally at Gale school during the 1935-1936 school year. He left Gale the following year to become the principal of Morgan Park High School, holding that position until his death. Around 1937 he also formed the American Youth League, a student organization dedicated to the preservation of American heritage and ideals. Dr. Tubbs died on June 16, 1947, in his home on the far South Side, at the age of 64.
Sources: Chicago Tribune Archives, Geneasearch, the Wranglers Organization, and the Illinois High School Association
THE EKMAN FAMILY TRAGEDY
In the summer of 1962, we were doing The Twist and listening to Gene Pitney’s rendition of “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”. Early in the morning of July 16, eleven year old Pamela Ekman, her eight year old brother Steven, and their parents, left their home at 7615 North Sheridan Road bound for Florida. They never made it. The Ekmans were all found dead in their car parked at a roadside cafe near Hopkinsville, Kentucky, the apparent victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. The windows of the car were rolled up and the engine was kept running to operate the air conditioner, which had allowed deadly fumes into the car from a defective exhaust system. Pamela Ekman was going into the 6th grade and would have graduated in 1965. Steven Ekman was in the 3rd grade and would have graduated in 1968.
Sources: Chicago Tribune Archives and the Webmaster’s collection
The Ekman gravesite as it looks today (2005)
Gale Principal ALMA V. JONES
Alma V. Jones had one of the longest tenures as principal of Gale School, serving in that capacity for 17 years from 1955 to 1972. Miss Jones was born in Chicago and lived in Wilmette during her later years. Although we don't know much about her early life, we do know that she was a World War II veteran and one of the first female commissioned officers in the U.S. Navy. She received a commission as a lieutenant of the WAVE's in 1942 and served in that capacity until 1946.
After leaving military service, Miss Jones went to work in the Chicago Public Schools. She taught at Fo
reman High School from 1946 to 1948 and served as principal of Newberry Elementary School from 1948 to 1955. She became the principal of Gale School in 1955 and held that position until 1972. Perhaps her most memorable achievement at Gale was the introduction of the "Lighted Schoolhouse" program in 1957. "Lighted Schoolhouse" was an after school social center program that had already been successfully introduced at several other schools. At Gale, the program was initially held on Friday afternoons for 4th through 6th grade students and on Friday evenings for 7th through 9th grade students. Later, additional programs were held on either Tuesday or Wednesday afternoons. Many Gale alumni have fond memories of socializing at Friday night "lighted" followed by a late snack at one of the local restaurants.
After retirement, Miss Jones became a "snow bird", spending her winters in Winter Haven, Florida. She died on May 30, 1991, at the age of 84, at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston. Burial was at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Sources: Wilmette Life and Chicago Tribune Archives
THE MARSHFIELD AVENUE FIRE - 2006
On Sunday, September 3, 2006, six children from two families were killed in an apartment fire at 7706 North Marshfield Avenue. The apartment is located just a few feet north of the Gale Academy. The dead were identified by the Cook County medical examiner's office as siblings Vanessa Ramirez, 14; Erick Ramirez, 12; Suzette Ramirez, 10; Idaly Ramirez, 6; Kevin Ramirez, 3; and neighbor Escarlet Ramos, 3, who was staying with the Ramirez family. The four oldest victims were Gale students. Four other Ramirez children and their mother survived. The father was not home at the time of the fire.
The fire was apparently caused by burning candles in the Ramirez family's apartment. The family was using candles because their electricity had been cut off since May. They were said to be in the process of being evicted from their apartment.
The Mexican Consulate in Chicago flew the Ramirez children's paternal grandparents from Mexico to attend their funerals at St. Jerome's Church, 1709 West Lunt Avenue. Some 1200 mourners came to show their support for the family.
The Ramirez family was well known at the Howard Area Community Center, where two of the sisters volunteered.
Community members have donated more than $45,000 to help the family. There are also plans for a memorial at Gale Academy for the four students who perished.
Sources: Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, ABC News.
NATIONALLY KNOWN JOURNALIST HAS GALE ROOTS
Morton Kondracke is a well known and well respected veteran journalist and political commentator. You can search his name on the Internet and get hundreds of thousands of responses. What few of you may know, however, is that he is an alumnus of Gale School.
Mr. Kondracke was born in Chicago in 1939 and attended Gale until the 6th grade when he moved to Hamilton, Ohio. He later returned to the Chicago area and completed high school in Joliet, graduating in 1956. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1960. He joined the U.S. Army and served in Washington, DC in the Counter Intelligence Corps while pursuing graduate work at Georgetown University and working part time for the Washington Star. After leaving the Army in 1963, Kondracke joined the staff of the Chicago Sun-Times, moving to its Washington bureau in 1968 and eventually working his way up to White House correspondent in 1974.
Kondracke left the Sun-Times in 1977 to become executive editor of The New Republic. He worked there until 1985 when he left to become Washington Bureau Chief for Newsweek magazine. He also landed commentary positions at National Public Radio, This Week with David Brinkley and The Wall Street Journal. In 1982, he joined The McLaughlin Group as one of the original panelists, a position he held for 16 years. In 1984, he was a panelist for the second televised debate between President Ronald Reagan and Democratic challenger Walter Mondale.
In 1991, Kondracke began serving as executive editor of Roll Call. He made a cameo appearance as a talk show host in the 1996 sci-fi film Independence Day. In October 1998, he began co-hosting his own show, The Beltway Boys, with Fred Barnes on Fox News Channel. He is also a regular nightly contributor on Special Report with Brit Hume on the same network. Kondracke also writes a twice-weekly syndicated column in Roll Call ("Pennsylvania Avenue").
Kondracke lost his first wife, Millicent, to Parkinson's Disease in 2004. This made him an advocate for Parkinson's research and for increased government spending in this area. He detailed his family's struggle with Parkinson's in a 2001 book called Saving Milly: Love, Politics, and Parkinson's Disease. The book was the basis for a CBS television movie called Saving Milly which aired in 2005.
Kondracke still occasionally visits his old Rogers Park neighborhood when he is in Chicago, and he recently observed that the community seems to be coming back.
Sources: Webmaster's 11/27/06 conversation with Morton Kondracke; Foxnews.com, nndb.com, wikipedia
Mort Kondrake
at Gale in 1949
Room 302 - 5th Grade
Mort Kondracke
at Fox News
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