Read the complete text of Betty Wright Ledbetter's address to the Lower School given at a ceremony held Aug. 18, 2005:
I want to tell you a story because this is a very important time in the history of this School. We are celebrating the past 100 years as we begin the 101st year and a new century for Darlington. That is a long time. Most of you students are 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 years old, and I know that it is really hard for you to imagine 100 years. It is hard for me to imagine 100 years! So let’s talk about the way it was 100 years ago.
In 1905, the School had a beginning because two people, Mr. and Mrs. John Paul Cooper, had a dream, a vision, about a school for boys, mainly because they had three boys of their own. But the girls did get to come later! Mr. and Mrs. Cooper are know as our founders, and they were also the great-grandparents of Mrs. Lucy Babcock, one of your second-grade teachers. Another second-grade teacher here, Mrs. Elaine Smith, is also connected to the founders, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper. They were the great-grandparents of her husband, Wright Smith. That is something for which Mrs. Babcock and Mrs. Smith can both be very proud.
I can also be proud because my dad, Dr. E.L. Wright, was one of the first headmasters at Darlington and then the second president. He served Darlington for 54 years. That is a long time for someone to dedicate his life to a school. But Darlington was so special to him that he always wanted to stay. Bob III, Hollis and Kathryne Ledbetter, my grandchildren, can be proud just like Mrs. Babcock, Mrs. Smith, and I because my dad was their great-grandfather. Mrs. Tammy Wilcox, one of our pre-k teachers, has a son, Roth, who is in kindergarten. Roth can also be proud because his great-grandfather, Dr. Clarence Rothwell Wilcox, was the first president of Darlington. So the generations continue, and we hope that your children and your children’s children wll go to Darlington. This way the School will go on forever and ever!
Let’s talk more about the way the School was in 1905 – 100 years ago. Darlington opened with only 24 boys in grades 6-12 (or grades 5-11 because there was no 12th grade at that time). It was located in one room over a fire hall – no desks, no blackboard, no playground, no cafeteria – simply chairs in a bare room. The school had only one teacher, Mr. James Ross McCain, who taught all grades, the lower grades in the morning and the upper grades in the afternoon. He didn’t even have a lunch break, and he only got paid $10 a month. They were all real pioneers in education, so eager to learn!
They didn’t have air conditioning, televisions, computers, the Internet, I-Pods, Game Boys, Game Cubes, cell phones and so many other things that we take for granted in today’s world. They weren’t able to go home from school and chill out on the sofa to watch Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Scooby-Doo, Sponge Bob, Crocodile Hunter, Animal Planet, and on and on. They didn’t even know what a CD or a DVD were. None of these things I have mentioned had been invented. Technology has come so far in 100 years. It almost takes your breath away!
So be thankful for all of the things we have today. Listen to your teachers because they are very wise. Learn all you can. Be thirsty to learn because some of the world’s poor countries don’t even have schools for boys and girls your age. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity of a school that has been here for 100 years.
This is a new beginning in the life of this School, a second century. I am so happy that you are part of that new beginning. You should be proud and feel very special.
