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Click On the Photos Below To Enlarge |
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In December 1938, a contract for the building
and erection of the monument was awarded to the
Premier Granite Quarries of Llano, Texas. Donald
Nelson of Dallas, Texas, was appointed designing
and supervising architect for the project. |
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After a competition in which seven Texas
sculptors submitted preliminary models, Herring
Coe of Beaumont was awarded the task of making
the model for the sculptural block. |
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The sculptural block of Texas granite depicts
twelve life-size figures, representing children
coming to school, bringing gifts and handing in
homework to two teachers. The massive granite
block weighs twenty tons and is seven feet high
and four feet thick. It is supported by two
monolithic granite columns with fluted sides.
These twenty feet high columns rise from a
granite platform which is reached on two sides
by granite steps. Overall the cenotaph monument
is thirty-two feet high. |
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Around the inside of the base are
the individual
names of those who died. |
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Cenotaph Commemorates Memory of Those Who Died
in London School Blast March 18, 1937 |
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As published by the West Rusk County CISD
January 1989 |
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Rusk County has a number of monuments erected to
the memory of persons and events. One such
monument is the cenotaph which stands in front
of the London Campus on Texas Highway 42 and is
a silent tribute to the two hundred ninety-three
students, teachers and visitors who lost their
lives in one of the nation's worst catastrophes
on the afternoon of March 18, 1937. The names of
the victims are carved on the monument.
Since the victims are all buried in places other
than the explosion site, "Cenotaph," a Greek
word meaning "empty tomb," is appropriately
given to the monument.
On March 26, 1937, a group of people who were
residents of the London School District met at
the London Elementary School Building, which had
escaped the explosion that had demolished almost
the entire London School Plant, and organized
the London School Memorial Association. The
association elected a board of directors
composed of M. H. Marwil, Henderson; John
Lumpkin, London; Mrs. Faye Beidelman, London;
Mrs. Polk Childress, London; Mr. Sam Warren,
Overton; Mrs. Claude Jacobs, London; Mrs. H. B.
Whittington, Overton.
Contributions to a fund for the memorial were
received from many foreign countries and from
numerous schools in the United States and
Canada. Nickels and dimes were received from
school children with larger amounts from
individuals and corporations. The cost of the
monument was approximately $20,000.
In December 1938, a contract for the building
and erection of the monument was awarded to the
Premier Granite Quarries of Llano, Texas. Donald
Nelson of Dallas, Texas, was appointed designing
and supervising architect for the project. After
a competition in which seven Texas sculptors
submitting preliminary models, Herring Coe of
Beaumont was awarded the task of making the
model for the sculptural block.
The sculptural block of Texas granite depicts
twelve life-size figures, representing children
coming to school, bringing gifts and handing in
homework to two teachers. The massive granite
block weighs twenty tons and is seven feet high
and four feet thick. It is supported by two
monolithic granite columns with fluted sides.
These twenty feet high columns rise from a
granite platform which is reached on two sides
by granite steps. Overall the cenotaph monument
is thirty-two feet high.
The London Ex-Students Association placed a
marble stone in March 1987, commemorating the
fiftieth anniversary of the London School
Explosion on the north side of the Cenotaph.
Recently the Historical Commission of the State
of Texas has approved for the City of New London
to purchase and place a Texas Historical Marker
at the Cenotaph. |
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