Today is President's Day, and each year on this holiday I always think back to my time at Fort Dearborn Grammar School, which I attended when growing up in Chicago's South Side Brainerd neighborhood. What I remember most is that I hated going to school, and welcomed every chance for a break. Back then, before President's Day was established, that meant getting both Washington and Lincoln's birthday off. Washington's birthday was a Federal holiday, and Lincoln's a State holiday, but I didn't care - a day off was a day off. Eventually, the Chicago Public Schools eliminated Lincoln's birthday as a holiday, choosing to celebrate it along with Washington's on President's Day. If I were a student when that happened, I would have arranged a city-wide walkout, which I am sure would have been enthusiastically embraced by students, teachers, and staff, although not so much by parents. The photograph above, by the way, I took of my teacher Mrs. McCormick during class one day at Fort Dearborn. I got chewed out for it, too, but was still allowed to keep both camera and film. All the classrooms there were more or less the same, and so that photograph is a perfect historical record of life at Fort Dearborn, for better or worse. Of course, these days, if there is a snow day, a lot of school districts switch to online classes, which must be a depressing thought to students everywhere. If CPS ever decides to do that, I strongly recommend students consider that city-wide walkout option. I will certainly cheer you on.
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