Culver / Campbell Street School

Campbell Street School, later known as Culver School and now known as Culver Family Learning Center, was an Evansville schoolhouse built to serve the Culver district. Culver School was a grade school that was made to teach students from kindergarten through eighth grade. The original school was comparatively large and was constructed in the later half of the 19th century.

This grade school has gone through multiple changes in both construction and in name, starting as Campbell Street School, then later known as just Campbell School before being renamed Culver School after former principal John M. Culver. When the school was first built, it was three stories tall and featured a large tower. Before improvements were made in the construction of the school, however, there was a major setback to the operation of the school. On April 11, 1905, the school was struck by lightning and burned down, forcing all 490 of its students to go to another school. The destruction of the school was valued at damages of $35,000 at the time, well over one million dollars in damages in today's currency. The school was rebuilt after the fire and still stood at three stories tall, but now with no tower. As time went on, the school was expanded slightly in the 1920's and 50's, adding a gym and more general facilities.

In 1936 the school went through another, less destructive, change when the name was changed to Culver School, as previously mentioned. The man the school was named after was John M. Culver, who taught at the grade school for 34 years and retired at the age of 76 in the same year as the renaming. As shown by just how long Culver was committed to teaching at this school, it was of extreme importance to him and he even was at risk of losing his position of principal just a few years before his retirement. In 1931, John M. Culver was forced to retire by the Evansville School Board when they implemented a new rule that required retirement at the age of 70 years old. Culver fought hard against this seemingly targeted rule change, claiming that he was protected by Teachers' Tenure Law, and taking this case to court. Eventually, Culver's case was decided in his favor, allowing him to return to his role of principal at the grade school for the next 5 years when he retired on his own terms. It is clear why the school was named after him following retirement, dedicating almost half of his life to the education of the students that attended here and fighting a legal battle at the age of 70 to serve this school longer shows the meaning this school held to him.

As time went on, Evansville began closing old schools, and Culver School was on this list of schools to be shut down. In 1978 however, the community surrounding Culver School defended its place in Evansville. The city was met with a list of reasons the school should remain, citing the positive impact it had on the community, and the importance it held geographically, as the students would then have to be bused to other schools, which caused even more issues in the eyes of Culver School's supporters. Seeing all of the support the school had from the community and representatives, the city decided not to tear down the school, allowing it to remain until 1982. In 1982, the new school building was constructed and the old one demolished, leading to the Culver Family Learning Center that stands today.

Culver School, Historic Evansville. Accessed November 30th, 2023. https://historicevansville.com/site.php?id=culver.

Taylor, Leon . "Supporters claim Culver School has been short-changed." The Courier and Press (Evansville) May 7th, 1978. , 5-5.

"Campbell Street School Hit by Lightning and Destroyed." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) April 11th, 1905. , 1-1.

"Principal Gets Final Hearing." The Evansville Press (Evansville) July 24th, 1931. 24 ed, 1-1.

"Ousted Teacher Wins Plea in Salary Case." The Evansville Press (Evansville) November 20th, 1931. 143 ed, 1-1.

"New Name Given City Grade School." The Evansville Press (Evansville) June 3rd, 1936. 339 ed, 1-1.

Value of $35,000 from 1905 to 2023, CPI Inflation Calculator. Accessed December 1st, 2023. https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1905?amount=35000.