Why not name school for the other Clark?
June 16th, 2010 | 
Author: Gen. George Rogers Clark was a hero of the American Revolution, so it’s probably fitting that a school somewhere be named for him.
And in fact, there are nine schools across the country that bear his name, four of them in Indiana, where he lived many years of his life and had his greatest military successes, notably, the capturing of Kaskaskia and Vincennes from the British.
Gov. James Clark of Winchester, an ambitious reformer, created Kentucky's public school system.
But there isn’t any reliable evidence that he ever set foot in Clark County, Kentucky, which is named for him, and where the only public high school is George Rogers Clark — or as generations have called it, “GRC.”
Many have assumed that the new high school on Boonesboro Road, which will replace GRC, will also be called George Rogers Clark High, but that may not be a valid assumption.
We have not heard school officials propose that it be called anything else, but on the Clark County Public Schools website, it’s simply referred to as the New High School, or the CCPS High School or the new Clark County High School.
Yet many who are enamored of the old school’s name are worried that it will change. Just this Wednesday, we published a letter about it from Janice Cox of Fulton, Ky., who attended GRC when it opened in 1963 following the merger of the city and county schools. She had heard a rumor that it might be called Daniel Boone High School.
Boone would come closer to being a local dignitary, because his settlement, Fort Boonesborough, was just across the river. But Boone was practically illiterate, so his might not be the best name to associate with a center of learning.
And George Rogers Clark, who was homeschooled, was a drunk who couldn’t keep a job, so he might not be the best role model for teenagers.
But there is another historical figure from Winchester who would be an excellent choice to have a school named for him, and that is Gov. James Clark, the father of Kentucky’s public schools.
A resident of Clark County whose mansion overlooks the site of the vanished Winchester High School, James Clark was a remarkable leader in all three branches of government. He was a congressman, circuit and appellate court judge and state senator, as well as governor.
An ambitious reformer, his accomplishments included creating the state’s system of common schools, establishing a state board of education and state superintendent, appointing school commissioners in every county, and strengthening oversight of state government, banking and contracts.
In naming the merged high school for the county’s namesake in 1963, I think Clark Countians chose the wrong Clark to honor. This is our chance to rectify that mistake.
Randy Patrick is the managing editor of The Winchester Sun.
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So is the county named for George Rogers Clark as well? Just being curious, as that had been my presumption.
Yes,the county is named for Clark, who was from Virginia, led the Kentucky militia in the Northwest campaign against the British and Indians, then settled in Indiana after the war.
As someone who has portrayed Daniel Boone professionally for 16 years to convention audiences across the country, may I offer another view of his education?
Boone had no formal schooling. His sister-in-law, Sarah Day Boone, taught him to read when he was 14. He was always an atrocious speller, at least by our standards, but he was quite able to express himself in writing. He enjoyed reading and always carried books with him when he went on long hunts. His favorite two books were Gulliver’s Travels and the Bible, and he carried those with him on almost every hunt. He read them over and over.
While Boone’s educational attainments might not merit naming a school for him, his character would. He was a man who several times accumulated small fortunes in land. He lost each one, not through negligence but through kindness and naivete. He had two sons killed by Indians. One was tortured to death. The other died in his arms. All but one of his daughters died as young women. Boone never became disillusioned or remained bitter. He kept a positive, helpful, forward-looking perspective throughout his life. Students could do no better than to look to Daniel Boone for inspiration.
Patrick Lee
http://www.PatrickLee.com
Yes, I knew that Daniel Boone loved Gulliver’s Travels and the Bible, and that he was a man of fine character, which is emphasized by Robert Morgan in his recent biography, “Boone.”
Since I was a boy growing up in Clark County, I have been fascinated by the life of Boone. I would recommend naming one of elementary or middle schools for him were it not for the fact that there is already a Daniel Boone Elementary School nearby in Madison County.