In 1942-43, Washington High School students painted a mural on the lower level that depicted the school’s history. When the school was torn down in 1999, the mural, as well as plaster pseudo-classical Greek sculptures that adorned the school auditorium, were moved to the Nodaway County Historical Society Museum. Pictured in the photo above, which was AI colorized/enhanced, is longtime Maryville educator Laura B. Hawkins showing the painting to new students in 1951. Below is the story.
Hard Work of Former Artists Adds Vividness to MHS Hall By Diane Robbins Maryville Forum Hi-Lights December 15, 1951
Caption: MURAL ATTRACTS ATTENTION As Miss Laura B. Hawkins, dean of girls. She pointed out the details of the eight-year-old murals to newcomers who entered school this year. She was assisted by Rae Jeanene, senior. Admirers, from left to right: Darrell Hensley, Karl Yehle, Rae Jeanene, Rita Walk, and Lona Lu Moore.
When you walk in the halls of MHS, do you ever take a good look around? Many works of art are on display there, but they are never appreciated. A good example of this is the mural that hangs in the lower hall.
“The history of this mural goes back to the school year 1942-’43. It was done as an art class project. The amateur artists took the larger part of a semester to complete it,” stated Miss Laura B. Hawkins, veteran MHS instructor.
This mural is done in colored chalk and features many beautiful, vivid colors. Represented in the panorama are activities from the school year, sports played, and classwork. The left-hand side of the mural starts with the fall of the year, and the right side ends with graduation. Pictured in the center is the front of the school.
The members of the art class who worked on this project were Charles Allen, Darlene Strauch, and Eugene Upschulte. Elaine Woodburn, Christine Zimmerman, La Broyles, Jack Devers, Mary Barber, Betty Dorman, Betty Rose Ingles, Leon Farquhar, Wynona Jones, Dennis O’Connell, Zella Samson, Betty Shipps, and Mary Smith. Their teacher was Miss Lovena Goodwin.
- They spent a year painting the mural — which is how we discovered art majors have better attendance than half the football team.
- The mural covered every era: chalkboards, yearbooks, and at least three questionable haircuts.
- It took a semester to pick the palette and the rest of the year to argue over whether the principal deserved a hat.
- When the school closed in ’99, the mural got the classy walk-out everyone wanted but never had.
- The mural lived longer than the school’s vending machines — and was less sticky.
- Art students painted history so well that the historical society needed a moving truck and a prayer.
- The students spent a year on a mural that chronicled every class. Now the historical society preserves it — and the mural preserves the official hairstyle timeline.
- The mural took so long to finish that people thought it was a permanent exhibit. They were right — just not where anyone expected.
- The mural had a “Where are they now?” corner — it turns out most are “somewhere between a trim and a trivia night.”
- Alumni cried when the school closed, then laughed when they realized the mural was the only thing younger than their high school sweater.
- The mural included a timeline showing: 1910 — school built; gym added; 1987 someone finally fixed the clock; 1999 — art students saved everything but the detention slips.
- They painted decades of pep rallies so faithfully that the historical society considered selling limited-edition foam fingers.
- When the mural moved to the historical society, it politely declined alumni requests to be placed next to the trophy case — it had dignity.