Bluejacket Public School – Bluejacket OK

Description

The Works Progress Administration built several structures for the Bluejacket Public School between 1936-1939.

The author of this submission provided the Living New Deal with the following account based on personal discussions with a family member who was the superintendent of the combined projects:

“The work consisted of razing the condemned school building, constructing a gymnasium, constructing a combined grade and high school building. The work started in 1936 and was completed 1939. Work crews began by razing the existing 3-story brick school house, constructing the gymnasium from native tan-variegated sandstone, constructing a combined 1st through 12th-grade schoolhouse with library, administrative offices, and two toilets with plumbing protruding from inside walls (lacking stools and wash basins and floor finishes), and a stone wall fronting the school property.”

A 1985 Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory Nominations, Craig WPA Properties describes the structures built on the site by the WPA:

“The Bluejacket campus contains two WPA constructed buildings (a third was destroyed during the 1985-86 school year). The main classroom building is a rectangular shaped (170′ x 63′) structure constructed of crudely cut and slightly rusticated native stone randomly laid. The roof is flat and has parapets topped with concrete caps. The portion of the front facade upon which the main entry is found protrudes from the front of the building. The double-door entry is recessed within the protrusion and topped by a stepped cornice. The metal encased windows are grouped in pairs with concrete sills.

The second classroom building is situated southeast of the main building. It is rectangular (91′ x 56′) and constructed of uncut native stone randomly laid with extended mortar masonry. The flat roof has parapets with concrete caping. Two vestibule-like stone entries having double-doors and a concrete frieze over them are located on the front facade of the structure. The windows are metal encased and grouped into pairs. All windows have concrete sills. A small addition to the rear of the structure has not destroyed its integrity.

SIGNIFICANCE: 1936-1940; architect/builder: unknown The construction on the Bluejacket campus constituted a tremendous community resource. Some 85,000 man-hours of labor went into the construction of these buildings as well as others recently destroyed. The wages earned by the laborers were infused back into the local economy thus stimulating economic growth and easing the problems generated by the limited money supply. For many of the men these wages were the only means by which they could feed their families. Architecturally the buildings are significant for their fine workmanship and large scale.”