Albuquerque Public Schools
Lew Wallace Elementary Celebrates 90 Years of Resilience
From 1933 fire to New Deal funding, Albuquerque school marks historic anniversary.
It was 1933, and the U.S. was in the grip of the Great Depression as President Franklin D. Roosevelt rolled out his New Deal, a mix of aid for those most in need, public works projects aimed at getting people back to work and regulatory reform.
The seeds of World War II were being sewn in Germany as Hitler began consolidating power.
Closer to home, hundreds of school children were displaced when a suspicious fire tore through the Fourth Ward School in Albuquerque on April 25, 1933, laying waste to the 41-year-old structure.
Not one to let adversity hold him down, Principal J.R. McCollum jumped into action, securing temporary classroom space throughout the city at schools, City Hall and even a residence. The day after the fire, students were told to report to their makeshift classrooms with a pencil and paper.
With the most pressing issue addressed, Albuquerque schools superintendent John Milne and his team got to work on plans to construct a new school at the site of the decimated Fourth Ward School, literally laying the groundwork for what would become Lew Wallace Elementary School.
Ninety years later, the school is still standing strong, and students, staff and community members are preparing to celebrate the historic anniversary with performances, a summer literacy kickoff, family dance, food and fun. The event will be at 4:15 p.m. on Friday, May 23, at the school’s cafeteria.
First Public Works Act project in NM
One of the most critical issues Albuquerque school leaders faced as they pressed ahead with rebuilding the school was how to pay for the $100,000 project, which in today’s dollars would be the equivalent of $2.5 million. Fire insurance would cover close to $20,000, with another $26,000 coming from the school district’s building fund. Taxpayers would kick in another $30,000. But that still left a nearly $25,000 funding gap, the equivalent of about $605,000 today.
School leaders turned to President Roosevelt’s New Deal and secured a nearly $25,000 federal grant through the Public Works Act.
The school, designed in the Territorial Revival style by Louis G. Hesselden, became the first of many Public Works Act projects in New Mexico. It was built using fire-resistant materials and was also earthquake-resistant.
“The building is known as one of the finest modern grade school plants in the Southwest,” The Albuquerque Tribune declared in 1935, the same year that students moved into the new School. It was named Lew Wallace Elementary School in honor of a Union General in the Civil War who went on to become New Mexico’s territorial governor from 1878 until 1881. Wallace also authored “Ben-Hur.”
A second act
The Downtown school, located on Sixth Street, flourished for decades but was closed in 1974 due to declining enrollment.
In the early 1990s, the Downtown Neighborhood Association and others lobbied the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education to reopen it to provide an option for the children of Downtown workers and to address overcrowding at other elementary schools. Lew Wallace reopened in 1992.
These days, the school prides itself on being a small school “with strong connections among staff, students, families, and our vibrant Downtown Albuquerque community.”
Lew Wallace Elementary regularly invites community artists to collaborate with students on art projects and encourages students to explore their interests and passions through its Genius Hour program.
“We cultivate a caring environment that addresses each student's individual needs,” school leaders say. “...In our nurturing community, students are encouraged to reach high expectations and are supported in becoming independent, life-long learners.”