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Coordinates: 35°27′06″N 97°23′53″W 35.4516685, -97.3981547

Midwest City High School

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    • Midwest City, Oklahoma, United States of America
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• History & Memorable Moments

In 1941, the Midwest City-Del City area was farmland consisting of wheat farming, dairies, and cattle ranches. Several rural schools made up the centers of their respective communities. Farmers and others living on acreages traveled to Oklahoma City to purchase what could not be produced from the land. The federal government had determined that the country would soon be in the war that was spreading in Europe and the Far East. Construction of Tinker Field began and W.P. Atkinson, seeing an opportunity, purchased 160 acres of farmland with the intention of developing a new community. ^[1]

On December 7, 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. With the growth of Tinker Field, Midwest City increased as well. More families meant higher school enrollent. Children had to travel to Oklahoma City to attend school above the eighth grade. To meet the crisis, the Sooner School Board agreed to an expansion of the school system by April 1943; members of the Sooner School Board were: Tom Townsend, Furman L. Fox, Cecil Fish, and Oscar Rose, Superintendent of Sooner School district no. 52. ^[1]

In May 1943, Rose organized for the upcoming school year. The high school was held and J.E. Sutton was hired June 1943 to be the first principal of the high school. In August 1943, the school plan was organized but there was no school building. Even though the building was not finished, it had 17 teachers and 413 students on the first day and over one thousand students to enroll during the school year. Furniture was borrowed from Draugh's Business College; half day sessions were in operation for the lower grades. Mr. Rose borrowed an old school bus from Bearan, Oklahoma, the school district that he came from. There was no heat, and students had to wear their coats in class during the winter. Later people loaned stoves to the school. ^[1]

The first night in April 1944, a wind hit the campus (several military huts for buildings), turning some buildings at a forty-five degree angle and it demolished the entire English room. Buildings were left where the wind pushed them, foundations were put back and the school continued. During the school year, a new brick building had been under construction next door to the collection of huts and was ready for occupancy by Spring. Students moved to the new building on April 6, 1946; it was later dedicated in May. ^[1]

There were fourteen students in that first senior class. Despite the weather, cold, mud, and wind storm, the hutment (collection of huts) served its purpose. This was the beginning of 3 great high schools: Midwest City High School, Carl Albert High School, and Del City High School. ^[1]

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