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27 KIPS Form 10 -WO-a OMB No. 10240018 () United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section t# Page 11 Murohev School name of property orange County. NC county and state The standardization of the design and furnishing of new school buildings during the 19205 and 1930s became increasingly more common. Chief considerations in determining the general plan were orientation, natural light and ventilation, flexibility for future additions, aesthetic fitness, and economy. Other new standards for buildings recommended statewide were steam heat, indoor plumbing, drinking fountains, and an auditorium that could double as a gymnasium and also host community gatherings. 10 These standards of the new rural school would make it successful and help to unify rural areas. In addition to novel standards for consolidated school buildings, North Carolina educational leaders called for higher standards for teachers, preferring those with some kind of professional training. As of 1925, in Grange County approximately half of all teachers only held elementary certificates 11 Proponents of consolidation claimed that with multiple schools combined together, a surplus of teachers would be created, with only the best-trained chosen for positions in the new consolidated school. In 1938 North Carolina required at least one teacher per grade with a "Class A" certification in order for a school to be accredited. Educators also believed that teachers in rural consolidated schools needed to integrate more into the community, and with few options in the country for boarding, many school districts constructed teachers' homes or "teacherages" for the purpose of housing rural teachers. Educational scholars claimed that not only would the teacherage allow for teachers to develop relationships with community members, but it would also provide social fellowship for single female teachers by living with their co-workers; the teacherage becoming, "a self - evident necessity and a good investment for the distriet"12 The superintendent of Orange County schools at the time of the construction of Murphey School was Robert Claytor, who served a total of thirty years in the position and led the consolidation of schools in the county. Orange County applied for $50,000 of the $5,000,000 of the State School Fund for the purpose of erecting new schoolhouses during the early 1920s. Half the cost of each new school was to be paid for by local tax districts in Orange County. The county also hired the Henri C. Linthicum, of the architectural firm Linthicum and Linthicum of Durham, to draw plans for new school buildings throughout Orange County. This father and son team, led by Hill C. Linthicum until his death in 1919, promoted their firm as specializing in the design of educational facilities. 10 Handbook for Elementary and Secondary Schools, 9936, publication no. 206 (Raleigh: State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Prepared by Division of Instructional Service), p.13 -25. t Andrews, Nita. "A Study of the Public Schools of Orange County," Masters Thesis, (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1925), p. 70 12 Arp, iulius Semhard. Rural Education and the Consolidated Schoa (New York: world Book Company, 1920), p. 151 -155.