Lucy Thornton Key was born September 11, 1911, in Ida, Texas, one of nine children of Toliver E. and Jennie Lee Dodson Thornton. She received an undergraduate degree from Oklahoma College for Women and a master's degree in education from North Texas State University. Lucy married Harold W. Key, also an educator, in Chickasha, Oklahoma, on August 19, 1934. During the early part of her 35-year career in education, Lucy taught in Verden, Oklahoma, and Pilot Point, Texas. After the Keys moved to Arlington in 1953, Lucy taught fourth grade one year at West Side Elementary School, then spent twenty years teaching at C. B. Berry Elementary School, retiring in 1974. Key Elementary School was named for Harold and Lucy Key in 1975. Mrs. Key was a member of First United Methodist Church in Arlington, a life member of Texas Retired Teachers Association; Arlington Retired School Employees Association; and Arlington Women of Rotary. She passed away in Grapevine, Texas, on June 20, 2010.
Harold W. Key was born in Ida, Texas, on August 14, 1906. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Texas Christian University. He taught school in Graham, Mineral Wells, and Pilot Point, Texas, before moving to Arlington. From 1953 to 1963, he taught math, and served as vice-principal and principal of Arlington High School. In 1963 he became principal of Arlington's Sam Houston High School, from where he retired in 1972. Mr. Key passed away on November 15, 1995.
Programs, invitations, yearbooks, printed materials, newspaper clippings. The materials in this collection relate to the teaching careers of Lucy T. Key or her husband, Harold W. Key (1906-1995). They include invitations and programs for the dedication of various Arlington, Texas, schools; Key Elementary School P.T.A. yearbooks and school directories; newspaper clippings, and two small booklets on human reproduction and social hygiene written in 1943 for "older boys and girls."
Open for research.
Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.
Gift of Bobbie Griffin,
Gift,
Accessioned as number 2011-135.
Lucy T. Key Collection, 1943-1997, AR581, Box Number, Folder Number, Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library.
The collection was processed by and finding aid written by Brenda S. McClurkin.
Yearbooks for Arlington Women of Rotary (1978-2010), Arlington Retired Teachers Association (1984-1990), Arlington Retired School Employees (1990-1994), Retired School Employees of Arlington (1994-2009), and Arlington Retired School Employees Association (2009-2010) were transferred to the Special Collections print collection. Photocopied newspaper clippings, unrelated newspaper clippings, miscellaneous Texas Teacher Retirement System brochures, and an ARSEA name badge were deaccessioned from the collection.
The materials are arranged alphabetically by the name of the folder.
These materials are indexed under the following headings in the catalog of The University of Texas at Arlington Library. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Program from Arlington Historical Society event honoring local educators.
Invitations to various Arlington school dedications. Programs for dedications of Dean P. Corey Elementary School, J. A. Kooken Educational Center, Tommie B. Williams Elementary School, Christine Barnett Junior High School, John Webb Elementary School, and James and Maydelle Crouch Elementary School all contain biographical sketches of their namesakes.
These yearbooks and student directories provide biographical sketches of Harold and Lucy Key, a biography of principal Eddie F. Mayhugh, school calendar, daily schedule, faculty and staff, and students and teachers listed by grade and classroom. They also include the Key Elementary School Parent-Teacher Association by-laws; programs and other activities; and lists of officers, past presidents, and life members.
Includes an article on Harold Key's retirement as the first and only principal of Sam Houston High School, and the dedication of the Tommie B. Williams Elementary School.