OCR Text |
Show Cox was creative principal and good friend The first women principal in the county was assigned to South Bountiful ro a eofliB. off (yi.( V -; 1 " r' ; ; 1 - r L P - I f r L f I v ' I . 1 I I By DONETA GATHERUM Ruth Cox was a talented poet, artist, ar-tist, musician and teacher. She was also the first woman to be appointed to the principal ship of a consolidated con-solidated school in Davis County. Born Feb. 27, 1889 in Provo, the fourth of eleven children in the Walter and Ellen Stevenson Cox family, Cox started teaching at the age of 17 in a small school in Sterling, Sterl-ing, Sanpete County. Her salary was $40 per month. On Sept. 12, 1927, Cox transferred trans-ferred to Davis County and began a long career in a combined first and second grade class at South Bountiful Boun-tiful Elementary. She became principal prin-cipal of this four-room school in September of 1932, replacing George Muir. Cox's teaching assignment changed to the fifth and sixth grades when she became principal. prin-cipal. Her career as a teaching-principal lasted nearly 20 years. During this entire time, she commuted to South Bountiful from the Oxford Apartments Apart-ments in Salt Lake on the Bamberger or with other teachers who formed a carpool from Salt Lake to Davis County. The Bamberger ride from Salt Lake ended at Cleverly Crossing. From this point on the interurban line, Cox walked over a mile to the South Bountiful School. A public school in the '30s was different from the school of the '80s. South Bountiful consisted of four classrooms and a combined storage and multi-purpose room. Cox staged many student programs, some of which were original operettas, in this very small upstairs - " - , - ' - v f room. One of her triumphs as principal was when the district added a multipurpose multi-purpose room onto the school. The school lunch program at South Bountiful was started during the time Cox served as principal. This food service program consisted con-sisted of sandwiches the students brought from home and a bowl of soup, prepared by parent volunteers and delivered to the school and served by the parents. During the '30s, there was no telephone at South Bountiful School. If Cox wanted to communicate com-municate by phone to a patron, she walked to the Walter Moss home to borrow their phone. The Moss home was the closest residence to the schooL This contact between the Moss family and Cox developed into a friendship that lasted until Cox's death in 1981. Connie Moss Cleverly, one of the six Moss children who attended South Bountiful school while Cox was principal, had perfect attendance atten-dance for all 12 years of school. This outstanding accomplishment was recognized by Cox when Connie Con-nie completed the sixth grade, the ninth grade and high school. "Miss Cox was a person who loved children. May first was an important day at our school, Connie Con-nie recalled, "Wc always had a May pole dance with a queen. This was one of many school productions. produc-tions. Miss Cox often wrote original poetry and music for programs and for individual students. Cox's assignment as principal ended in 1945 or 1946. She transferred trans-ferred to the Ogden School District, where she taught until her retirement retire-ment in 1960. Miss Cox posed for this photo in front of some scenery that her students made of a school operetta. I ! lorn A CHILDOF the U S A OH TO ftW4 Nit-tD citfAM i I V- "0"oA , Lwt MOQl-KVTHtR 40 H fnY HOW- QlEJT 1 mi- 1 -f-M j i g . CHORUS 7 1 y i J a I - - P cntLD ep-rwe o- 5- fa 1 w .Y Zfr-? I And ok lo"d of ynv r |