Like all of the city's schools, students and local residents used Monroe School for multiple activities. A student club called "The Downbeat" held dances in the combined gym and auditorium. Local churches and civic organizations used the space for meetings and to host pageants and plays. Neighbors browsed the school library and attended lectures given by public speakers.
The school did not own an outside playground until the Board of Education purchased a strip of land of this side of Monroe Street in 1943. Students later recalled the boys wrestling and playing tag on the new playfield before school started, while the girls jumped rope or enjoyed a game of hopscotch. The park service invites you to continue this tradition of recreation by enjoying the field today.
[Inset photo captions read]
Baseball has long been a pastime for many Topeka residents.
Miss Laura's Coffee Shop, on the corner of Monroe and 15th Streets, served as a popular location for students to buy lunch because the school did not have a cafeteria.

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Show me all markers in:  Topeka, KS  |  Shawnee County  |  66612  |  Kansas  |  United States of America

Monroe School
Pillars of the Community
Standing Up for Their Rights
How to Heat and Cool an Old School
Monroe School Neighborhood
A "Separate But Equal" School?
A Turning Point for Equality
On This Site
G.A.R. Memorial Building
Alfred M. Landon State Office Building

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