Ina Cool taught at the Old Berthoud country school
By Mark French
The Surveyor
Author’s note: Since 1987 the United States has formally recognized March as the month to celebrate women’s contributions to history, culture and society. During March 2023 “Tales of the Little Thompson” will feature some of the women teachers who through their strength and determination helped in the development of Berthoud and the Little Thompson Valley.
This series of Women’s History Month articles will feature four Berthoud High School graduates—Anna Johnson Hanna (BHS Class of 1909), Ina Cool Haworth (BHS Class of 1911), Ivy Stockwell (BHS Class of 1912), and Reva Graves Bradney (BHS Class of 1920)—who were linked to the community’s country schools.
Eleven-year-old Ina Cool came with her family to Berthoud from Wisconsin in 1904. For the benefit of Colorado’s healthy climate and to escape factory work, Ina’s father Willis took up the carpentry trade and built a number of barns in the Berthoud area. Ina attended school in town and graduated from Berthoud High School in 1911. At that time Berthoud had but one school building located at the center of present-day Fickel Park. The school was attended by students in grades one through twelve. Enrollment in high school classes was considered optional.
The Berthoud High School Class of 1911 was comprised of six students including Ina Cool. The Cool family lived in a house at 906 5th Street that was built by Ina’s father in the summer of 1904.
In March 1912 Ina Cool was among a group of six young Berthoud women who took the “teachers examination” at the home of Mrs. Nancy Shull in Berthoud. Ivy Stockwell who was to graduate from Berthoud High School later that spring was also a member of the group. Both young women passed the exam.
In May 1912, the Berthoud newspaper reported, “Miss Ina Cool has been chosen from a number of applicants to teach the next school term in the Old Berthoud district. Miss Cool is a graduate of Berthoud High School of the class of 1911, and is a capable young woman. She will attend the summer normal school at Greeley. She recently received a second grade certificate.”
The State Normal School, Colorado State Teachers College and Colorado State College were the previous institutional names of the present-day University of Northern Colorado.
The “Old Berthoud district,” formally known as Larimer County District No. 22, was located in the rural area directly south of the town of Berthoud. The brick building (still standing) in which Miss Cool taught was located on the south bank of the Little Thompson River near the original Berthoud settlement.
When Ina Cool taught at “Old Berthoud” during the 1912-1913 schoolyear she taught grades one through eight. The Larimer County Superintendent of Schools was Emma T. Wilkins. The district’s school board was composed of president Fred Mundt, secretary J.G. Woods, and treasurer Elmer Stepp, all of whom farmed in the area and had children attending the school.
The following year Ina Cool switched to the Twin Mounds country school (no longer standing east of Campion where for one term she taught grades one through four. Her teaching colleague was Ruth Peterson who instructed grades five through eight.
Ina Cool’s brief teaching career came to an end in January 1915 when she married a young farmer living west of Berthoud. Following the event, the local tabloid reported, “Everett M. Haworth and Miss Ina Cool, accompanied by Miss Myrtle Haworth and H.C. Lovejoy, went to Denver on the early morning train Wednesday. In Denver, Mr. Haworth secured the license to wed and he and Miss Cool were united in holy matrimony.”
In addition to raising three children (Margaret, Myron, and Maurice “Red”) Ina Cool Haworth belonged to the Laurel Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, served two years as president of the Berthoud Woman’s Club, and participated in the Queen Esther Circle of the First Presbyterian Church of Berthoud. Ina Cool Haworth passed away in 1967.
Next week’s “Tale of the Little Thompson” will feature Ivy Stockwell.
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