CROWLEY, La.(KMDL-FM) – Have you ever stumbled upon a piece of local history that’s too interesting to forget? That’s exactly what happened in Crowley, Louisiana, where a surprising link connects a beloved TV classic to a small-town classroom over a century ago in Acadiana.
Crowley High’s First Graduating Class
If you’ve ever taken the time to look around the lobby and bathrooms at the Grand Opera House of the South in Crowley, you’ve probably noticed old class photos from Crowley High School’s earliest days. Among them is a photograph that reveals something remarkable about the school’s first graduating class in 1904.
That year, seven students received diplomas on the opera house stage, but the student who led the class wasn’t just anyone. She was Rose Wilder Lane, daughter of Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Who Was Rose Wilder Lane?
Rose Wilder Lane wasn’t just the top student of her class in 1904, she was also an accomplished writer and intellectual. According to historical records, she managed to learn and translate Latin in a single year…a course that typically took three according to wikipedia.com.
As the valedictorian of Crowley High School’s first graduating class, Rose delivered a memorable commencement reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”, but in Latin…