JCCC Archives presents the Sleuthing Series, where every Tuesday, we bring you an image from our past and ask you to help us find out more!
What We Know
- According to Charles Bishop’s history of the college, “The buildings consisted of the former Merriam Elementary School (that JCCC instructor Fred Krebs had attended as child), five classrooms in the educational wing of Merriam Christian Church, several storefronts in downtown Merriam that bordered the railroad tracks, night-time usage of district high school classrooms and laboratories and also space at the Johnson County Airport for the Aviation Institute.”
- The Merriam Elementary Building later became the Irene B. French Community Center.
- It was about a six-minute walk from the old Merriam Elementary School to the Merriam Christian Church. Many facilities are identified below.
- Some of the buildings where classes were held, such as the Shawnee Grade School, no longer stand. That particular building stood on Johnson Drive, more than a mile west of Merriam Drive.
- Quoting, again from Charles Bishop’s The Community’s College: a history of Johnson County Community College, 1969-1999: “Nearly fourteen hundred students enrolled that first semester. The full-time equivalent (F.T.E.) students numbered 925 ….”
What We Don’t Know
- How many of these buildings still stand? What are they, now?
- How could a student build a schedule with any assurance that they could move to the next class in the allotted time?
- Were you there? Do you have any memories to share?
If You Know More…
- Contact librarians: Anita Gordon Gilmore (agordong@jccc.edu, ext. 4369) or John Russell (jrussell@jccc.edu, ext. 3284). You may also comment below!
For More Information…
- Read more about JCCC’s 50th year
- View aerial shots of the JCCC campus