Eva C RADLEY

July 4, 1883 - Mar 20, 1966
Children:
Edward Tabor Radley (1919 - 1967)

Published Sunday, July 11, 1999

Bluebirds are plentiful in Conway.

Not the fine-feathered variety, mind you, but the more scholarly types that proudly call Eva C. Radley's Bluebird Kindergarten their first institute of learning.

Founded in the early 1920s by Eva Crichlow Radley, Bluebird Kindergarten was located at 2007 Robinson Ave. By the time Mrs. Radley died on March 20, 1966, according to information in her obituary printed in the Log Cabin Democrat on March 21, 1966, she had operated the private kindergarten "for more than 30 years." The obituary said "for the past several years, she made her home at 426 Donaghey Ave."

One group of kindergarten graduates has remained close for more than 50 years now and gathered in May to celebrate their 50th reunion. The class graduated on May 25, 1949, in a ceremony complete with diplomas and caps and gowns -- pink for the girls and blue for the boys.

According to Suzanne Roberts Brazil, all but three of that class would go on to graduate from Conway High School in 1961. Members of the class include Chris Jordan, who now lives in North Little Rock; Tommy Paladino of Springdale; Richard Pence of Little Rock; Bill Dunaway of Conway; David Davis of Memphis; Dickie Hendrickson of Conway; Danny Morse of Conway; Betty Ruth Branning of Las Vegas; Martha Ethridge of Conway; Julia Ann Bailey of Conway; Linda Brittain of St. Louis; Christina Nelson (location unknown); and Suzanne Roberts of Conway.

Mrs. Brazil has fond memories of her year spent at the kindergarten. "I remember Julia (Bailey) and I would walk to kindergarten," she said. "It was just down the street from where we lived.

"And I remember we wore the same shoes for graduation," she said with a laugh.

"We lived such sheltered, ideal lives back then," she recalled. "It was like a storybook."

She noted that it cost $5 a month to attend the school and parents signed their children up at a very early age.

"By the time I was old enough to go, I had already heard all about it," Mrs. Brazil explained. Her older brother, Jack Roberts, had already attended the kindergarten. "It was such a privilege to go there. It was such a learning experience," she said.

Born on Fourth of July

Eva Crichlow Radley was born July 4, 1883, in Bells, Tenn., a daughter of William Robert and Annie Wilson Crichlow. According to information found in her obituary, she moved to Conway in 1907. She had one brother, the Rev. Joseph Wilson Crichlow, and one sister, Mrs. B.L. (Sallie Lee Crichlow) Harris.

Mrs. Radley attended George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tenn.

According to her great-niece, Isabell Crichlow Wheeler of Austin, Texas, Mrs. Radley probably taught high school first, "maybe in Little Rock," Mrs. Wheeler said recently in a telephone interview. "One day they asked her to stay with the very young children in whatever school it was," she explained. "And this was her first encounter with young children. So whatever her professional training was, it enabled her to work with young children and led her to establish the kindergarten."

Mrs. Wheeler attended the kindergarten "when I was 3 years old," she said. "She was my father's sister and she was my favorite aunt." The Rev. Crichlow was president of the Methodist district which included Conway at that time.

Mrs. Wheeler lived in Conway for about five years as a child. She moved to Texas from Tennessee in 1990 and now serves as program and membership service administrator for Delta Kappa Gamma international teachers society.

Eva Crichlow married Edward Radley on March 27, 1918, according to records in the county clerk's office at the courthouse. They had one son, Dr. Edward Taber Radley Jr., who was born Feb. 26, 1919, and died May 17, 1967.

Programs were colorful

Early reports in the Log Cabin Democrat, compiled for the last several years in the "Yesterdays" column by Jenny Oliver, contain details of the early classes Mrs. Radley held in her home.

On June 17, 1922, a report said, "Mrs. Eva Radley's kindergarten and primary classes closed their school year with a little bird and song program. Each child, in paper costume, represented some bird and reflected their teacher's careful training. ... Each child was presented with a blue bird emblem at the close of the exercise by Mrs. Radley." Her son Edward was mentioned in this article, representing a black bird.

The closing exercises on May 30, 1923, was reported as "an outdoor pageant titled, 'The Awakening of the Flowers.' The children were dressed in beautiful paper costumes appropriate to the parts represented ..." "Little Edward Radley" represented the Honey Bee.

"With parents as guests, pupils of Mrs. Eva C. Radley's kindergarten gave a delightful Christmas program, consisting principally of Christmas songs, accompanied by musical chimes," reads a report on Dec. 22, 1923. "From a Christmas tree gifts, consisting of a little book for each pupil from the teacher, a match-striker for each father and pin-cushion for each mother, made by the children, were distributed ..."

A report on Sept. 6, 1947, read: "The children of the Radley kindergarten enjoyed a 'little book shop' at the opening of school. The children bought cards depicting different Mother Goose characters ..."

As Mrs. Brazil said, the year spent at Bluebird Kindergarten was "like a storybook."

Contributed on 11/6/16 by hawkinsdonna
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