Community Invited to Baumgardner Dedication October 23
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On Thursday, October 23, the District will formally dedicate Baumgardner Middle School under its new name. The community is invited to attend this celebration alongside members of the Baumgardner family. Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m., with a program in the auditorium at 4:45 p.m.
In July, the Monticello Middle School Renaming Task Force presented their list of three potential new school names to the Board of Education for their consideration. The list was a culmination of research, reflection, and conversation, all with equity and representation at the forefront. Those three names were: Baumgardner Middle School, Heights Middle School, and Yellowstone Middle School. Following discussion, the Board approved a motion to change the school’s name to Baumgardner Middle School.
Read more about the renaming process here.
The Baumgardner Story
Dr. Luther O. Baumgardner, a Black physician originally from South Carolina, moved to Cleveland in 1921 after finishing medical school at Howard University. In 1938, he and his wife, Myrtle, and their young daughters, Gretchen and Jane, moved into a house the couple had purchased on Wilmar Road in Cleveland Heights. Just a few days after moving into the home, they suffered a bombing attack after a dinner party as Dr. Baumgardner tucked Jane into bed for the night.
Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the explosion significantly damaged the home and even broke neighbors’ windows. It was clear that the attackers intended, at the very least, to intimidate the family into moving away, simply because they were Black—among the first Black homeowners in Cleveland Heights.
The family refused to be intimidated, however, and Gretchen and Jane went on to attend Monticello Middle School and graduate from Cleveland Heights High School (classes of June 1948 and June 1955, respectively). Dr. Baumgardner lived in the Wilmar home until his death in 1976.
Both Gretchen and Jane went on to earn advanced degrees, have careers, and raise families. Gretchen passed away in 2009 in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Dr. Jane Savoy is 87 years old and a practicing psychologist in Michigan.
The Baumgardners’ story is one of courage, tenacity, and achievement, and so are the stories of Heights students past, present, and future.
