Georgia W. Hemphill was the longest-serving principal at the then-new Lincoln Elementary School in Clay Center. Completed in 1939 across 7.1 acres (six total lots of land). Hemphill joined the staff in 1942 as both a sixth grade teacher and principal.
Hemphill served a total of 39 years through May of 1971. Her classroom was the first door west of the front door, equipped with a doorway to the principal’s office so she could answer the phone as needed. A single phone served the entire building.
She began her teaching career at the rural Garfield School District #87, located north of Clay Center. In the 1928-1929 school year she had 10 students. She then transferred to McKinley, the now-apartment building at 731 Crawford.
In 1962 an additional teacher was hired to each sixth grade, allowing Hemphill to serve half the day as principal.
In Hemphill’s time, Lincoln added a music teacher, physical education teacher, speech therapy, and special education. Title I Reading and hot lunches were added. In 1968, student lunches cost .30 each. Her tenure also saw major addition and renovation to Lincoln, when classrooms were added south of the gymnasium. That section now houses two first grade classrooms and a restroom.
A second addition was planned – restrooms, one classroom, and the current cafeteria – was also planned during her tenure. However, it wasn’t completed until 1973.
Hemphill was born February 22, 1905 in Clay Center and graduated from the former Clay County High School in 1925. She served as class president her sophomore year.
In May of 1920, she attended 8th grade graduation at the First Methodist Church along with 51 other classmates. Her mother died the following year.
Georgia’s mother served as the managing editor for a local paper in the early 1900s and her father was the postmaster of Clay Center. Prior to that, he owned and published The Economist, a weekly newspaper. She had seven siblings, many of whom achieved high levels in their respective careers. Four of the Hemphill siblings, including Georgia, did not marry. Four siblings went into journalism, one radio and three print. Her older brother retired as a master sergeant in the Navy, and a younger brother became an architect and professor.
She received bachelor and master’s degrees from K-State 1940 and Columbia University. She also attended the universities of Wisconsin, Colorado, and Nebraska, Hawaii in Honolulu and London University. She also traveled internationally throughout her life and used cultural lessons in her teaching.
She was also on the Clay Center Teachers Association, Kansas Education Association, and National Education Association. She served at local and state levels.
Hemphill continued to live in her parents’ home, taking over when her father died in 1944. Later, her sister, Helen, returned to lived with Georgia after the former had retired. Both died in Presbyterian Manor, in 1999. Helen in January when she was 95 and Georgia in December, at 94.
She is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
Photos: Top left: Georgia Hemphill in her retirement announcement, April of 1971. Lower left: Hemphill as a junior in high school in 1924. Above: Lincoln School faculty picture from the 1948-1949 school year. Front row, left to right: Irene Erickson, 1st grade; Barbara Cline, kindergarten; Fern Downs, 3rd grade; Hemphill, 6th grade and principal; back row left to right: Mildred Esslinger, 2nd grade; Wilma Rowland, 5th grade, Edna Farren, 4th grade.
