100 Years Ago This Week: Feb. 5-12

From The Indianapolis Star, Tuesday, February 8: Indianapolis opened its first public school exclusively for foreigners last night with the enrollment of more than sixty men and three women representing ten nationalities — Greek, Romanian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Turk, Armenian, Italian, German, and Montenegrin. The evening classes at School No. 5, Washington and California Streets — in the heart of the foreign district, will be conducted each evening of the week. This is the first “naturalization school for foreigners,” so the course of instruction will primarily be English. However, classes in American history and American government will begin as soon as there is a demand for them. Classes are open to all foreigners more than 16 years old. The school will be under the supervision of William A. Hacker, director of the elementary night schools.