100 Years Ago: Dec. 10-16

From The Indianapolis News, Wednesday, December 14, 1921: Declaring some police officers, in making their daily reports, write in a hand that no one could read and misspell simple words, Mayor-elect Lew Shank announced the appointment of Georgia Murphy who will conduct classes for officers who need training in spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetic. Each officer will be required to take a test designed by the board of public safety, and those requiring remedial training will be enrolled in the classes. Mrs. Murphy, an eighteen-year public school teacher, said, “I think it is a mighty good idea. A man should be able to write his name and copy an ordinary sentence clearly, divide two or three numbers, read a newspaper article, and be able to spell words of five or six letters.” Mrs. Murphy will have the rank of sergeant.