Lee L. Driver

Indiana laws passed from 1897 to 1907 provided for the abandonment of rural one-room schools and their replacement with consolidated schools offering graded curriculum, high school education, and athletics. Lee L. Driver, superintendent of Randolph County schools from 1907 to 1919, replaced more than 100 district schools with 20 multi-room buildings, an achievement that garnered national acclaim. Born in Randolph County in 1867, he graduated from teachers college in 1883, returned home to teach, and was named principal of Winchester High School in 1900. He was elected county superintendent in 1907, 1911, and 1917. In 1920, Driver became Director of Rural Education for Pennsylvania, where he was known as the father of rural school consolidation. Driver died in 1960.

Winchester, Indiana · United States