On May 18, 1927, a dynamite blast devastated the Bath Consolidated School, destroying one wing of the building, killing thirty-nine children and teachers, and injuring dozens more. An inquest concluded that Andrew Kehoe, an embittered school board member, had planted dynamite in the school basement. Resentful of higher taxes imposed for the school’s construction and the impending foreclosure on his farm, he took revenge on Bath’s citizens by targeting their children. Soon after the explosion, while parents and rescue workers searched the rubble, Kehoe detonated dynamite in his pickup truck parked in front of the school, killing himself and four bystanders, including the superintendent, one student, and two townspeople. The destruction of the school shared the front page of national newspapers with Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight. In response, Michigan Governor Fred Green created the Bath Relief Fund, people across the country offered sympathy and financial support, and Michigan U.S. Senator James Couzens contributed generously and gave money to rebuild the school. On August 18, 1928, Bath dedicated the James Couzens Agricultural School to its living youth, and also dedicated Girl with a Cat, a statue by University of Michigan artist Carleton W. Angell purchased with pennies donated by the children of Michigan.