The Amazing Louisiana Connection Between Little House on the Prairie and Crowley High

It's pretty amazing what you can learn sometimes if you just stop to look around you...

Louisiana's Connection To Louisiana

A couple of years ago my wife and I went to The Grand Opera House of the South in Crowley to watch Marc and Ted Broussard. As we were waiting for the show to start, I noticed some incredible pictures on the wall of the very first graduating class of Crowley High School.

By one of the pictures was a document talking about that group of seven students, and as I read more, I came across something I had never heard about before.

There is a remarkable connection between the t.v. show "Little House On The Prairie" and the Crowley High class of 1904.

You may or may not remember the t.v. series "Little House On The Prairie". It had a fantastic run from 1974 to 1983. The show was based on the autobiographical "Little House" series of books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Laura Ingalls was also the t.v. show's main character.

First Graduating Class Of Crowley High School

In 1904, the very first graduating class of Crowley High earned their diplomas. The seven students walked the stage at The Crowley Grand Opera House where the ceremony took place.

The student who graduated top the class? Oh, that was Rose Wilder, daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder!

Rose Wilder, an accomplished author in her own right, addressed those in attendance with the famous Edgar Allen Poe poem "The Raven".

However, Rose translated the poem into Latin. She had amazingly mastered Latin in only one year, a skill that took other students four years to complete.

From wikipedia.com -

Rose attended secondary school in Mansfield and Crowley, Louisiana, while living with her aunt Eliza Jane Wilder, graduating in 1904 in a class of seven.^[2] Her intellect and ambition were demonstrated by her ability to compress three years of Latin into one, and by graduating at the top of her high school class in Crowley. Despite her academic success, Rose was unable to attend college as a result of her parents' financial situation.^[3][4]

Rose Wilder went on to have an incredibly successful and respected career as a journalist, travel writer, novelist and political theorist.

Along with Ayn Rand and Isabel Paterson, Rose is noted as one of the founders of the American libertarian movement.

Notable Books By Rose Wilder Lane

1. Let the Hurricane Roar - 1938

2. The Lady and the Tycoon - 1973

3. Charlie Chaplin's Own Story - 2007

4. The Discovery of Freedom - 1943

5. Young Pioneers - 1932

6. Give Me Liberty - 1936