the almanac J U N E 7, 2026
SOUTH HILLS COMMUNITY NEWS
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CHAOS IN THE RUN-UP TO CIVIL WAR
ELEANOR BAILEY
Kim Clarke Jackson poses for a picture in front of a celebration sign at Memorial Elementary School in Bethel Park. It is one of five elementary schools in the municipality that will close for good as a new education center is set to open for the 2026-27 school year. Each of the elementary schools recently held open houses.
Final bell tolls for Bethel Park elementary schools
By Eleanor Bailey ebailey@thealmanac.net
School’s out for summer in the South Hills, but it’s out forever for Bethel Park’s five elementary institutions. Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, William Penn, George Washington and Memorial rang their final bells last week before they closed for good as the Bethel Park School District will open its new elementary center for the fall term. The $133 million building, located at 5655 Kings School Road in the municipality, will consolidate all elementary students starting in the 2026-27 school year. “It’s sad,” said Kim Clarke Jackson. “I liked the neighborhood schools.” Jackson attended Memorial Elementary School and returned on May 30 for a final walk through the halls of the facility, which opened in 1949 on South Park Road. Each of the other elementary centers held similar open houses throughout the week to celebrate that part of the community’s history and to welcome back alumni for a final chance to share memories with family and friends. During her trip down memory lane, Jackson reminisced about being 5 and starting kindergarten in 1968 at Memorial; being part of the first class at Independence Middle School and attending the campus-styled high school as well as meeting her future husband. Kim and Mark Jackson have been married for 42 years. They built a house in Bethel Park, off of Kings School Road, near the new elementary center, but needed more space as their family grew, so they constructed a bigger home and moved to Peters Township. The Jacksons had four children and now enjoy 10 grandchildren. “A lot of good memories, and it all started here,” Clarke said as she entered Memorial Elementary for a final visit “As I’m reminiscing, I can remember all my teachers’ names. They were such very, very good teachers.” Karen Bianco, Nancy Leh-
man and Bill Kennedy were members of that educational staff during Memorial Elementary School’s 77-year history. Bianco was a paraprofessional for 33 years before retiring last year while Lehman and Kennedy served as teachers while Fred Bowman was the principal. They all loved their time as educators but are apprehensive about the conversion from neighborhood schools to one consolidated educational center. “I think it’s a stupid idea,” Lehman said. “Financially it all makes sense,” Kennedy injected. “Everything changes and it’s cheaper. “It’ll be interesting,” added Bianco. “Right now you have that closeness. We were like a family,” continued Bianco, whose three children, Joey, Stephanie and Maggie, attended Memorial Elementary. “It’s very sad the schools are closing. There were so many wonderful teachers and great times here.” Lehman agreed. “We had a remarkable staff and remarkable leadership,” she said. “We were a family that cared for each other. For a period of time, it was like no other place. No other workplace I could ever imagine.” For the past 21 years, Eric Chalus has made Memorial Elementary School a place like home. He has served as the principal but after the school ceases existence he will become the principal at Independence Middle School in the fall. Chalus said the elementary schools were not great just because of the teacher and the staff. “It was because of everyone,” he stressed. “They really treated the children like they were supposed to be treated. They got a great education and we all worked hard. That’s the way it was in all of the elementary schools.” Chalus believes it will continue to be that way once the elementary center opens in the fall. He toured the new facility and deemed it “state of the art” and added that he’s sorry that he won’t be there to enjoy it. “It’s absolutely huge SEE FINAL PAGE A2
LOCATION Safety a priority on Montour Trail PAGE A6 What’s happening, B4
AP FILE PHOTO
This undated illustration depicts President Abraham Lincoln making his Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery on the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pa., Nov. 19, 1863. The cemetery commemorates soldiers who died in the American Civil War Battle of Gettysburg.
Editor’s note: Information on the Civil War is wellknown, but what about some of the factors that led to its start? This week, we examine some of those issues and how, after years of growing tensions, the nation went to war with itself.
By Ross Gallabrese The Herald Star
ELEANOR BAILEY
Abraham Lincoln rolled out the blue carpet to welcome alumni and friends during a final bell call before the permanent closing of all the elementary schools in Bethel Park.
ELEANOR BAILEY
Lexi Stevenson, pictured with her mother, Jeannine, finds her class picture among the photographs hung on bulletin boards during the Memorial Elementary School open house. Stevenson attended the school from 2002-07.
ELEANOR BAILEY
Brooke Kessler signs a poster during a final bell call at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School.
SPORTS South Fayette season ends with back-toback losses PAGE B1 Classifieds, B5
The seeds of the Antebellum period in the United States were planted many years before the Civil War would tear the country apart. “For the newly independent United States, the first order of business was to establish a national government,” explained Roger Micker, president of the Wheeling, W.Va.-based Ohio Valley Civil War Roundtable. “From 1781 to 1789, the Articles of Confederation demonstrated a weakness that would not be able to sustain a united country on the world’s stage. On March 4, 1789, the Constitution went into effect replacing the Articles. “Political, economic and cultural differences generated deep political divisions among the newly created United States, evidenced by four of the states not supporting ratification. In time, several crucial compromises, including the Three-Fifths Compromise, were agreed upon to secure its passage.” Micker, who is a member of the Friends of Gettysburg, added that the greatest cause of the Civil War could be attributed to sectional issues of the consequences and morals of a northern economy based on a concept of free labor, and a southern economy based on slavery and a strong claim for states’ rights. A slavery by birth law guaranteed that the institution would perpetuate from one generation to the next, though, occasionally, a slave might receive manumission based on decision from a planters’ committee. The Atlantic Triangular slave trade, he added, would legally exist until 1808. “Under abysmal conditions, an estimated 13 million people were taken as captives from the west coast of Africa and forced onto slave ships bound for North and South
America — 2 million slaves would die at sea,” added Micker, who also serves on the Governor of Ohio Civil War Committee. “An estimated 650,000 slaves would be delivered to the coastlines of the 13 colonies and forced into a harsh life of human bondage.” As the 19th century began, the profits of industries in the north were being impacted by modernizing textile mills and other manufacturing plants and mining, he added. And, in the agricultural south, the market value of cotton was approximately $5.5 million. Cotton production reached 2 billion pounds a year by 1860, and Virginia, and North Carolina, the chief tobacco-producing states, grew 155 million pounds of tobacco a year. “The southern planters became the target of high tariffs, which were supported by a Congress dominated by northern senators and representatives, and 70% of the nation’s treasury could be traced to the taxation of southern wealth,” added Micker, a retired history teacher. “That led to debates in Congress over heavy government spending for northern urban improvements and transportation systems while the economic stress of inflated costs of southern imports were ignored.” Those debates, he explained, led to physical attacks. “One representative said that ‘If a member wasn’t carrying a single gun, he was probably carrying two,’” Micker said. “Following his Crime Against Kansas Speech in the Senate, Charles Sumner was severely beaten with a cane by Rep. Preston Brooks.” In the south, the tariffs were labeled as an abomination, and anger spread SEE CHAOS PAGE A3
SIGHTS & SOUNDS Pitt signature festival returns to a new home PAGE B4 Real estate transactions, A2
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