Christmas Windows at McKinley Junior High School

For many in Muncie, a wonderful tradition was viewing the Christmas windows at McKinley Junior High School. The school, located next to the Muncie Fieldhouse on North Walnut Street, was built in the late 1930s. It had a large arched window in the façade that faced North Walnut. Starting in 1939, that window was decorated by the students each Christmas.

The students often used stories from the Bible. They also used paintings and other artwork for inspiration. For example, in 1947, under the direction of art teacher Bertha Connelley, students pictured the Madonna and Christ child in the upper window. Mrs. Connelley noted that “The lower scene was inspired by a painting by Havman and featured a shepherd boy with Bethlehem in the background. The border, consisting of oblong panels, was patterned after the Greek Palmette ornamentations.”

1947 window

Beulah Book took over as faculty advisor in 1951. In 1958, her students designed a window with a theme taken from Matthew – “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem….”

1958 window

Work on the windows began in February. The winning design was chosen by the students who worked on the previous year’s window, and then designs had to be completed by the end of the school year in May. Work would then begin again in September with a deadline of Thanksgiving.

Art students would ink and paint 81 border pieces which framed the design. Pieces were transferred to tracing paper from the master designs and traced on both sides, then painted to give the effect of stained glass. The window was always completed before the annual Christmas Sing, and was lit each night through New Year’s Eve.

The students who designed the 1958 window.

Stanley Bobbitt, former MCS administrator, and Beulah Book, longtime art teacher, donated photographs of the windows and the students who made them to the Minnetrista Heritage Collection.