A New York native born in 1858, the daughter of Irish immigrants, Mary Lyon began teaching in rural Genesee schools in the mid-1870s. About 1895 she moved to the southern Genesee County area and taught at the one-room Atlas Village School south the intersection of Perry and Gale roads.
Lyon’s contribution to the education of turn-of-the-century Atlas youth was revived recently by village resident Harold Anderson, who recovered a bronze plaque dedicated to the longtime teacher about 50 years ago. The plaque, now displayed in the Veteran’s Memorial in Atlas among the historic buildings on the banks of the Atlas Mill Pond, reflects the culmination of nearly a half century of Anderson’s diligence.
‘I was in grade school at the time, at Atlas School, when the school board, sometime in the early 1950s had the plaque made,? said Anderson. ‘For a few years the plaque was on a rock, until vandals removed it. In 1964 I tried to find the plaque, but could not’my father said he took it to Perry’s Grocery Store next to the park and gave it to Grace Perry, who along with Hank owned the gas station and store.?
Several years had passed and Anderson was talking with area resident Bud Roberts, brother-in-law to Edna Roberts an Atlas school board member in the 1950s who spearheaded the efforts to establish the plaque.
‘In the mid-1970s Bud told me he had the plaque’however I never went over to his house and picked it up. Then a few years ago, Al Woods the man handling the estate of Bud and Mable Roberts who had since passed walked up and handed me the plaque. A few years went by after that, and on June 30 Bill Hill and myself recovered the stone which had been shoved out of the way’resetting the plaque.?
Lyon’s legacy and teaching style were remembered by a past school official.
John Riegle, a former area district superintendent recalls Lyon in his autobiography and history of Michigan Schools. When he became county school commissioner in the 1920s, Lyon was teaching in Atlas. She had been teaching in Atlas Village School for about 21 years.
Mary Lyon was a ‘no nonsense? teacher, reported Riegle. Her pupils usually passed the eighth grade examinations with good marks. She taught on a second grade certificate. Before 1915 she often attended the summer session at Ypsilanti Normal (now Eastern Michigan University) for a week to ‘observe,? to get new teaching ideas. After 1915, she began attending summer school to get credit toward a life certificate.
Michael Madden, a Flint Public Library public schools research librarian, said information regarding early school teachers is often sketchy since they lived with area residents at the time.
‘After leaving the Atlas School in 1921, she continued teaching at Herick School, in Davison Township until 1930’during this time she resided with area farmer Charles Warner and his family,? said Madden. ‘She never married, but the rest of the information regarding Mary Lyon is uncertain’we do know she taught for about 60 years of her life.?