Fanny Finch Elementary School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say, and this one's about a woman worth knowing. Now, every now and then a story comes along that makes you wonder why it took so long to tell. Laura Frances Shipe was born in Woodstock, Virginia, in 1866.

She went by Fanny. And somewhere along the way, Texas got ahold of her because she was educated here, and Texas has a way of keeping the ones it wants. She started her career teaching at McKinney's Collegiate Institute.

And in 1890, she married a man named Henry A. Finch, who would go on to become a Texas legislator and mayor of the city. Together they raised seven children.

Seven. Which, by itself, is a full-time occupation. But Fanny Finch was not the kind of woman who stopped at one thing.

In 1917, she became one of the first women in the entire state of Texas to serve on a school board. Let that settle for a second. One of the first.

In the whole state. And if you think that was her big moment and she coasted after that, well, you haven't been payin' attention. She helped found the Owl Literary Club.

She helped establish the city's first Garden Club. She and Henry gave sites for a park and a college. Between the two of them, they were practically building McKinney brick by brick.

And in 1924, this school was named in her honor. Fanny Finch Elementary School, carrying the name of a woman born in Virginia who came to Texas, taught its children, shaped its institutions, and left the place considerably better than she found it. She passed in 1942.

Henry had gone before her, in 1934. But that school? That school was still standing, still carrying her name, when this marker went up in 1978.

Some legacies are carved in stone. Fanny Finch's was built into the walls where children learn to read.

What the marker says

Laura Frances (Fanny) Shipe (1866-1942) was born in Woodstock, Va., and educated in Texas. In 1890, after teaching at McKinney's Collegiate Institute, she married Henry A. Finch (d. 1934), later a Texas legislator and mayor of the city. The couple had 7 children. In 1917 Mrs. Finch became one of the state's first women to serve on a school board. A born leader, she helped found such enterprises as the Owl Literary Club and the city's first Garden Club. She and her husband gave sites for a park and a college. This school was named in her honor in 1924.** (1978)***