What is the significance of our high school’s name?
I’m sure many of you have wondered who exactly Robert E. Fitch was. However, there is so much more history to this high school other than who it’s dedicated to.
In order to answer this question we have to search back before there was even a high school in Groton. Before 1929, Groton did not have any high schools. Instead, if students wanted to further their education they would have had to go to another school in New London county. Groton did have some small elementary schools that would teach first grade through eighth. For transportation it was little different than what we are used to today. Instead of buses, students would take ferry’s, trains and for some who could afford it, automobiles. The tuition to attend these schools and the transportation fees were paid for by the town.
Citizens, however, started to talk of establishing a High school for the town, and in February of 1928, they were able to get the money to start this project. How they got the money however is where Fitch comes in.
Charles Pool Fitch was the father of his only child Robert Eldredge Fitch. He was born June 19, 1839 and was married to Harriet M. Packer. His son, Robert E. Fitch was born September 23, 1868. An interesting
fact is that in the Groton Town Halls files, his birth certificate has his first name down as Raferty instead of Robert. Robert E. Fitch graduated from NFA and he became a mechanical dentist. Later on in 1898 he opened the Ferry Meat Market with his father, Charles P. Fitch. Robert lived with his father until he died on February 3rd, 1922. Robert willed everything to his father and the estimated wealth was $53,152, today that would be worth $700,000.
When Charles P. Fitch died May 26, 1926, his estate was worth $100,000, today that would be worth $1.4 Million. The will stated that after everything else was distributed, the net income would be given to his niece Laura Fitch Clark, who had died in 1923, yet the will did not change. It continued to say that after her death, within five years the money would be given to the town to build a high school and the only stipulation was it had to be named after his son, Robert E. Fitch.
Dr. Charles G. Barnum along with Wilson Greer, supervisor of school districts 1 and 8, went over the budget to build a school. They came up with the cost to be $48,446.55. There was a vote and the town accepted Charles’s request of an estimated $62,000 to build the school. The work for the school began on August 7, 1928 and the final cornerstone was laid on October 26, 1928. The ceremony to dedicate the high school to Robert E. Fitch was held on September 5, 1929. The Day Newspaper said “One of the most impressive occasions in the history of the Town of Groton”. Roy S. Haggard, the appointed principal, said “…everything we do here is a precedent or an antecedent for something to follow. Let us, therefore, try to be good ancestors.” On September 10, 1929 Robert E. Fitch High School officially opened.
The first class was approximately 250 students and the school colors were scarlet, black and gray. The high school consisted of freshman, sophomores and juniors. According to James L. Streeter “ The most influential and important identity character to be established was the school newspaper.”. The newspaper’s first issue asked for name ideas and offered a two dollar bill prize to the winner of the contest. The newspaper became the Scarlet Tanager, and that also became the school’s mascot.
However, due to the increasing population that was brought to attention in the 1940’s, they decided to construct a new high school. This became what we know today as our high school, Robert E. Fitch Senior High School. They added in “senior” so as not to be confused with the old school which would be now known as “junior”. The construction for the new high school began on February 4, 1954 and was opened September 7, 1955 with 550 students. Also in 1962, the Fitch mascot became the Falcon.
Fitch High school is also home to other buildings named after people. Our athletic field, Dorr Field, is named after Albert I Dorr who was a band director and history teacher at fitch. On April 29, 1947 when he was on a school band trip in Canada he was struck and killed by an automobile. The dedication ceremony was on October 1, 1960. Johnie L Blount who was in the class of 1963 was the first Fitch student to be killed in Vietnam. He “was an outstanding athlete and a true friend of his classmates.” In 1970, Johnie L. Blount Memorial Field House was dedicated to him.
Work Cited
Streeter, James L. Robert E. Fitch High School: A Historical Overview. Independent Publisher, 2012. Accessed 21 February 2024.
