The Oct. 30, 1925 Forest Park Review showcased this photo of what would be Betsy Ross School with the headline, “To Lay Cornerstone.”
“Herewith is a picture of the new schoolhouse which is in process of erection at the corner of Marengo and Thirteenth Street. The school board purchased a long frontage adjoining the proposed schoolhouse and a playground will undoubtedly be put in operation at some point in the future, right next to it.
“Ceremonies attendant to the laying of the cornerstone will be held tomorrow, Oct. 31, at 3 p.m. at which time speeches by prominent citizens will be in order.”
In the cornerstone were placed official documents of the school board, the names of the school board members, the names of the village officials and copies of local and Chicago newspapers.
The school, which cost about $60,000, was to be completed in August of 1926 and rooms would be equipped with panels of cork and blackboards and would serve Forest Parkers from Harvard to 22nd Street.
“The new schoolhouse will be a gem — so far as appearances goes. It will not only be a thing of exterior beauty, but its interior decorations and various conveniences that go into making a schoolhouse of its size reach the limit of usefulness will be installed and made a part of the structure.
“Everything is complete about this building except a name for it.”
After agreeing that students in Forest Park would name the new school, it was a sixth-grader, Marian Taylor of Garfield School, who suggested the name Betsy Ross, and it was selected from all the entries in early 1926.