The mystery of the Oaklawn School for Girls

The Cranston Herald ·

Before there was Brayton Park and the Hope Alzheimer’s center, there was the Oaklawn School for Girls. Built in 1880, it was the sister school to Sockanosset Boys School. The building has since been demolished, but the land holds a secret that Oaklawn lifelong resident Andy Hall is desperate to unveil.

According to Hall, there are seven girls who were residents of the school buried on the property.

Since March 2015, Hall has made it his mission to find these girls.

“It is hard to determine the amount of time I have spent on this so far. When I research the school there are always several other paths not specific to the school that the research takes me down. But I would give a very conservative estimate of three to four hundred hours of research, and a hundred hours of physical search,” he said. 

“I originally saw the cemetery mentioned on the R.I. Historical Cemetery Commissions' (RIHCC) database, which gives some information as to the girls’ whereabouts,” said Hall.

The map shows 20 graves in five rows of four. Seven of the graves have names in them. We do not know where this cemetery was located but it may have been in a corner of one of the institution cemeteries. “I started researching the school, and eventually ran across this article in a book titled Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the January Session 1887: The article states the cemetery was built on the grounds of the school, not in one of the institution cemeteries as believed by the RIHCC. Proving that the girls are somewhere on the now Brayton complex,” he said.

Hall met with Ken Carlson, Reference Archivist at the RI State Archives, who could find no records of the girls ever being moved from the grounds, nor do their names show in any other cemetery listings, which they would be had they been moved.

“I began searching by eliminating areas where I knew the cemetery was not located. I studied aerial photos of the school grounds on the ArcGIS (cloud mapping platform) website taken in 1939, and topographic maps showing the water table at the school. I eliminated areas based on the presence of groundwater, as they would not bury them there. They also would not bury them close to large trees. So if I knew a tree was there in 1900, I could eliminate that area. The problem I had was not knowing how tall or how old the trees in the 1939 photos were, as aerial photos do not show the height. 

“By comparing the shadows cast from the trees to that of the shadow cast from the known 40-foot height of the school, I was able to approximate the height of the trees,” he said.

“Using the aerial photos, I compared the shadow cast by the known 40-foot height of the building to the shadows cast by trees, and was able to approximate the tree's heights. I studied the growth rates of the various trees that most likely were growing there over the decades and by knowing a trees height I could approximate its age. I also measured the diameters of trees growing there now, and could approximate their ages. I was able to eliminate many more areas based upon the knowledge that a tree was most likely there in 1900,” he said.

Hall eliminated other areas after finding evidence of the fencing installed in 1920, maps showing the septage field, water mains, and locations of various smaller buildings, including the windmill that once provided water to the school.

“I eventually eliminated about 25 acres of the 27-acre grounds. That leaves the area of the grounds and parking lot of the Hope Alzheimer's Center, and a wooded area across from it, where I believe it is,” he said.

In November of 2016, Hall brought in RI Canine Search and Rescue (RICSAR) to assist with the project.

“That is also the area that the dogs paid attention to, what their handlers called "an area of interest.” I began coming across old maps, and by overlaying them with modern aerial photos, I determined the cemetery could be in either area,” he said.

Using pictures of the construction of the Hope Alzheimer's Center and grounds, and the work done there would not have been deep enough to unearth the graves. But it is possible that the graves are located under the road winding through there. Several feet of compacted gravel and the layer of asphalt will greatly diminish the chance of the dogs finding the girls if they are in fact lying under the road. 

On Saturday, April 29, Hall and the RICSAR dogs spent several hours looking in the wooded area across from the Alzheimer’s center.

Hall is grateful to Patrick Fitzgerald at RICSAR and his fellow officers for their assistance.

“I have not spent much money on the search at all. RICSAR does not charge. They conducted the search as part of their weekly training, and have taken a great interest in helping to find the girls,” he said.

RICSAR has 22 dogs in the programs all trained in various areas including; tracking, trailing, wilderness, forensics and human remains detection.

The dogs who participated in the search were Foxy, a four-year old female Belgian Malinois and her handler Fitzgerald. Working with Foxy was Major a seven-year-old Chocolate Labrador male who works with James Rawley. Jennifer Anderson handles Ryder, a five-year-old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and lastly Icelandic Sheepdog Noora; a five-year-old female handled by Michael Koster.

Each dog searched for about an hour, making for a very thorough and long day.

“It went well, although nothing definitive was found. The dogs all responded to one specific area, so I will do some further investigating of that spot and the immediate surroundings. Areas they did not respond to are just as helpful, as those can be eliminated,” Hall said.

The land itself is owned by the City of Cranston, and Hall had to receive special permission to do the project.

If you have any information on the Oaklawn School for Girls, please contact Andy Hall at ajhall62@gmail.com.