Harmony School, Oklahoma City Oklahoma

Harmony School, located at 1537 Northeast 24^th Street, in Oklahoma City, was built in three phases; it was first placed in service in 1928, and it reached its current form ca. 1949. Harmony Elementary School originally served white students only. Located in a transitional neighborhood, it was one of the first elementary schools in Oklahoma City to be the subject of a challenge to the Oklahoma City Board of Education's discriminatory transfer policies. The transfer policy benefited white students by allowing them to transfer to a predominantly white school outside of their district, but denied African American students the same transfer options. Although that initial challenge proved to be unsuccessful, it helped set the stage for future legal actions, which led to the desegregation of the entire public school system in Oklahoma City. As integration of the school system progressed and neighborhood demographics changed, the enrollment of Harmony School transitioned from all-white to almost exclusively African American. The school was renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in 1974, and continued to serve as a public school until around 2002. At the time of its closing, nearly all of the students there were African American. The first two sections of the school were designed by Layton, Hicks and Forsyth, a prominent local architectural firm. Solomon Layton, one of the firm's partners, is credited with designing several important buildings in Oklahoma City including the Oklahoma State Capitol, as well as scores of school buildings. The auditorium wing of the school, which was added ca. 1949, was designed by Bailey and Bozalis.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Oklahoma City, the state capitol of Oklahoma, and the county seat of Oklahoma County, was settled on April 22^nd, 1889, as part of the land run of 1889. It was formally incorporated on July 15^th, 1890. The city is located roughly in the center of the state, and is a major hub for several interstates, as well as rail traffic. The city's early economy revolved around agriculture and transportation. A number of railroads constructed lines through Oklahoma City, including the Southern Kansas Railway; the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad; and the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad. Oklahoma City was also home to numerous manufacturing operations, mills, cotton gins, and the Oklahoma National Stockyards. Most of Oklahoma City's industrial activity and rail traffic was located along the Oklahoma River, south of Second Street. The area south of Second Street, near the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad tracks was also home to a large concentration of the city's African American population. On June 11^th, 1910, Oklahoma City received a significant economic boost when it was chosen to replace Guthrie as the capitol of Oklahoma. Two landowners, W.F. Harn and J.J. Culbertson offered a 10-acre parcel located three miles north of downtown Oklahoma City as the site of the new capitol building. The land surrounding the capitol quickly developed into several wealthy neighborhoods with large houses and streetcar lines.

Educational opportunities in Oklahoma City before statehood were limited. Some of the first classes to be held in the community took place outside, or in tents. The first four schools in the city were built in 1894 and 1903, and are no longer extant. By statehood, about 4,000 students were attending classes in 23 schools throughout Oklahoma City. By the mid-1920s, the city's school enrollment had ballooned to 20,380, a 400% jump over a single decade. That increase placed considerable strain on the school district's buildings, and necessitated a dramatic increase in the construction of new school buildings in the 1920s. Between 1919 and 1931, the city constructed around 23 new school buildings, including the Harmony School on Northeast 24^th Street.

Harmony School

The present Harmony School building is the second Oklahoma City public school to go by that name. The original Harmony School was located a few blocks southeast, at 1933 East 23^rd Street near the present-day corner of 23^rd Street and North Martin Luther King Avenue.

In April 1927, the Oklahoma City Board of Education announced plans to construct a new Harmony School building on a new site. The decision to change sites reflected the school district's desire to achieve an even distribution of elementary schools as part of the building campaign of the 1920s. As one article about the building program noted, "School officials hope eventually to have city grade schools at points a mile apart. This would eliminate long walks and schools would not be too close together, as some of them near the city center now are."

In May, the Special Committee on Needs for New Buildings and Additions recommended that the district construct "the first unit of a building in the Harmony school district." Following the recommendation of the committee, the board of education instructed the architectural firm of Layton, Hicks and Forsyth to prepare plans for the new Harmony building. Architectural work was largely completed by July 1927, when the board awarded the general construction contract to S.P. Hughes.

Like many elementary schools that were built in Oklahoma City during the 1920s, Harmony School was designed so that it could easily be expanded in the future. That was common practice; one survey of school buildings in Oklahoma City found that many of the city's early elementary schools were expanded to two or three times their original size over the years. The expansions include the addition of classrooms and support spaces such as auditoriums, gymnasiums, and cafeterias. The district used a modular approach to school design, which they referred to as the "Unit Plan." Under the plan, most elementary schools were constructed with eight original rooms, with floor plans that allowed four- or six-room additions to be easily added later.

The first section of Harmony School was completed sometime in late 1927 or 1928, and was placed in service for the 1928 school year. The first floor included support spaces and bathrooms on the western half, and two large classrooms on the eastern half. The second floor included one bathroom, an office, and several additional classrooms. The first unit did not include a cafeteria; school board records show that residents in the Harmony school district had asked the board in 1927 to address that lack by setting up a temporary building on the site of the new school for use as a cafeteria.

Enrollment exceeded capacity of the new school within a year. In 1929, the Oklahoma City Board of Education announced a new construction program, aimed at easing a district-wide overcrowding issue caused by rapid population growth in the city. The district's plan included the construction of four new school buildings, plus the expansion of seven others, including Harmony. The district stated that "additions would give needed room at Bath and Harmony schools to take care of expansion of the city to the northeast … "

The second section of Harmony school was designed by the same architectural firm as the original section. In March 1930, Layton, Hicks and Forsyth reported to the school board that they had completed drawings for the additions to ten school buildings, including Harmony School.

On May 19^th, 1930, the Committee on Bids and New Additions awarded three separate contracts totaling $41,647.50 for plaster ceilings, heating, plumbing, and electrical work at Harmony School. Construction on the second section of Harmony School proceeded quickly and was completed around 1930. The school's second included six classrooms and a cafeteria. Once Unit 2 was placed in service, the temporary cafeteria building was removed from the school grounds for use at another school.

The school served the needs of the district into the late 1940s, when the district engaged the local architectural firm of Bailey & Bozalis to design a large new auditorium for the school. Design work was completed by September 1948, when the board of education solicited bids for "constructing a new auditorium and remodeling the existing building known as Harmony School." Construction of the auditorium addition was the last significant addition made to Harmony School.

African American Communities in Oklahoma City

While Harmony School was located in a predominantly white neighborhood in the 1930s, the demographics of the neighborhood had changed by the 1960s. Settlement patterns in Oklahoma City were shaped by city ordinances that restricted people of color to specific neighborhoods. In 1916, the city passed the first of many racial housing ordinances. Under that ordinance, it was illegal for a person to move to a block where 75% or more residents were of another race. That ordinance was declared unconstitutional one year later, but was followed by similar legislation in 1918. The new ordinance established Northeast Fourth Street as the boundary between white and black neighborhoods. The second ordinance held until 1919, when it was declared unconstitutional in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Although both of these early ordinances were quickly declared unconstitutional, Northeast Fourth Street stood as the dividing line between white and black neighborhoods until the 1930s. In 1933, the Oklahoma City Planning Commission recommended new boundaries to separate white and black neighborhoods. Under the commission's recommendations, the northern limit of exclusively black development was to be Northeast Eighth Street, while the southern limit of exclusively white development was Northeast 10^th Street. In the area between the two streets, no one was allowed to move to a block that was occupied by 51% or more members of another race. Although that ordinance was also declared unconstitutional, Northeast Eighth Street continued to be the unofficial northern boundary of African American communities in Oklahoma City through the 1950s. As the black population in Oklahoma City increased, that boundary moved north, and by 1960, it had reached Northeast 23^rd Street.

Restrictive housing ordinances in Oklahoma City neighborhoods established clearly defined racial segregation that had long-lasting impacts. Boundaries between white and black neighborhoods were unofficially maintained for decades, and they impacted countless activities within the city, especially when it came to the education system.

Public Education Before 1954

Oklahoma's founding constitution laid the groundwork for a system of segregated educational facilities that would last well into the 1970s. The Oklahoma Organic Act established a territorial government for the Oklahoma Territory on May 2^nd, 1890. Less than two weeks later, on May 14^th, 1890, an addition to the act provided funds to establish segregated schools in the Oklahoma Territory. According to one study, the public school system in Oklahoma City was "the first institution [in the state] to be officially segregated … " Originally, the Organic Act allowed counties to choose whether their schools would be separate or combined. That practice changed in 1897, when a law mandating separate schools was passed.

Oklahoma entered the Union on November 16^th, 1907, with a constitution that included a long section about education. In keeping with many of the state's territorial laws, the new constitution stipulated that schools were to be completely segregated, and made it illegal for any teacher to teach in a school where both black and white children were enrolled. Doing so was considered a misdemeanor, and was punishable with fines up to $500 per day.

Statistics show a clear disparity between black and white schools during Oklahoma's first decades of statehood. In the 1920s, the average teacher in a black school was responsible for seven more students than the average teacher in a white school, and earned around $600-$1,000 less than white teachers at the same grade level. In Oklahoma City, the board of education paid teachers in the white-only schools approximately $5.77 per child taught in 1928. Teachers in "separate schools" were paid $4.14 for each child. The difference in pay between teachers was not equalized until 1948.

Equal educational opportunities for black students first came at the higher education level. In 1946, an African American woman named Ada Lois Sipuel was denied admission to the School of Law at the University of Oklahoma, the only law school in the state. After the United States Supreme Court ruled that Sipuel was entitled to a "separate but equal" education, the state of Oklahoma created the Langston University School of Law, a separate law school for African American Students. Sipuel, along with many prominent legal and educational professionals, pushed back at that decision. They argued that Langston University School of Law, which was nicknamed the "one-man law school," was not equal to the law school at the University of Oklahoma. In 1949, after a lengthy legal challenge, the state of Oklahoma closed the school and admitted Sipuel into the University of Oklahoma.

In the 1950s, spurred on by the success of cases like the one involving Sipuel, community activists began planning legal challenges to Oklahoma City's segregated public school system. Many believed that defeating the city's segregation policies in court would lead to a larger, statewide repeal of segregation laws. Their efforts received a major boost on May 17^th, 1954, when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that the practice of "separate but equal" for schools and other services was unconstitutional. Following the Brown decision, civil rights advocates throughout Oklahoma called for a swift end to legal segregation. Johnston Murray, the Governor of Oklahoma, announced that the state would uphold the Supreme Court's decision without conflict.

Public Education After 1954

Local advocates redoubled calls for the integration of the city school system following the Brown v Board decision. In October 1954, the Oklahoma City chapter of the NAACP filed a petition, asking the Oklahoma City Board of Education to speed up the process of integrating the city's public schools. In July 1955, Jimmy Stewart, president of the Oklahoma City chapter of the NAACP, presented a petition to the school board on behalf of several African American families who requested that their children be permitted to attend white schools immediately. School board minutes note only that the petition was presented; no information was found to indicate that the board later took any action on that particular petition.

The board of education did respond to calls for school integration, however. On June 2^nd, 1955, they took a major step in the integration process by asking the Superintendent's Office to prepare a study of school boundaries, and school building capacities, to provide data that could be used for future efforts. In August 1955, the board announced a plan for revised school enrollment areas in a part of the city that was described as "racially mixed." The area being targeted was just south of the Harmony School attendance area, between Northeast 23^rd Street and Northeast 15^th Street. It contained approximately 18 of the city's 77 elementary schools at the time. The new plan was described as being geographically based. According to the plan, schools would be open for all students living within that school's geographic area. An article about the project also noted that some attendance boundaries remained the same, but "doors of the previously all-white schools are simply thrown open to Negro pupils presently living in the district."

The plan allowed students living within those boundaries to either continue attending their previous school for one year, or enroll at the school within their new district's enrollment areas, regardless of their race. The first five schools to be desegregated began enrolling students of both races just a few weeks after the plan was announced. At the beginning of the 1955 school year, just under 200 black students were enrolled in elementary schools that had previously been available to white students only. Of those five newly integrated schools, only one enrolled more black children than white children the year the change was made.

The new integration program was of limited scope, however, and was further hampered by a restrictive transfer policy, which did not take geographic boundaries into consideration. Instead, the school board allowed students to transfer to a school outside of their assigned attendance area only in cases where they would be in the majority race of the new school. The transfer policy was seen by the local NAACP and other civil rights activists as counter to the goals of a fully integrated school system, and in 1957, it became the target of a legal challenge by the Oklahoma City NAACP.

Harmony School Transfer Challenge

In late 1957, the Oklahoma City chapter of the NAACP announced their plans to file a suit in federal court challenging the school district's transfer policy, "which we believe to be discriminatory." That action had been precipitated by a request for a transfers to the Harmony School. Earlier that fall, seven African American students requested a transfer from Culbertson Elementary, the integrated school they had been enrolled in, to Harmony Elementary, which was an all-white school at the time. The Oklahoma City Board of Education denied the student's request. That prompted John Green, an attorney for the Oklahoma City chapter of the NAACP, to challenge the board's decision in the October 1957 board of education meeting. Green was well-qualified to handle that challenge. The second black student to graduate from the University of Oklahoma's law program, he spent a large part of his career fighting segregation issues, and he became a prominent figure in the national and statewide civil rights movements.

At the October 1957 meeting of the school board, Green questioned the Oklahoma City Board of Education's reasoning in denying transfers to the black students who wished to attend to Harmony School. He pointed out that one of the students lived about 2 blocks from Harmony, but 16 blocks from Culbertson Elementary, and noted that forty white students had been granted the same transfer from Culbertson to Harmony. The board insisted that their decision in denying the request was legal under the Supreme Court's Brown decision, and that African American students in the Culbertson Elementary enrollment area were given the option of attending either Culbertson Elementary, which was integrated, or Edwards Elementary, which was not. In one newspaper article, the transfer policy was described as an "escape valve for those who cannot take integration" and that the policy "has helped integration proceed smoothly here" by reducing conflicts.

Shortly after that meeting, the national NAACP Executive Committee announced that they would allow the Oklahoma City branch of the NAACP to seek legal action in the Harmony School transfer case. Dr. Melvin Barnes, the superintendent of the Oklahoma City public school system, defended the district's transfer policy, pointing out that there were around 3,000 students in the system who were attending a school outside of their district. Dr. Barnes further stated that the largest obstacle towards full integration in Oklahoma City was racism among some adults, noting that "I have not found any expressions of prejudice on the part of the children."

Although it does not appear that the Harmony School transfer issue was ever brought to federal court, it did lay the groundwork for future actions. In 1963, John Green and the local NAACP chapter were able to initiate legal action, with the lawsuit of Dowell v. School Board of Oklahoma City Public Schools in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. According to the American Bar Foundation, the Dowell suit "forced the Oklahoma City school system to integrate all public schools and make education in Oklahoma equal for all races."

The suit began when Robert Dowell, then a student at Douglass High School, was denied a transfer from Douglass to Northeast High School, an all-white high school. According to the suit, African American students in the school district who sought transfers faced "conditions and limitations that are not met and faced by white pupils within the school district who seek transfers to the same school or schools from the attendance area in which they live."

In order to establish a history of racial discrimination within the district, Green highlighted the board's uneven enforcement of the "minority to majority" transfer policy. One of the examples that was presented involved the case of Edwina Hilton. Hilton was one of the students who had sought a transfer from Culbertson Elementary School to Harmony Elementary School in 1957. Her mother had said that Edwina had asthma, and lived less than a half-mile from Harmony, comparted to one mile from Culbertson. In the process of questioning the board's decision of denying Edwina admission to Harmony, the prosecution presented evidence that showed that Harmony's population at the time of the Dowell case included 139 African American students, and 179 white students. That ratio was far closer than many of the other integrated schools in the district at that time. The prosecution also stated that two of Edwina's close neighbors received transfers to Harmony "without trouble or difficulty on the basis that they were transferring out of a predominantly Negro school to a predominantly white school."

District Court Judge Luther L. Bohanon found that "the Oklahoma City School District was operating a dual school system in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U. S. Constitution," adding that the board "followed a course of integration as slowly as possible." As a result, Judge Bohanon ordered the district to take steps to fully desegregate by the end of 1963. In 1965, Judge Bohanon appointed a commission to study the actions of the Oklahoma City school district, to see if it had complied with integration as established by the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education. After the commission found that the district had not fully complied, Judge Bohanon ordered the full desegregation of Oklahoma City schools by 1966.

After a series of subsequent appeals by the Oklahoma City Board of Education, the court ordered the school district to adopt the "Finger Plan" in 1972. The plan, developed by Dr. John A. Finger, had been implemented in several other school districts across the country, and was designed to use mandatory bussing of students as a way to effectively integrate Oklahoma City schools. In 1985, the Oklahoma City Board of Education voted to end the practice of mandatory bussing, and established voluntary bussing policies.

The fight over desegregation in Oklahoma City's public school system continued until 1990, when the Supreme Court agreed with the decision of the District Court to dissolve the 1963 federal desegregation ruling, on the grounds that the board had acted in good faith in implementing desegregation policies, and had achieved "unitary status." According to one article written about the case, the term "unitary status" generally describes "a dual school system that has been brought into compliance with the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution." Because the Oklahoma City public school district was found to have achieved "unitary status," the court ruled that federally imposed desegregation policies were no longer applicable to the district.

Harmony School remained in use as a public elementary school throughout that process. Around 1974, Harmony School was renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, and the building continued to serve as a public school until it was decommissioned, around 2003. Soon after it was closed, the board of education leased the building to the Marcus Garvey Leadership Charter School, which served students in kindergarten through 6^th grade. Marcus Garvey Leadership Charter School held classes in the building until 2013, when the Oklahoma City Board of Education pulled the school's charter due to financial concerns and poor academic performance. By the time the Marcus Garvey Leadership Charter School closed in 2013, about 95% of the school's 180 students were black. The building has been vacant since the Marcus Garvey Leadership Charter School closed.

Architects

The first two sections of the school were designed by the architectural firm of Layton, Hicks and Forsyth. Solomon Layton, the firm's founder, was born in 1864. Layton began his career in Denver, and moved to El Reno, Oklahoma in 1902. He established several architectural firms over the course of his career, and he is credited with the design of over 100 buildings across the state. Those projects include some of Oklahoma's most important buildings, such as the Oklahoma State Capitol, the Governor's Mansion, the Oklahoma County Courthouse, the Skirvin Hotel, and several buildings on the campus of the University of Oklahoma.

Solomon Layton is also widely recognized as a leading designer of public schools in the state. He designed at least 46 school buildings in Oklahoma City alone. They include Central High School, Old Douglass High School, Harding Junior High School, Taft Junior High School, and Dunbar Elementary School.

The ca. 1949 auditorium addition to Harmony School is also the work of one of the state's more notable architectural firms. The plans for the auditorium represents an early commission for the architectural firm of Bailey & Bozalis, which was formed in 1946 by Leonard Bailey and John Bozalis. The partners went on to design several Naval Reserve Training Centers in Oklahoma, as well as the Petroleum Engineering Building at the University of Oklahoma. Although Leonard Bailey retired in the mid-1950s, the firm remained active into the late twentieth century, and they have been credited with the design of some of the most iconic Modernist buildings in Oklahoma City, such as the Citizens State Bank, the Citizens Bank Tower, and the BancFirst Tower (Chase Tower), at 100 North Broadway.

Property Description

Harmony School is a two-story brick building located at 1537 Northeast 24^th Street, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It occupies a very large lot in a modest residential neighborhood approximately two miles east of the Oklahoma State Capitol. The building sits near the south end of its large lot, facing south to Northeast 24^th Street. The open north part of the lot contains a small playground that was installed ca. 2001, and three small one-story outbuildings that are all just a few decades old. The school building has a flat roof, a concrete foundation and red brick walls. It was built in three phases. The original school is now the east end of the building. It was completed in 1928, with six classrooms, restrooms and offices. The second section, which was added in 1930, includes six classrooms and a cafeteria. The third section, which contains a large auditorium to the west, was built ca. 1949. (All three sections have very similar restrained Classical Revival styling which includes simple massing and flat brick walls ornamented with patterned brickwork and cast stone accents. The wide facade is lined with large banks of windows. The large banks of windows used throughout are associated with classrooms. The window openings are all original; the window sashes and frames are a few decades old. The formal front entrance, which is centered in the oldest section of the building, opens to a wide stair hall that runs north-south. A longer east-west hallway located at the center of the building is lined with classrooms and support spaces. The second floor has a nearly identical floor plan. There have been very few changes to the overall form or finishes, and the school is notably intact, inside and out. It has been vacant for several years and has suffered from vandalism, and is in fair condition.

Detailed Description

Harmony School occupies the northwest corner of the intersection of Northeast 24^th Street and North Jordan Avenue. The property occupies the entire eastern half of an oversized city block. It is located in a residential area; most surrounding homes are one to two stories tall, with limited levels of architectural detailing. The majority of the houses in the neighborhood were constructed in the early to mid-twentieth century. A one-story brick church building located just across North Jordan Avenue to the east was built in the mid to late twentieth century, and enlarged in the 1990s. Harmony School is by far the largest and most highly styled building in the surrounding twelve to twenty blocks.

The school building sits at the southern edge of its large level lot. There is a modest tree-filled The lawn in front of the school, as well as a concrete sidewalk that runs along Northeast 24^th Street. A row of trees runs between the west wall of the school and a neighboring house. A paved parking lot stretches from the east wall of the school to the east property line adjacent to North Jordan Avenue, and a smaller parking area is located south of the auditorium addition. The north part of the lot contains a mix of open space and small support buildings. The very north end of the property has grass sports fields, and much of the center section has asphalt paving; the paving is in poor condition. Chain link fencing surrounds everything except the school building and the east parking lot.

The school building is the largest building on the property. There are also three smaller buildings located north of the school. All three appear to have served as supplemental classroom space at some point and may have been moved to the site from other locations. There is also one playground.

Harmony School sits approximately fifty feet from the south property line, facing south towards Northeast 24^th Street. The building has an irregular footprint, which is approximately 210 feet wide and just over 80 feet deep. It was built in three distinct phases. The first two phases, which were built in 1928 and ca. 1930, form the two-story body of the school. That part of the building measures roughly 150 feet by 72 feet. The third phase is an auditorium wing that was added ca. 1949. The 40-foot by 80-foot auditorium links to the main school via a small two-story connector that contains a staircase and a separate front entrance. All parts of the school have the same type of architectural detailing, which includes flat variegated red brick walls with simple notched parapets and cast stone coping. The same type of cast stone is used for small square accent pieces within the masonry walls, and as casing around doors and windows.

The main (south) facade of the school has five bays. The east three bays encompass the original section of the building, which was completed in 1928, and the two bays on the west are part of the ca. 1930 addition. The formal front entrance to the school is located in the second bay from the east. The entry bay is accented with bands of dark brick and a small stepped parapet wall that bears a stone nameplate which reads "HARMONY". A bank of five metal, 1/1 hung window units with fixed transom windows above spans the second floor of the entry bay. The window opening has a continuous cast stone lug subsill and it is topped with a row of dark soldier bricks. Matching dark bricks laid in stacked courses are used to form vertical panels along the edges of the entry bay. Each panel is bordered with dark soldier and stacked bricks and filled with a grid pattern of headers.

The first floor of the entry bay contains the front door and a double window. Both of those openings have shallow segmental-arched tops that are accented with dark soldier and sailor bricks. The front doorway is recessed into the west archway. The doorway is original; the doors are modern. The window opening in the other archway is covered with plywood. Like all windows in the school, the masonry window opening is fully intact, and filled with newer aluminum-framed sashes. The wall between the arched openings is accented with dark stacked bricks and grids of header bricks that are similar to those on the outer edges of the bay.

The other two bays of the original part of the school facade, one on either side of the middle entry bay, have wide banks of windows that match those in the second floor of the entry bay. There is one such grouping on each floor. All four of those openings have continuous cast stone lug subsills, and those on the second floor are topped with a string course of soldier bricks which runs along the entire facade. Each window opening contains five newer metal windows, each of which consists of a metal, 1/1 hung window unit topped by a large fixed transom. Historic photos show that those openings had five windows each when the school was new; the historic windows varied in that they had wood, 9/9 hung window units instead.

The two westernmost bays of the school facade are part of the first addition of the building, which was completed ca. 1930. Those two bays are the same size and have the same patterns of fenestration as the end bays of the original building, and they also have the same kind of face brick and cast stone coping. Only minor details differentiate this addition from the original, and include an offset of just a few inches in the front wall, which marks the junction between the two sections. The soldier brick string course above the second-floor windows are accented with square cast stone blocks that align with the mullions of the windows.

The east elevation of the building, which overlooks the east parking lot, has an arched inset entryway centered in the first floor. That entryway is edged with the same type of dark brick used on the front entrance bay. It contains a recessed set of double doors with a multi-light transom. The transom and door frames appear to be early or original; the doors themselves may be newer. There is one wide bank of windows located south of the entryway, and a rectangular brickwork panel to the north of it. The north panel is the same size as the south bank of windows, and historic photos indicate that part of the wall originally had a bank of windows. The second floor of the east wall has just one window opening, which is centered above the doors, and contains a pair of typical windows. The upper east wall has a single soldier course band at window header height, and a notched parapet with cast stone coping. There are three concrete steps that lead up from the sidewalk that runs parallel to the parking lot, to the short sidewalk that leads to the doors. The parking lot slopes down to the north, and there is a concrete retaining wall that runs the full length of the parking lot and a sidewalk that varies in height and gets taller as it progresses north.

The north elevation of the original section is arranged much like the front facade of that section, but with an arched projecting entryway in the center bay and wider sets of windows in the outer bays. It differs in window size and configuration. There are several smaller sets of windows there, which reflect the location of restrooms and offices inside the building. All of the window openings are the same as those on the facade, with cast stone lug subsills and a band of soldier bricks running across the wall at the header of the windows. The original building is slightly shallower than the 1930 addition, with an approximately 12-foot offset between the two.

The north (back) elevation of the 1930 addition is three bays wide. It has the same system of architectural detailing as the facade, with the same type of variegated brick and cast stone accent pieces. The notched parapet is topped with cast stone coping, and the banks of windows on the second floor have the same type of soldier course headers accented with cast stone blocks as those on the front wall. There are two wide window openings and a single doorway on the first floor, plus a solid section of wall that has an ornamental brickwork panel like those used on the auditorium.

There are four sets of scuppers and downspouts on the back elevation. There are two on the original building, and two on the 1930 addition. One of the downspouts on the 1930 addition is badly damaged. The others are intact and in fair condition. All are early or original.

The west elevation of the 1930 addition is divided into two sections by the auditorium connector, which was added ca. 1949. It has the same architectural detailing as the facade, including a notched parapet topped with cast stone coping, and a continuation of the string course of soldier bricks on the second floor. The front portion of the wall has a panel of rectangular brickwork on each floor. These panels feature soldier bricks with cast stone corner pieces. Most of the rear section of the west elevation is covered by a tree growing near the bottom of the wall. This section has a bank of four metal, 1/1 hung window units with fixed transom above on the first floor that are similar to those found on the rest of the main building. The second floor features a rectangular brickwork panel that is similar to the ones found on the front section of the wall.

The auditorium is located west of the ca. 1930 addition. The facade of the auditorium is set back several feet from the facade of the main school, and the connector is recessed several more feet.

Although the auditorium wing was added nearly twenty years after the first addition was completed, it utilizes very similar materials and detailing. The walls are constructed of the same type of variegated brick used on the main building, and the cast stone coping at the roofline also matches that on the older sections.

The south facade of the connector contains a large arched entryway that is edged by wide slabs of stone. The double doors in the opening are modern. The entryway is flanked by small single windows, in the same configuration as the other windows, and have cast stone lug subsills and lintels. The second floor of the connector has one original window opening that has a set of two modern metal hung windows that are centered on the entryway. The north wall of the connector contains a modest door, with a single metal, 1/1 hung window topped by a large transom on the second floor that is similar to those found on the rest of the building.

The south facing facade of the auditorium has a stepped parapet that is similar to the one over the original school entrance. Ornamental brickwork is used to enliven the monolithic surface of the wall, which has no doors or windows. One solider course runs a few feet below the top of the wall, and additional bands of soldier and stacked course bricks are combined with cast stone corner locks to create rectangular brickwork panels lower on the wall.

The west side wall of the auditorium, which runs close to the west property line, has one doorway and eight single window openings, most of which are currently boarded over. The window openings all have simple cast stone lug subsills, and no lintels. A single soldier course and runs along the wall a few feet below the roofline. The north (back) and east walls of the auditorium have similar patterns of ornament. There are two entryways on the back wall. Each entryway is topped with a single-light transom and sheltered by a shallow, flat, concrete awning. One has a pair of modern flat painted doors, and the other is covered with plywood. Six metal, 1/1 hung window units with large transoms on the east elevation are similar to those found throughout the building. There is also one scupper and downspout on the east wall of the auditorium. The lower part of the downspout is missing and has been for some time as there is a significant level of staining of the brick and mortar under the downspout.

Harmony School has a flat roof edged with a short notched parapet and cast stone coping. The parapet is stepped near the school's main entrance, and along the south wall of the auditorium addition. The two original sections of the school building are divided by a firewall. The connector tween the main school building and the auditorium addition also has a flat roof and notched parapet. A brick chimney is located roughly in the middle of the school, along the firewall in the original portion of the building. A comparison of historic and current photographs suggests that the chimney may have been shortened at some point; however, no documentation of this change as been found. Several modern HVAC units are located on the roof of the school and auditorium.

The first floor of the original building contains two large classrooms, restrooms, and offices. A hallway runs from the front door to and past an open staircase that is centered along the north wall. There are two large classrooms east of the stair hall, and offices and restrooms to the west. A second, longer hallway runs east-west through the center of the building. The hallway continues through the 1930 addition, where it accesses two classrooms and a cafeteria. The corridor continues west to the small auditorium connector, which contains another staircase to the second floor, as well as outside entrances and a doorway into the auditorium.

The auditorium is a large open room that measures 40 feet by 60 feet, with a large raised stage at the south end of the room. A shallow basement area below the stage provides storage for tables and chairs. There is also a very small basement level boiler room near the center of the original building. It is reached via a small enclosed staircase located off of the east-west hallway.

The second-floor plans for both sections of the main building are very much like those on the first floor. The original section has three classrooms, a library, restrooms, and a small office. The 1930 addition has four classrooms. A wide east-west hallway runs from the main staircase in the original section to the stairs in the auditorium connector. The auditorium is a two-story space; there is no access to it from the second floor.

Interior finishes are largely intact. Most rooms retain at least some original finishes, including painted plaster walls, and stained or painted millwork. Surviving early or original millwork includes door casing, bulletin board frames, and built-in cabinets. The walls of the auditorium addition also have tall structural glazed tile (SGT) wainscoting which is early or original and in good condition. Several rooms also have early tile flooring; the early tile has been removed from others areas, and several of the classrooms have newer carpeting. Although many of the rooms now have suspended tile ceilings with inset fluorescent light fixtures, those new systems are not excessively low and they have had a negligible impact. The stairways and the second-floor hallway all have exposed early or original plaster ceilings, and surface-mounted fluorescent light fixtures.

The school today looks very much as it did in the 1950s. There have been no exterior additions or changes to the form or footprint of the building since the auditorium was completed ca. 1949. Original exterior architectural detailing such as masonry walls and cast stone accents are unchanged and in fair condition. Although all or most doors and windows in the building have been replaced in recent decades, the original patterns of fenestration are unchanged, and the original masonry openings and associated interior millwork are all intact.

The interior plan and finishes are equally intact. There have been no notable changes to floor plans, circulation spaces, or individual patterns of room use. The original classrooms are little changed, and most retain early plaster walls, complete with chalk and bulletin boards and early millwork.

Playground equipment located north of the school building includes several swings and climbing structures as well as a large metal and plastic playground structure. Aerial photos indicate that the larger structure was installed between 1995 and 2002; the swing sets and climbing structures may be 10 to 20 years older.

The largest of the three outbuildings, Building 1 is about than 40 years old. It appears to have been used as a temporary classroom building. It measures roughly 40 by 90 feet, and has a rectangular footprint, vertical ribbed metal siding and a flat roof. Each of the long, north-south elevations has two widely spaced entrances that are flanked with windows.

Support Building 2 appears to have been used as a temporary classroom building. This building was either altered or added to the site around 2004; early aerial maps show a much larger building in the same location from 1990 to 2002. It is a modest building with a shallow hipped roof and flat metal-clad walls. It is approximately 39 feet long and 25 feet wide, with a deep front roof overhang that forms an open porch. There are two doors and two window openings under the porch, all of which are boarded over.

Like Building 2, Support Building 3 was either altered or added to the site around 2004; early aerial maps show a much larger building in the same location from 1990 to 2002. It appears to have been used as a temporary classroom building. It is a long rectangular building with a shallow gable roof with standing seam roofing, and flat metal walls. It measures approximately 30 feet by 70 feet. The gable roof overhangs on one side to shelter four entrances, all of which are boarded over.