Arthur M. Hitch

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Arthur M. Hitch (February 26, 1875-February 20, 1956), was the Superintendent of Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri from 1928 to 1948.

Hitch was born in Cuba, Missouri in 1875. He attended the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy in Rolla, Missouri, then earned an A.B. from the University of Missouri in 1897. Hitch arrived at Kemper Military School in 1899 as an instructor of Latin, English, German, and Elocution. By 1907, he had been promoted to principal. He married Bertha Johnston, daughter of School Superintendent Colonel Thomas A. Johnston, in 1908. In 1928, Colonel Johnston announced that he was retiring after 48 years as superintendent, and selected Colonel Hitch, his son-in-law, to lead the school. Hitch ably guided the school through the severe financial crisis of the Great Depression, when enrollment plummeted, and into World War II, during which the school operated year-round with over 500 students. During his superintendency, the new stadium and football fields were constructed in 1937, the Academic Hall was built in 1939, and the Science Hall was added in 1941. Colonel A. M. Hitch retired in 1948 and died in 1956.

[edit] References

• The Boonville Daily News, Kemper Centennial Edition, May 8, 1944.