(1871-1952)

On April 7, 1964, when Superintendent Samuel V. Noe recommended to the Board of Education that this building be named the Elizabeth G. Breckinridge Elementary School, he paid tribute to this distinguished educator as follows: 

"The contribution which Miss Breckinridge made as a long time principal of the old Louisville Normal School continues to be felt in our school system and her distinguished leadership was recognized far beyond the confines of our community. Since the Normal School was responsible for the training of elementary school teachers, and since Miss Breckinridge's contribution to our educational program was made while the Normal School was housed in this building, this seems to me to be an appropriate building to honor this outstanding educator." 

Miss Breckinridge was born November 25, 1871, in Shelby County, Kentucky. She attended Science Hill High School in Shelbyville, Kentucky, and received B.S. and M.A. degrees from New York University. After teaching the fifth grade at Cochran School, 1900-1903, she served as Normal School critic teacher until 1911, when she was appointed acting principal. Named principal of the Normal School in 1914, she remained in that position until the school was discontinued in 1935. In 1935, she was appointed director of elementary school curriculum for the Louisville Public Schools. She retired in 1942 and died in 1952. 

Miss Breckinridge's life-long interest in education and the teaching profession was given tangible expression in the form of a substantial donation from her on September 5, 1944, when the Board of Education accepted the Elizabeth Breckinridge Scholarship Fund. 

Under provisions of this trust, each year one graduate form each of the three girls' high schools--Atherton, Shawnee, and Louisville Girls High--would be awarded a scholarship of one-third of the net income form the trust to be applied on tuition at a teacher training institution. On May 18, 1953, approval was given to extend the scholarships, still for girls only, at $500 for each, to six senior high schools. The following schools were named: Ahrens, Atherton, Central, Male, Manual, and Shawnee High Schools.

The fact that hundreds of faithful Louisville Public School teachers received their professional training under the tutelage and administration of Miss Breckinridge is adequate testimony to the devotion and high professional leadership which she rendered to this community and makes quite appropriate the naming of this modernized building in her honor. 

Breck Metro is located at 1128 East Broadway Avenue, in Louisville, Kentucky. Erected in 1910, this building served as an elementary school for children in the neighborhood and as a community center until 1916. The school was known as the Broadway School. In 1916, the Louisville Normal School, established by the Louisville Public Schools in 1871 as a teacher training institution, moved from its old location at Hancock and Market Streets to this building, where it remained until its closing in 1935. To provide classroom and library space for the normal school students, six additional classrooms were added in 1916. 

During the period 1916-1935, the elementary pupils, taught in rooms on the first floor, served as a demonstration school for Normal School students, who attended classes on the second floor. 

In 1935, after closing of the Normal School, the Eastern Junior High School moved into the building from its location on Rubel Avenue and remained here until April 1964, when the Woerner Junior High School was opened in the renovated Atherton High School Building. 

In January 1966, the pupils of Rubel Avenue School and Nicholas Finzer School moved into the renovated Elizabeth G. Breckinridge Elementary School.