About
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Orr Community Academy was first established as an elementary school in 1918. It later became a branch of Austin in 1920 and then a prevocational school for 7th and 8th grade boys in 1940. It was the temporary headquarters for Our Lady of Angels Catholic School following the 1958 fire, and it became a branch of Marshall High School in 1962.
Rezin Orr High School opened to 240 freshmen and sophomores in September 1963. A junior class was added in 1964, and a senior class in 1965. The present school building designed by the firm of the world- famous architect, Mies van der Rohe, opened in July 1973. In 1985 Orr was reorganized and renamed Orr Community Academy. Rezin Orr, the man for whom the school was named, was born June 18, 1854, in Licking County, Ohio. When he was nine years old, his father moved the family to Indiana, where Mr. Orr grew up and taught school for a short time. He moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and devoted the rest of his life to helping workers improve their working conditions. In Fort Wayne, he was a member of the first labor union, the Knights of Labor Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railroad Employees of America. When Mr. Orr died in Detroit, Michigan, on October 21, 1917, he was nationally known as a man dedicated to education and improving the life of the worker. |
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