Until 1919, the children of Mărăști went to study in the village of Răcoasa, at a distance of 5 km, so that one of the first concerns of the Society was to build a school for the youth. Initially, one of the village houses rebuilt by the “Mărăști” Society was transformed into a school, the school starting to function as early as 1919. The premises were provided with all the necessities, and for the orphan children the Society prepared school supplies, clothes, etc.
In 1920, the construction of a modern school began, a school that was completed in 1921 and which was named the “Queen Marie” Weavers’ School. This was located on a side street of the village, to make it possible for the children of the neighboring hamlets, namely Gogoiu and Roșculeți, to attend it as well.
The “Primary school” – “urban” type, was received on December 25, 1921, being handed over to Ion Radu Baniță – possibly the school principal. From the beginning, the master of the School was nun Magdalena Iuga, paid monthly by the Society. After the 1930s, due to some misunderstandings with the commune’s priest, she left for the Agapia Monastery.
The school had 4 large classrooms, in which up to 200 students could study, a conference hall with an area of 100 sqm, a room for the chancellery, one for the library, on the right and left dwellings for teachers, composed of two rooms each, and in the basement three rooms for servants. The school was also provided in the middle with a large vestibule for recreation in winter.
The Society gradually equipped the building with school furniture as well. Between 1923 and 1924, the school functioned with desks for only one class, with the prospect of having three students per desk, so, in a class there could be about 60 students.
On April 4, 1928, the “Queen Marie” Weavers’ School came into possession of 8 ha of land, through the donation of the landowner Al. Zissu. The same landowner also donated 2 ha for the communal school, which the Mărăști Town Hall was supposed to establish, the Society promising its support. Proof of the efficiency and importance of the “Queen Marie” Weavers’ School was also the result of the exhibition organized in November-December 1929, held at the “Maria Ventura” Theater, in Bucharest. The event was placed under the patronage of Queen Marie and the result was beyond expectations, the works of the weaver students taking 1st place in the country.
The interest of the event was also increased by the contribution of the painter and sculptor Aurel Bordenache who, alongside the paintings put up for sale for the benefit of the Society, also exhibited the scale model of the Mausoleum that was being built, a part of its sculptures, as well as the photographs of all the works and constructions executed up to that date in Mărăști.
Because at the end of the 1930-1931 school year the “Queen Marie” Weavers’ School had been abolished by the Government, for reasons of “budgetary savings”, in the autumn of 1931 the Society obtained its re-establishment, at the same time being reorganized. It became the “Queen Marie” Weavers’ and Household School, because another workshop, for tailoring, was added to it. The school had a complete teaching and professional staff paid by the Ministry of Instruction, and the maintenance of the students fell into the care of the Society. Because they came from poor families, unable to pay for their maintenance, state intervention was necessary. But because the planned funds were not always returned to the Society, the Steering Committee decided, in principle, that the scholarships not covered by the state should be borne by the Society. Thus, in 1931, out of a total of 28 students, state scholarships being allocated for only 15 (at 12 lei/day), the remaining 13 were maintained at the expense of the Society, obtaining the necessary money from the savings made with the maintenance of the school, from the revenues of balls and celebrations. On February 1, 1933, the School underwent a new, beneficial modification, becoming the “Queen Marie” Trade and Housekeeping School, with two sections:
- Trade sections – having a weaving and tailoring workshop;
- Housekeeping section – comprising: kitchen, laundry and ironing. The School’s course was five years and aimed to develop in the future housewives the taste and skill for managing the house and the family, and to “prepare” students for continuing specialized studies. At school, an important number of subjects were studied, including: religion, Romanian, French, arithmetic, accounting, physics, chemistry, history, geography, zoology, botany, hygiene, notions of childcare, civic and social education, music, drawing, calligraphy, household, gymnastics. Thus, a multidisciplinary education.
Practical occupations were systematically applied, in the weaving, tailoring, kitchen, laundry and ironing workshops, so that at the end, the graduates rightfully obtained the qualification of “masters” of the Trade and Housekeeping School. With the passage of time, the School building underwent several repairs, the most significant being the one carried out following the damage caused by the earthquake of November 9-10, 1940. In the same period of the 1940s, due to a lack of funds for maintenance and in the perspective of the Society’s dissolution, General Gh. Dabija was of the opinion that it would have been more appropriate to hand over the School to the Ministry of National Defense or the Patronage Council, for the establishment of a military college for war orphans, because “the premises were quite spacious and equipped with the necessary outbuildings”, having 29 iron beds left from the former Household School and a bathroom, where showers could be installed.
Furthermore, the issue of the Primary School in Mărăști was raised. Because it functioned in a cramped and unhygienic premises, the Society’s Committee, in the meeting of February 19, 1931, decided that it should be moved to the “Queen Marie” Weavers’ and Household School, in a room that had served as a dwelling for the president Alexandru Mărgineanu (deceased in 1930). The measure was intended to be provisional, for one year, until the School Committee built its own school premises. The Society maintained its commitment to give the School Committee the sum of 20,000 lei for the purchase of the land necessary for building the school, the land to be bought by the Society and then donated “with deeds”. For this purpose, the Society intervened at the House of Forests for the approval of the necessary timber, with a 75% discount, committing itself, at the same time, to make available to the Town Hall fir beams as well, which were at the Gogoiu mill. The Town Hall, however, did not build the School even later on the site donated by the Society, but sold it to the inhabitant Nicolae Gârlan.
This site has an informative role and was created using information from public sources or information published by various historians, among whom we would like to mention Dr. Valeria Balescu, museographer at the “King Ferdinand I” National Military Museum, Bucharest, and Dr. Horia Dumitrescu, director of the Vrancea Museum. At the same time, we have also provided information from the memoirs of Queen Marie and Marshal Averescu.