Schoolroom Surprise

I don't know if Rosalind Reynolds was simply tough on truants or if she felt it was important that all her students get a good education. In retrospect, maybe she should have let 10-year-old Herman Rindone slip through the cracks. The year is 1920 and Rosalind is 37-years-old.

Herman Rindone,
photo from
The Chicago Tribune

Herman's teachers and fellow students all agreed he was a problem pupil. Miss Reynolds had thrice sent notes home to his parents regarding Herman's poor attendance record. At one point, a Juvenile Court Judge found Mrs. Rindone to be a delinquent parent and she was ordered to pay a $50 fine plus court costs because of Herman's lack of participation. (FYI, the online Inflation Calculator computes that in today's money, $50 would equal roughly $630.00.) Following this judgment, Herman spent a short period of time in a Juvenile Home and when he was released it was right back to the fourth grade class taught by Miss Reynolds.

McLaren School

Miss Reynolds sealed her fate one afternoon when she sent Herman home because he was being insolent. Rather than reveal the real reason for his dismissal, Herman told his mother that Miss Reynolds had ripped a handful of hair from his head and showed his mother the bald spot.

Principal Charles J. Lunak,
1930 photo from
The Chicago Tribune

Mrs. Rindone contacted the Juvenile Protective Association. On Thursday October 21, 1920, Mrs. Rindone, an attorney and a representative from the JPA met with the principal of McLaren School, Mr. Charles J. Lunak. Principal Lunak promised to investigate the allegation and asked the Rindones to return the following day. On the morning of Friday October 22, Principal Lunak told Mrs. Rindone and the School Board that the charges were without merit. It was believed the bald spot was the result of ringworm.



Rather than accepting this decision and going home, Carmela Rindone had Herman show her which classroom was his. They entered Room 408 slowly and quietly. Mrs. Rindone, speaking in Sicilian, asked Herman if the woman before them at the blackboard was his teacher and he replied "Si, mamma." Mrs. Rindone pulled a revolver out from the folds of her apron and fired, hitting Miss Reynolds three times on her right hand side. Those students that didn't outright faint, were in a panic and scrambled for cover. Miss Reynolds sank to the floor. Rosalind's fellow teachers and Principal Lunak rushed into the classroom.

This sketch printed in the Chicago Tribune is as close as I could come to finding a photo of Miss Rosalind Reynolds

Miss Reynolds was transported to Francis Willard Hospital while the Rindones were taken, naturally, to the Principal's office and told to stay there. Mrs. Rindone did no such thing though. Carmela and Herman hightailed it out of there as soon as they were left alone.

It's a surprise to hear that the police were not immediately called but according to the October 23, 1920 edition of The Dispatch (a Moline, Illinois newspaper), "a passing patrolman was forced to gather the news later Friday evening from the prattle of the school children." The shooting had occurred at 10 AM.

In the aftermath, neighbors of the Rindone family came forward to say that Carmela had often threatened people with a revolver and that before she left for the McLaren School on October 22nd she had stated that she "would show Herman's teacher a thing or two."

Carmela and her husband Daniele were Italian immigrants. He had immigrated to America in 1902 and she followed 6 years later. Their 4 children (3 boys and 1 girl) ranging in age from 5 to 11, had all been born in Kansas. The 1920 Census states Daniele was gainfully employed by the Western Electric Company as a machinist. The document also shows Carmela as not being able to read or write English but I'm not sure we can blame her non-response to notes sent home from Miss Reynolds on a language barrier because Daniele could speak and write English.

Carmela was on the run for a week until finally turning herself in to police on November 8, 1920. Herman had been cooling his heels at the Juvenile Home. On November 10, 1920, Carmela Rindone appeared before a judge, the charge was assault with intent to commit murder. Four of Miss Reynolds' students were in court on the day of the arraignment, prepared to testify against Mrs. Rindone, but her attorney Michael L. Rosinia obtained a continuance and she was released on a $2500.00 bond.

On December 2, 1920, Miss Rosalind Reynolds, whose wounds were described as "not serious" was back to work. Waiting for Rosalind on her desk was an avalanche of flowers and presents from students and friends. The card accompanying a bouquet of American Beauty Roses read "To the bravest and best hearted teacher in Chicago." Whoever wrote that knew what they were talking about because on September 7, 1921, Rosalind Reynolds told Judge Kersten that she was refusing to prosecute. All charges against Carmela Rindone were dropped. Case dismissed.

I found this entry in the 1921 edition of "The Official Report of the Proceedings of the Board of Education of the City of Chicago" - "The Business Manager reports that in compliance with the provision of Report No. 998, adopted by the Board of Education November 12, 1919, he has ordered paid the following bills for medical services submitted by employees injured while on duty, in accordance with the Workmen's Compensation Act, as recommended by the Attorney of the Board of Education: Dr. S. Sucherman, 3457 W. Roosevelt Road, for the care of Rosaland Reynolds, teacher of the McLaren School...$25.00"

Rosalind Reynolds continued to teach at the McLaren School until her compulsory retirement effective January 31, 1947 at the end of the school day; forty-five years after she earned her teaching degree. She never married and passed away on January 16, 1951 at the age of 68.

Carmela Rindone was never arrested again and passed away on February 18, 1965 at the age of 76. She was mother to 4, grandmother to 6 and great-grandmother to 9. Her husband Daniele, who seemed to stay in the background throughout this drama, passed away in November of 1966 at the age of 81.

Herman Rindone died on March 20, 1929 at the age of 17. His death certificate indicates he had been shot during the commission of a crime and died in the County Jail Hospital from complications following surgery. The handwriting is a little cramped and difficult to read but I believe it says "in the act of holding up a pedestrian."

Herman Rindone's Death Certificate

I noticed Herman's death certificate lists an alias - Tony Rindone. This matches the Internment Records for Mount Carmel Cemetery where Herman is buried. I believe he is the person advertised in this 1928 Boxing Exhibition. 

Advertisement from the April 16, 1928 edition of the Freeport, Illinois Journal-Standard

The original McLaren School as razed in 1978 to make way for a new school. There's an interesting radio report by McLaren School graduate, Class of 1925, Studs Terkel located here - https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/studs-terkel-gets-reactions-upcoming-destruction-mclaren-school-and-newly-created-mural