Lucille A. D. Hennigar was born in Oscoda, Michigan on Lake Huron, sometime around 1890. The daughter of Michigan pioneers, she received her teaching credentials from Michigan State College in Ypsilanti where she majored in mathematics. While attending Columbia University and the University of Chicago, she majored in music. She played the trumpet in the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.
According to an issue of The Dawson County Review, dated May 16, 1946, Miss Hennigar began her musical career at the age of six when she reluctantly began piano lessons. Later, she also learned how to play the violin, cornet, and pipe organ.
Miss Hennigar moved to Glendive in 1910 to be a first grade teacher at Washington School, regardless of the fact that she was trained to be a high school math teacher. During her early career in Glendive, she played the cornet in the old Opera House Orchestra. This was an orchestra that she helped organize in 1917.
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| Lucille A. D. Hennigar |
Miss Hennigar's professional career resulted in numerous awards, honors, and unique teaching positions and music critic appointments. She held high offices in the Montana Music Education Association and Eastern Montana Music District. She is responsible for establishing the annual music festivals in Eastern Montana. A famous march, "The Dawsonian", composed by Harry Frank in 1929 was dedicated to her.
An appreciation party held in Miss Hennigar's honor in May 1947 was considered the nicest party of its kind ever staged in Glendive. Five hundred citizens came that evening to express their appreciation and love for this woman who was considered "a most outstanding success" and having had a profound influence on this community for the previous 37 years. These personal qualities and the affections of the townspeople entitled her to be designated Glendive's "First Citizen". In addition to those in attendance, Miss Hennigar was presented with nearly one hundred telegrams and letters from former pupils living all over the United States.
A valuable contribution Principal Hennigar made to the students of Lincoln School was the compilation of accurate records on each student. These records were often accessed to answer requests from students taking exams for officers' training while in the service.
Miss Hennigar's hobbies included photography, collecting tea pots from around the world, woodworking, and involvement in civic and community activities. A close friend remarked at the appreciation party that Miss Hennigar had a brilliant mind and was an inventive genius.
Lucille Hennigar and her good friend Carlotta Koch, another 40-year veteran of teaching the first grade, enjoyed traveling. One early adventure of this duo included traveling through North Dakota in an open car. At night they pitched a tent on the prairie. Following their retirement in 1951 they toured the southern United States.