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Maxie Speer was born on March 19, 1883, in Speer’s Ferry, Virginia, a location named for her grandfather. She attended elementary school in Abingdon, Virginia, and later moved with her family to Georgetown, Texas, when she was 13. She attended Southwestern University in Georgetown as well as Stamford Methodist, Canyon Normal, and North Texas Agricultural College.

Early on, Speer held teaching positions in Chandler, Robeson, Rule, Plainview, and Weatherford. Speer moved to Arlington in 1921 and began teaching first grade at North Side School, which later became Kooken School. She taught in the Arlington ISD for 27 years, retiring in 1948. She had been a classroom teacher for 43 years, 39 of which were spent teaching first grade.

Maxie Speer Elementary, dedicated in 1952, was the first school in Arlington to be named after a teacher.

Speer died on Aug. 6, 1970, and she is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Fort Worth.

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