"Study" cat
One day in the fall of 1952, a large but rather thin, short-haired, gray-striped tabby cat appeared and roamed the classroom at Elysian Heights Elementary School, Echo Park District, Los Angeles City, California, USA.
A student from grade 6 and up will be "appointed" as a "cat feeder" - the most important position for students at that time.
The school also has a strict rule: 'Do not disturb Room 8'. If he "interferes" too much in classroom activities, Room 8 will be gently carried out by the manager.
More than 10,000 fan letters
The school principal at the time, who was a cat lover and later wrote a book about Room 8, discovered that Room 8 was born in 1947, which means the cat was about 5 years old when he went to school.
The family treated Room 8 badly and he had to wander. No one knows where Room 8 went at night or during the school holidays. It is said that he can sleep in the nearby hills.
It is worth mentioning that every September, Room 8 returns on the right day of the new school year.
Room 8, the cat, gained widespread media attention both locally and nationally, with a documentary titled "Big Cat, Little Cat" and a children's book called "A Cat Called Room 8."
The responsibility of responding to every piece of mail and imprinting it with the cat's paw stamp was given to the 5th and 6th-grade students who were designated as "Secretaries for Room 8".
He also became the subject of a 3-page article. Guitarist Leo Kottke wrote a song called "Room 8" on his album Mudlark (1971).
The cat's fame spread. At the height of "fame", Room 8 received a lot of fan mail. At one point up to 100 letters a day.
During this cat's life, about 10,000 letters from every state and several countries around the world have been sent to Elysian Heights.
The 5th and 6th graders became "Secretaries for Room 8" with the task of answering each piece of mail by hand and signing it with the cat's paw stamp.
Room 8 Fund with more than 10,000 USD
In 1968, Elysian Heights held a summer school for the first time. Room 8 still went to class every day until he became seriously ill and had to be taken to the hospital.
Room 8 died on August 13, 1968, of kidney failure with a lifespan of 21 years.
The Los Angeles Times published a three-column obituary and a photo of the cat. He was buried and set up a gravestone at the Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park. The image of Room 8 was also printed on the stamp in 1970.
After the cat died, the Room 8 fund was established to build a nursing home for pets. Though defunct, the fund brought in $10,000 - a substantial amount at the time.
Students at Elysian Heights still receive a lot of fan mail for the cat after that.
60 years on, Elysian Heights still fondly remembers Room 8 and keeps some mementos of the cat.
One painting hangs in the school office and two in the hall next to a larger version of the medal in his memory. The cat is the focal point of the mosaic mural in the library.
The school proudly introduces its famous cat with the prominent words on Echo Park Avenue at the junction of Baxter Street:
"Elysian Heights School. Room 8's House. Cat's House 1952-1968".
Every year, an excerpt from the book "A Cat Called Room 8" is read to all first graders as a tribute to the cat that has become a part of the school's history.
