Central High School - Red and Black Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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Murillo Studio Dr. Henry J. Gerling Superintendent of Instruction :vvvvvvvvvvvvvvwvveeer:-:::ee-:-:::::::::::+v-::: rl-r :e:::.-:::.-e: - -:-:::-:4vvvvvx:::-:::-:-reee.-e: -Q::ee:e::ereerereare:-e::e::::

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3 sf! -r '. 5, nl 'ai4gf'1 nn.,- ambition. This was in the heyday of educational expansion. That eminent pioneer, Dr. William T. Harris, had become Superintendent of Schools: and Miss Susan Blow, also of national fame, had been instrumental in establishing the first kindergartens. Some schools still lacked one: and Mrs. Fischel was assigned to one of these in North St. Louis, a neighborhood of foreigners, where she was taxed to handle a primary class of ninety-three children of six years of age, none of whom could speak or understand English. That proved her mettle. After marriage in 1876 to one who had been a schoolmate, Dr. Washington E. Fischel, she remained active in her chosen Held in various ways. In time she became a social visitor for the Provident Association, and as such developed a deep sympathy for the needy, and an under- standing of their deplorable lot. This led her in 1888 to enlist for service in the Wage-Earners' Self-Culture Clubs, just started by Walter L. Sheldon, the Leader of the newly established Ethical Society. She organized a Domestic Economy Section to instruct the children of these wage-earners in Home-Making. It flourished and drew wide attention: and, largely owing to its influence, this subject was introduced into the public schools with the service of a teacher who had been trained under Mrs. Fischel's guidance. From this time on Mrs. Fischel devoted herself to one welfare movement after another. She was one of the founders of the Wednesday Club: was active in the Emergency Aid, organ- ized to meet the needs of the unemployed after the closing of the Chicago World's Fair: at the same time served as Chairman of the Board of Charity Commissioners fa civic servicel prior to the adoption of the present City Charter: participated in Red Cross and other rescue work. All this may suggest to some the absentee wife and mother. By no means. Mrs. Fischel was busier with home-making than any of her pupils, and was nurturing three sons, two of whom have become distinguished doctors, and a daughter who is a leader among public-spirited women. She exemplified the adage that charity, like the other virtues, begins at home: and has demonstrated that private and public service may go hand in hand. ' All honor, then to the agencies that had a share in the maturing of such a personality: among which Mrs. Fischel accords, we know, a place of honor to the High School of her treasured memories. Ewan!! .5'+Ng'gh.'v5h'+,v. mNN

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reaenfing- Superintendent o Instruction , Dr. Henry J. Gerling ' f ' ENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL has indeed a unique and distinctive history. Built in 1853, after ten years of planning, it achieved the distinction of being the first public high school west of the Mississippi River, and probably the first co-educational high school in the United States. From its beginning it has been a compliment to the pioneer spirit of American democracy. For fifty years Central High School was the only public white high school in St. Louis: and among its graduates of that historic half century, are the names of many distinguished men and women. The influence of these graduates has been no small factor in spreading high-school opportunities to an ever growing portion of the city's population. Today St. Louis has ten public high schools, eight white and two colored, enrolling more than 20,000 boys and girls annuallyg and while the girls greatly outnumbered the boys in the high-school enrollment of those early years, the enrollment today includes a slight majority of boys in all of the high schools, Central included. This volume is replete with information about the glorious achievements of Central High School through its eighty-five years of existence. What is being said, and said well, by the many contributors to this yearbook, needs no supplement of further facts. This statement is intended. therefore, merely to convey my appreciation of the school, my pride in its history, my earnest hope that its splendid ideals will persist. On the firm foundation of its traditions, may Central High School add to its illustrious past the splendor of a brilliant future. r:::::::::::::::-::::::::-hr:::::::4-rr.-::ee-eereere:sr:v-Y-::::::::4vsr:::-::::+:::::::::::::::v-eerr::::::::::-er