Olean High School - Congress Yearbook (Olean, NY)

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TO ALL WHO SHALL COME HERE, SORROWING, TO ALL WHO SHALL COME HERE, REJOICING, SYMPATHY AND GREETINGS: SO HAVE WE DONE IN OUR TIME f--..- -5 -,N L! ,f ,ff f' A , fy, ,fp lj

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IIVIMORTAL, THOUGH NO MORE: THOUGH FALLEN, GREAT, BUT UNTO US SHE HATH A SPELL BEYOND HER NAME IN STORY

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Dil-IISTCJRYCDFTI-IEOL. On the spot where now yawns an unsightly hole, there was erected in 1852 the first building of the Olean Academy. The Olean Academy Association was incor- porated by the Regents, April 11, 1853, and discontinued October 3, 1868, when its property was bought by the city. This building was destroyed by fire on April 1, 1856, and a new building replacing it was completed by the fall of 1858. The Olean Academy was a private school which taught elementary studies and also offered courses of studies similar to those of the modern high school. Its school year was divided into three terms of fourteen weeks each and the graduating course consisted of three years of study. Examinations held at the end of each term were given by Examiners appointed' by the principal. According to a catalogue printed in 1862 the tuition was four dollars a term for the studies of the first form, five dollars for those of the second form and six dollars for those of the third. In 1862 students pursued such studies as Astronomy, Philosophy, Greek, University Algebra, Latin, Metaphysics, Ethics, Physiology, French, Italian, Spanish, German and Ornamental and Practical Penmanshipf' By 1866 the student could also be enlightened regarding such intriguing topics as Orthography, Intellectual Arithmetic, Universal History, Botany, Miner- alogy, Rhetoric, and Moral Science. On October 3, 1868 at a school meeting which was held in the town hall, a majority of 97 to 3 voted to organize Olean Union Free School District No. I. At the same meeting it was also voted that 352,000 should be raised by tax for the purchase of the Olean Academy property. With this began the present public school system of Olean. The building which had formerly housed the Olean Academy was renamed School No. 1 and continued for a few years under the same principal, Mr. W. Earle. On january 11, 1877 the High School was incorporated by the Regents under the name Olean Union School, Academic Department. It may be interesting to know that the budget of the entire public school system for the year beginning October, 1874, was 85,771 The Board of Education decided that the building in which young people had been educated since 1858 had become inadequate and voted 824,000 for the con- struction of a new building. This structure, which was first used in September, 1881, was the central part of the building which we have recently seen razed to make place for a new one. In the school year which began with the opening of the new building four of the thirteen instructors teaching in the building were engaged in high school work. They were: E. W. Griffith, Prin- cipal and Supervisor, Miss Ida M. Farlee, , Preceptress, Margaret Jewell and Ellura A U... Bennett. The first students to receive the ,212 Regents Academic Diploma, which certified 3 I f the successful completion of high school W L work, were Clara Eeuchter and Georgia '.'A McIntosh, iii 1883. In the year 1891-92 ff and probably earlier, the high school stu- vin- dents attended classes in different buildings I,l. rg i? although No. 1 was known as the Academy Building. At this time time weie 93 students doing high school work, an increase C CD INI G1 R E 5 S ' 1 Twelve .