Salina High School - Trail Yearbook (Salina, KS)

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Safina High IX 78 to I 953 Dean Porter of the American Legion Post presents W. W. Waring, Director of Secondary Education, a flag at the dedication ofthe new Salina Senior High School on October 28, 1952, In this year of 1953, the 75th graduating class of Salina High is looking back with honor to the two pupils who, in 1878 began our long list of graduates. We have traveled a long road from the horse and buggy day to the day of the souped up hot rod, so have we forgotten the old nickelodeon in favor of the present sound movies and television, and from pot bellied stoves and coal buckets to air-conditioning and gas heat. The first high school in Salina of 1878 held in the Old Central building seems a far cry from the new up-to-date modernistic Salina Senior High School of 1953. ln 1877 the people of the small town of Salina, Kansas, decided they were tired of being ignorant so they formed the first high school which was held on the third floor of the Old Central building, located where The Barn now stands between Lincoln and Roosevelt. On June 14, 1878 a proud boy and girl stood nervously before a group of parents, friends, and well-wishers who had come to the Old Salina Opera house to see the first graduates of the newly founded Salina High School. Upon the stage were clergymen, principals, teachers and two nervous pupils

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about to be graduated. Music for the happy occasion was furnished by the high school scholars themselves. The exercises were opened by the invocation and the program was as follows: Song: There's Music in The Air Oration: Song: Fairy Land Oration: Arthur Day lboy graduatel Song: Little Maud Valedictory: Maggie Rash lgirl graduatel Song: The Bugle Horn Arthur Day at first seemed somewhat em- barrassed and assumed a position that ap- peared highly uncomfortable but soon settled himself to a plain and agreeable oration. The title of his oration was, The Progress of Our Country, which was written in a style commendable for its directness. He began his oration with the following quotation: The past has taught its lesson, the present has its duties, and the future its hope. Maggie Rash delivered the valedictory address most admirably. In her address she acclaimed her appreciation for her teacher by saying, All that I am or ever hope to be I owe to the faithful guidance and watchful care of my teacher. The need for a separate high school soon became imperative. When the new high school outgrew its quarters on the third floor of Old Central, the high school was trans- ferred to the third floor of the Red Men's ...6.. building, now over the present day Millers' Lounge and Edgington's Music store, at the corner of Santa Fe and Walnut. There it re- mained in a greatly hampered condition for two or three years in rented apartments. The number of students was steadily growing and soon became too large for the crowded class rooms. The citizens, many of whom had children in the high school, saw that a new building must be furnished for this thriving institution. ln l9OO the high school was moved into its own home: a new two story brick building located at 7th and Mulberry which appeared large and roomy to the admiring eyes of the Salina people. The second fioor was occu- pied by an assembly room, one recitation room, a cloak room, and a hall. The manual training shop and Laboratory were com- bined in the basement. There were several faults in the plan and size of this building. In the first place the plastering used for the ceiling in the assembly room evidently was not the good old-fashioned kind. It came loose and hung in festoons on the ceiling. Whenever some eminent professor or speaker visited the school, and during chapel exer- cises began his speech with, I am sure it's a great pleasure to look into your bright happy faces this morning, he was often in- terrupted by a huge patch of plaster crash- ing to the floor. While he lectured on our op- portunities, some poor unfortunate freshie was busy shaking the sand and plastering