University High School - U Highlights Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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V05-XL INTRODUCTORY 1914 As the needs of the school grew, additional equipment wasfurnished. Money for the school was never refused. In a few years the school became self-supporting, as is shown by the fact that when, in 1897, the school was given by the Commer- cial Club to the University of Chicago, the John Crerar endowment fund had in- creased, by the addition of unexpected interest, from 850,000 to over ,856,o00. The names of the original Board of Trustees are as follows: MEMBERS E. W. BLATCHFORD, President W. A. FULLER, Secretary R. T. CRANE, Vice-President NIARSHALL FIELD, Treasurer JOHN CRERAR JOHN W. DOANE N. K. FAIRBANK EDSON KEITH GEORGE M. PULLMAN I hffessrs. Blatchford, Fuller and Field were continually re-elected to membership on the Board and to their respective offices, until the transfer of the school to the University. Nlr. Crane is the gentleman after whom the R. T. Crane Nlanual Training School is named. Nlr. Crerar bequeathed 550,000 to the school. The Chicago Nfanual Training School was the first independent manual train- ing high school in the country, the St. Louis school being a part of Washington University. From its inception the Chicago School stood for high scholarship, manual skill. and good character. The motto on its seal-.Mente argue' mana ad tfirtutevvz QThrough brain and hand to manhoodj expressed the thought of its founders. Admission was by examination only. Idlers and weaklings, if by any chance admitted, were promptly dismissed. Boys showing immoral tendencies were removed as soon as their true characters were revealed. The school was not a reform school nor an asylum for weak minded. Neither political nor personal infiuencegavailed in securing or retaining membership. The Hrst class, seventy-four in number, many of whom had finished part of a high school course, was admitted, as has been said, January 4, 1884. Twenty- seven of these seventy-four graduated June 24, 1886. Ft The first annual sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. S. NIcPherson, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, June 20, 1886. At the first annual exhibit June 23, 1886, was shown, among other products of the boys' skill, a steam engine built by the school. This 8 H. P. engine, exhibited in operation, was considered a marvel byi the fifteen hundred visitors, because it had been made by boys. It attracted far more attention than did any of the numerous horizontal and upright engines built by succeeding classes. . nwum:?lqu E I ' Q4 I :si .Q I 1- ' gil, -gffzsvfrsfi ,gt 'F E 'L ' it f e T I' az: 113.2 2.2.1 r ItTWtl!lUj' ll lj I' 'tllllfh .sRm FT'lll' 'llllllqflllllllwjllll ll l l I l '- . -Ml WW ll l l l 'I l l. . lll l ' I A fra, 1?-.if fl'lJ l I Ml Ill l - -fzfa, -'- 1-,. l'l.ill.14 'I la .lf if h h aff?-I2 F192 -1-T f 'T-T'iC'2-5 if 3 l TXSLTT FIRST ENGINE BUILT BY ANY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE WORLD IS

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VQLXI. THE CORRELATOR 1914 The school occupies in Whole or in part five buildings. Blain Hall, so named in honor of the donor, Mrs. Emmons Blaine, was erected in 1902 and was at first occupied by the College of Education and the University Elementary and High Schools. During the first year the Temporary Gymnasium and the Nlanual Training Building, now Belheld Hall, were erected. ln 1901, the Boys, Club House Was made available and in 1909 Kimbark Hall, previously an apartment building, was adapted to temporary use for class rooms. At the convocation ex- ercises in June, 1913, President Judson announced the decision of the Trustees to erect Within two years an additional building for the exclusive use of the High School. This Will provide much needed space for adequate class rooms, laboratories, and assembly hall, taking the place of the rooms in Blaine Hall now needed for the use ofthe expanding College of Education and of the inadequate facilities of Kimbark Hall. It is expected that the present gymnasium will be superseded at an early date by a modern and Well equipped building to be erected on the Jackman Play Ground. The Cltbitagu jflllagual Zlliraining School , ' The Commercial Club of Chicago is composed of not more than sixty prominent merchants 'A . A, and manufacturers of Chicago. For years this ' I, Club had believed that the high school educa- , tion prevalent in the country, which consisted exclusively of academic studies, was defective, 1 A - ' because it neglected the education oi the hanlds, -- and failed to develop the brain power resulting . f 'Ef'l3i?Q , 'gh therefrom. The Club determined to found a .mf .tz - 5 1 iwhi h 511 uld Dive a livin iiiusu-ation of -Hama. . 1 76190 C 0 L' ,' g. :fav its idea of what a boys education should be. X 1 ,T At its regular monthly meeting, Klarch 23rd, ,e r 1882, one hundred thousand -dollars were sub- Q 8CI'1lDCCl for this purpose. lt is fr-om this meet- , ing that the history of the Chicago Klanual Training School dates. The Chicago hlanual Lg- Training School Association, composed exclu- --.. ' sively of those members ot the Commercial '-,a!zh' P ' A ' V fP1:..l it' Club who had contributed, was organized under the laws of the State April 19, 1883. The lot on hlichigan Avenue and Twelfth Street Was purchased Nlarch 28, 1883. The corner-stone of the building was laid with appropriate ceremonies, September 24, 1883. The first examination for admission was held January 4, 1884, and on February 4, 1884, the unfinished building was opened and regular school Work was begun. In the meantime, June 25, 1883, the Director of the School was elected, hlr. Henry H. Belfield, at that time Principal of the North Division High School, who had for years advocated the introduction of hand training into schools. To him was committed, under the general direction of the Board of Trustees, the entire management of the new enterprise. A The Commercial Club contributed to the support of the school during its in- fancy, and in 1891 enlarged the building at an expense of fifteen thousand dollars. OLD NIANUAL I4-

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If0!.XI. THE CORRELATOR 1914 As the character of the school became known, applicants for admission in- creased ii numoer, until it became necessary to refuse several hundred every year, notuithstandiig the enlargement of the building. This large number of appli- cants, so much greater than the capacity of the school, enabled it to select a choice body of pupils. but it was a painful duty to refuse admittance to so many boys, and the Director labored with the members of the City Board of Education and with others, until the English High and Nlanual Training School Cnow the R. T. Cranej was opened. Later, the Armour Institute was founded by NIL Philip D. Armour, a member of the Commercial Club, and a contributor to the NIanual Training School. Mr. Armour frequently said in public: If there had been no Chicago lVIanual Training School there would have been no Armour Institute. I-le thus recognized the inHuence of the school. In fact, the great work of the school has been, not the education of its pupils, but the education of public sentiment. hfany manual training schools were planned in the office of the old school building on hflichigan Avenue, and the existence of a great number can be traced directly to this school. As manual training schools multiplied in all parts of the country, the Commercial Cl.ib felt that the work for which the school had been organized had been accomp- lishzd, and in 1897 it offered the school as a gift to the University of Chicago, and the offer was accepted. This conviction of the Club is expressed in the fol- lowing quotation from the beautiful bronze tablet which commemorates the trans- fer of the schoole- That it has caused the establishment of many similar in- stitutions, and especially, that it has secured the incorporation of this system of education into the public schools of this city and of many othercities, is evidence to the founders of the school that it has successfully accomplished the purpose for which it was organized. The largest class graduated was in 1393, eighty-seven in number. Although the course of study extended oyer three years only, graduates were admitted to the Freshman classes of the best engineering schools of the country, such as: The hffassachusetts Institution of Technology ton examinationl, Cornell University, the Universities of Illinois, Michigan, lI'isconsin, etc. lon certihcatel Also, to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and other colleges. Frequently owing to pro- l U , at , a .1 NNN A I 'ing' , l. ,, 3 - I r, - yi ' I 1 rlititg. 1 I 16