Abraham Lincoln High School - Lincolnian Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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The present site of Lincoln High School was, during the Spanish era, part of the pueblo lands. In 1856, with the passing of a terrible plague, the citizens in appreciation of the services of an American, Dr. John S. Grifiin, presented him the land. He in turn gave it to his nephew, Hancock Johnson, who sold the beautiful hillside to a French nobleman, Baron. de Roguiat. The Baron built a beautiful home, which was later destroyed by fire. Discouraged. the Baron returned to France, leasing the land to two Germans, the Warneick Brothers, who converted the site into an amuse- ment park. The lease was soon revoked, however, and the Baron sold the land to Mr. Thomas Lee Woolwine, who again beautified the place by build- ing a lovely home. Many years later, the location being thought ideal for a school, the Board of Education purchased the site, and our school was planned. Lincoln High School had its real origin when the Avenue Twenty-one grammar school was made an intermediate school. By 1912 it had grown so large that a new school was necessary. The present site of Lincoln High School was chosen by the Board of Education under Superintendent J. H. Francis. In the fall of 1913 the intermediates of Avenue Twenty-one moved to the new school, which was also to be a high school. As the build- ings were incomplete, the students had their lessons in front of the school under the trees. The teachers who were of Lincoln's faculty then and now, Miss Isabel Ansley CMrs. Gruwelll, Miss Eva Cole, Miss Bertha Heise, Miss Marie Hopkins, Miss Elizabeth Leslie, Miss Katharine Moran, Miss Ella Morgan, Miss Carobel Murphey, Miss Julia Ruebhausen, Miss Esther Jean Spencer, Miss Mabel Walsh, Miss Grace Worthen, Mr. Burnham Ben- ner, Mr. J. S. Goldthwaite, Mr. Ralph D. Wadsworth, and Mr. Harry L. Zint, often recall the hardships they went through. At that time the Administration, the Science and Woolwine buildings, together with numer- ous bungalows, comprised Lincoln's building accommodations. The tennis courts were also built then and were paid for by bonds bought by students and faculty. Terracing and planting was started. 15 Q .4

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Lincoln's first officers were: Mr. Burt O. Kinney, Principalg Mr. Homer Martin, Boys' Vice-Principal. and Miss Florence E. Blunt, Girls' Vice- Principal. The assemblies were first held in front of the Administration Building or by the steps of the Woolwine Building, later in Room 101. The library was in Room 320. In October, 1913, Lincoln was made a member of the city league in basket ball. The first track squad was organized in 1914. In 1915 Lincoln was admitted to the city league in football and baseball. Through a change of policy in the Board of Education, in 1916 Lin- coln changed ofiicers. Miss Ethel Percy Andrus, of Manual Arts High School, was appointed Acting Principal and did the work of the Girls' Vice-Principalg Mr. John H. Whitely came as Boys' Vice-Principal. The same year the name of the school paper, The Echo, was changed to The Railsplitterf' The S'16 class gave The Enchanted Hillside, by Louis Woodson Curtis and Miss Agnes Peterson, a musical pageant of Lincoln's history. The Music and Library Building was added the same year. The athletic field, excavated from the solid hill, was completed in the fall of 1917. In October the first football game on the home field was played. The first military unit at Lincoln was organized, later developing into the R. O. T. C. In the spring of 1917, also, the auditorium was built. Mr. Ralph D. Wadsworth, formerly the head of the Science Department, was made Boys' Vice-Principal, Mr. Whitely going to Gardena High as Principal. In 1918, the annual, formerly called the Orange and Black, came out as the Lincolnian. The last intermediate class graduated in 1919, and Lincoln became a full-fiedged high school. In 1920 the auto shop building was erected. The long-promised gym was ready for use at the opening of school in 1921, a renovated stable of the Woolwine estate had served the purpose before. In September, 1922, the Vocational Building was completed and put into use. . Now, in 1923, we are on the threshold of a new era. What it will bring to use we can only wait and see. Lincoln hopes to have many more line buildings in the future, to carry on its high ideals to the end, and to further the ever-glowing spirit of Lincoln-that ideal which is best expressed by the immortal words of the Athenian Oath of Citizenship, We will trans- mit this city not less, but far greater and more beautiful than it was trans- mitted to us. 16