Abraham Lincoln High School - Railsplitter Yearbook (Des Moines, IA)

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When 690 of us seventh and eighth graders first went to Lincoln in 1923, S.W. 9th was a narrow road with countryside all around — farmhouses, barns, even cornfields! Many southside houses had no heat, so school opened at 5:30 to allow kids to warm up and take showers. Even school lunches cost only 14 or 15fV ' reminisces Mr. Francis Talarico, a Lincoln graduate and a member of the faculty for 33 years. Fifty years have not only caused lunches to skyrocket to 45 c, but have also remodeled Lincoln ' s phy- sical and academic image. The original 20 acres of fields and open countryside have been cemented into parking lots or used in tripling the floor space of 1923 ' s 55 rooms. The neighborhood is suburban Des Moines with heat and running water, not rural Iowa of 1900. Attitudes on education have changed as well. Once school ' s purpose was to drill classrooms of children on Geography, History, Math, Reading and proper beha- vior. In 1973, over 70 required and elective courses were offered at Lincoln with such specifics as Crea- tive Writing, Electricity, and Urban Geography. Today, recognizing the wide spectrum of the southside com- munity, Lincoln High School is dedicated to the acceptance of each individual, and to the development of that individual ' s capacity for learning. Extra-curricular activities have mushroomed from competitive football, basketball, track and ten- nis in 1926 to nearly 20 boys and girls sports in 1973, with more be- ing added each year. It was not until the 1930 ' s that general interest groups such as band, cheerleading, and Pep Club were created, yet to- day almost every hobby or specialty from skiing to volunteer services is available to Lincoln students. Even so, one aspect of youth con- tinues through all generations. Prin- cipal Melvin Bowen expressed it this way, Although the course of studies and the physical plant have changed, and the world has become more mechanized, students are still striving for peace, success, and hap- piness in life, and philosophically, their dreams are much the same as students in early years. The new Lincoln gym in 1967 is cap- tured through a fisheye lens (above). Students decorate the front lawn of Lincoln in the 1940 ' s with snowmen (right).

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characters of near past

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50 Golden Years Mr. Wendell Stone is fed with a baby botthe during a pep assembly in 1950 (above). Three members of the 1945 football team pro- mote spirit for a pep assem- bly dressed up as cheerlead- ers (center). The Dance Band and vocal group prepare to play for a school dance in 1936 (below). —13—