Annie Wright School - Shield Yearbook (Tacoma, WA)

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HISTORY AND TRADITIONS

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THE STAFF I l.r Rt Urv rlluu i lustuil. I). I ). .... f residenl of the I ard of Trustees Miss Kulli Jenkins . . . . Bishop of Olympia Headmistress lllL :: iAl i Mrs. F. D. Abernathy Classes V. VI Miss Harriet E. Armstrong Assistant to the Housemother Miss Marjorie Atkinson ------- Academic Adviser. Enghsh Miss Nancy Jane Bare - -- -- -- -- -- - Dance The Reverend Arthur Bell Chaplain. Religious Education Mrs. F. C. B. Belliss ----- - . Classes VII. VIII Mrs. David Black ------ Civilization Mrs. A. B. Charlton - . - Speech Class I Mrs. D. P. Cook Mrs. V. E. Crowe Mrs. G. M. Cummings Mrs. L. E. Dufrai ne Miss Jean Estahrook Mrs. R. P. Getty f ield Secretary - - Class II Music. Organist - - - Art Upper School Mathematics Mrs. Ada Gibson - - - Housekeeper Miss Florence Greason - - Nurse Miss Fyrne Haugen Typing. Library Mrs. Shirley Johnsen - Physical Education Mrs. L. G. l-enham Home Economist ' s. Dietician Miss Bess Lewis . . . . English Miss Helen McKay - - ... Science Miss Eva May . . . Lower Kindergarten Miss Mildred Penfield - Class IV Mrs. F. I. Perry Miss Louise Schreiber Mrs. F. W. Schwan . - - - Mrs. F. C. Sherburne Miss Ann Sprowl - Mrs. A. J. Thompson - Miss Sarah B. Thompson Mrs. Karl E. Weiss Nlr. Karl E. Weiss Mrs. A. C. Welch Nlrs N H WMson - - Financial Secretary Spanish. Latin Upper Kindergarten French Secretary - - - - - - Class HI Middle and Lower School Mathematics Music Music Housemother English. Latin 4

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HISTORY OF THE SEMINARY fN 1881 when the Right Reverend John Adams Paddock of St. Peter ' s Church. Brooklyn. New York, accepted the call to become Bishop of Washington Ter- ritory, he was aware of the great need of educational facihties in this area. Each of the four largest cities in the Territory tried to persuade him to select it as the center of his activities. His choice of Tacoma was determined as a result of an offer from Mr. Charles B. Wright of Philadelphia and President of the Tacoma Land Company. Knowing Bishop Paddock ' s interest in Christian education and himself sharing it. he offered to give fifty thousand dollars toward a school if the Bishop would raise twenty-five thousand. The sum was raised among friends in the East — not without reverses that were surmounted only by Bishop Paddock s faith and effort — and a choice of three building sites was offered by the Land Company. The one selected was on Tacoma Avenue at Division, in those days on the outskirts of the city of fifteen hundred people. In the summer of 1884 when the Rev. Lemuel H. Wells (later Bishop of the Missionary District of Spokane) arrived to take charge of St. Luke ' s church and his wife to be the first principal of the new school, the building was almost completed. By fall it was ready to open to a student body of ninety-four girls from the Territory of Washington, the state of Oregon, and Victoria. B. C. Bishop Paddock ' s dream had become a reality. The new school was named by Bishop Paddock in honor of the daughter of Mr. Wright. At the laying of the cornerstone of the Annie Wright Seminary, both Mr. Wright and his daughter were present and participated in the ceremony. Miss Annie Wright placing the box in the cornerstone. The completed building was of American Gothic architecture, standing high and overlooking Commence- ment Bay. with a view of Mt. Tacoma. ' Tall, gaunt, and red were the adjectives used by Rudyard Kipling in describing the school when he saw it on a visit to Tacoma in the eighties. The Tacoma Avenue horse-car was the conveyance from which many of the Seminary ' s early students had their first glimpse of the build- ing that was to be their home for one or more years. A glance at the first Seminary catalogue reveals the aim and object of the school: Not only the intellect but the character, manners, and morals of the pupil are subjects of earnest care and solicitude. The educational advantages comprise the best instruction in English. German. French. Music. Drawing, and Painting. The Musical Department gives every facility for the cultivation of this beautiful and refining art. while the Painting Department affords a rare opportunity to persons wishing to study . . . decorations on china, plush, velvet, etc. This early catalogue also reveals that the charge for a boarding pupil was three hundred dol- lars a year, including English branches and Latin and Laundry Services. ' Mod- ern language study was thirty dollars a year extra. By 1890-91 the boarding fee had become three hundred and twenty dollars. In subsequent catalogues changes in curricula and in fee continue. But the aim and object of the s( Imol remains 6