Calumet High School - Peace Pipe Yearbook (Calumet, MI)

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The school library seems to be almost if not quite as old as the school itself. Mention of it is made as far back as 18713 'it was first situated in the Washington School. In 1894 the Board of Education voted to recommend to the annual meeting of that year the establish- ment of a district library, having in mind a library whose facilities. should be open to the public. Appropriations were made for such a library--the Calumet Public Library . 'Mrg James James was the first Librarian. On May 9, 1898 the Board of Education, voted 'to accept the proposition to unite the District Library with the Calumet and Hecla Company's Library. The school, and especially the high school, has profited greatly from the con- solidation arrangement. Teachers have found the uncommonly well-stocked and ably man- aged library of incalculable value and the community has benefitted greatly from the pooling of library resources. The cultural influenceof the library in the Calumet area has been tremendous. In May 1944' the library facilities were moved to the Calumet High School. It is still the Calumet Public Library but is now under the School and Township Boards. Probably the decision to hire the supervisor of manual training on a twelve month basis was the seed of summer school, for the first summer work offered was an eight week ses- sion in the manual training department. This was around 19003 in 1910 sewing was also offered. Then grade school subjectsg the tutoring of deficient pupils. From this it was a short step to the practice of offering any subject a sufficient number of students applied for which should be open not alone to those who had failed them in regular session but to students taking them for the first time. Ln 1912 academic subjects were offered for the first time, 98 pupils enrolling and 88 of them completing the ses sion. ,The subjects offered were--Algeb ra 1,Z, and 35 Geometry 1 and Zg Solid Geometryg Germa.n3g English 43 Caesar lg Cicero 15 Modern History 1. This was a formidable array. The session lasted six weeks and the maximum number of subjects one could take was two. Su1nmer school 'came to be a big business. Enrollment in academic subjects often exceeded 200 and twice exceeded 300. Only once after 1920 did the high school summer enrollrnent fall below 300 and it reached 405 in the last year 11931, in which summer school was conducted. Regular credits towards graduation were given to those taking summer courses. It is for us the living. . . to be dedicated here to the unfinished work. . . QLincoln's Gettysburg Address,

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Old library rooms around 1915. Children in lib rary for Saturday afternoon story-hour, about 1915

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old wahsingzon gchool pictures taken in 1876. The Washington School fOriginally called the Central Schoolj was built in 1867 by the Calumet and Hecla Company. It was said to be one of the largest public schoolhouses in the U.S. if not the largest, furnished throughout with single desks and all needful appliances and heated by steam. The building was 192 feet by 100 feet and had seating room for 1200 children a remarkable fact ir 1875. ,lcabi tn or museum in whim-I1 scientific SP were kePt- various ecimens and HPPa1'at'15 A high school classrgom ' ington School, In the wash ' Office of the first superintendent of Calumet graded schools, E. T. Cur- tis. He is seated at the desk.