Carl Schurz High School - Schurzone Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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1872 m a asc oolan town all .... . nice att Q 0 a ot? as a s meant f alter? On the second floor of the above building, lccatecl on the site of the The Jefferson High School was opened and dedicated Northwest National Bank, Milwaukee and Irving Park, the Ieflerson on October 5, 1883 and served lelferson Township Township High School enrolled its first students in 1872. It continued until Iune 1910, when it too closed its doors and moved as a high school until the Iefferson High School was opened in 1883. to Schurz in September of 1910.

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we pl 0Ag.lfL8 Behind the Schurz of today, lie many history-making events connected with education, not only in Chicago, but in the State of Illinois as well. The early people who settled in this area, then called Iefferson Township, were of Scandinavian and German stock . . . hard working, intelligent, ambi- tious, progressive people who wanted the best for their children . . . people who wanted them to have that which most of them lacked . . . an education. In 1872 a special act was passed by the Illinois State Legislature author- izing the establishment of township high schools in this state. The first to be established under this act was the Iefferson Township High School, which opened its doors that same year. It was located in one room on the second floor of the town hall at Irving Park and Milwaukee Avenue, the present site of the Northwest National Bank. Rooms on the first floor housed the police and fire departments. Mr. B. Farnsworth was the organizer and principal of the high school for almost eight years, conducting the high school in connection with an elementary school. Young people, eager for knowledge, converged upon the school, many coming from homes miles away. Enrollment grew by leaps and bounds and in a short time a new building became necessary. On the present site of the Mayfair elementary school the new building was begun in 1878. It consisted of three floors, a basement, and a cupola which could be seen for miles around and served as a guide by which travelers could steer their way. On October 5, 1883 is was opened with a formal dedication. In a few short years it too overflowed with students. A church across the street was taken over, the stables behind the school, used for housing the stu- dents' horses, were converted into class rooms, physics and chemistry labora- tories were placed in the basement, and four portable buildings were built on the grounds. It wasn't long before construction on another new building was begun in a new location, and in September 1910 the students bade farewell to Old Ieff and again moved on to a new era in a new building. With the new location came a new name -- Carl Schurz High School. but the traditions of the old and the new schools are still kept alive through the Schurz-Iefferson Alumni Association which held its first meeting in 1887. It was Mr. C. A. Pettersen, one of the teachers who moved with the stu- dents to Schurz in'1910 who, almost single-handed, sponsored the Schurz- Iefferson Alumni Association and perpetuated the tradition of the two schools as the traditions of one great school group. Iune 1950 marked the sixty-third Alumni meeting. The first class to graduate from Iefferson High School in 1885 had one member, Mrs. Ellen Hazelton Nicol now living in Grosse Point, Michigan. The Iune 1910 class, last class to graduate from Iefferson, had forty-four members: the Iune 1911 class, first class of graduates from Schurz had sixty-seven members. Mr. C. A. Cook was appointed principal of Iefferson when it opened, and Mr. F. A. Plapp, who. too came to Schurz and taught science here for twenty years, was his assistant principal and science teacher. The work of Ielferson High School became firmly established, its faculty rated high, and when the village of Iefferson was annexed to Chicago in 1890 it became one of the regular high schools. The curriculum was designed to prepare students for college. Iefferson was so far ahead of most of the other high schools at that time that a half year's credit was usually given to any of its students entering college. Many interesting stories have come down through the years regarding HOld Ieff as it was lovingly called, stories of fun in school and out, stories of the fashions of those days for boys and girls, stories of the successful careers of many of its graduates. The memory of Iefferson still lingers in the hearts of its students, and as long as any of them are alive the spirit of Iefferson Township High School, pioneer in education in Illinois and on the Northwest side of Chicago, will never die!

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On the Tuesday following the first Monday of September 1910, Carl Schurz High School opened its doors, joyously welcoming the 1031 young people who entered its gates that day. With its first principal, Mr. Walter F. Slocum, and the co-operation of its first teachers and students, it became the shining symbol of American education-a place dedicated to the preparation of young Americans for a happy and successful future. During the first week, an orchestra was organized under the direction of Mr. Iames Mason. the first high school orchestra to be established in the Chicago high schools. The Schurz Choral Society too immediately began its work and continued as such for three years under the direction of Mr. F. W. Willard. ln 1913, Mr. C. Lagerquist organized the music department and took over the Society. With the help of Mr. Iames Mason, he conducted the first Messiah at Schurz-the first presentation of this music to be presented by the city's high school choral groups. The first Schurzone was published under the direction of Miss Eleanor Beaton, in 1913. It circulated monthly and included stories, poems, limericks, current events, editorials, and news about organizations, shops, and athletics. ln February 1911, 1089 students were enrolled: in September 1911, 1216: in February 1912, 1281: and in September 1912 there were 1522. So rapidly did the school continue to grow that in 1915, the Addison wing was completed in order to provide more rooms for the many students who wanted to attend Schurz. With the erection of this wing the night school was established in 1915 as a non-accredited school, offering classes in the shops. English, public speaking, seventh and eighth grade work, and classes for the foreign born. ln 1924 it became an accredited school with an enrollment of 3,000 students, offering a large variety of subjects. The guard system was organized, the Boys' Glee Club and Dramatic Club were organized, the orchestra had expanded to 40 members by 1913, an effec- tive athletic organization had been formed, and the lrving Park Women's Club took over the management of the lunchroom. The Schurz band was organized by Mr. Mason during 1917. lt was small and rated not as a band but as a Drum and Bugle Corps to take part in Red Cross parades, victory demonstrations, drives, and other military activities of World War 1. There was also the organizing of the Schurz Cadet Corps which captured second place in the competitive drill held as part of the military training for boys of the Chicago high schools. ln 1919 the R. O. T. C. was established for all high schools in the city and Schurz was one of the first to begin training its members. In the same year Schurz won the first Basketball City Championship. During 1917-18 the Civics Industrial Club was formed and did a great deal to aid the war efforts of World War I. It made 4,900 trench torches for the soldiers in France. sent 100 current magazines and over 16,000 books to men in the service, and made 1 13 scrap books for military hospitals. It gathered 50 pounds of leather for aviators coats, 50 pounds of tin foil for the Red Cross. and distributed 86 Christmas baskets to needy families of service men that year. ln the foundry hand grenades were made and sent to the arsenal at Rockford, Ill. The woodshop students built 4 Red Cross tables for convales- cent soldiers. They also filled an emergency order for 7500 probing sticks in three days for the Red Cross to use in hospitals. A Red Cross class for first aid and home nursing was organized for the girls. Schurz was the only High School giving credit for Red Cross work. These girls made ll00'baby garments for the Red Cross and sent an exhibition layette to England. One English class adopted an orphan boy and girl from France early in 1917, and adopted another orphan before school closed in Iune. Clubs which met after school hours were an important part of high school life. The Triangle Club consisted of three sections: drama, literary, and civic. The Wireless club was organized by twenty boys in 1916. A Photographic Club, Latin, German, and French Clubs, were unusually active. From the very beginning sports held a prominent place on the school calendar, with a rifle championship in 1916, a soccer in 1916, and basketball in 1919. So with the ending of the first ten years at Schurz we find the girls putting their long full skirts and wide brimmed hats away in the attic and becoming what was known as flappers who were quite the opposite - wearing very short skirts and long waists. The boys too had to keep in style so they looked like Rudolph Valentino and became what was known as sheiks. With happy thoughts of what the future held in store, each of them eagerly looked forward to the future which was to bring many more achievements than the previous years had done. Pane 6 jlte jirdf eca e, 1910-1920 Schurz as it looked in September, 1910, consisted of five floors in the middle section with three floors on either side as it is today. Carl Schurz lcenterl, for whom the school was named, was honored dur- ing I949 by having a three-value set of stamps of similar design issued by the French occupied zone of Baden. bearing the inscription Rastatt 1849- I949. The stamps are 10 plus 5 pfennigs, green, 20 plus 10 pfennigs. Ed lilac, and 30 plus 15 pfennigs. ue. Mr. Walter F. Slocum. first princi- pal of Schurz, came in 1910 and re- mained until his retirement in 1936. During his 26 years of service many important events occurred. The first Bulldog Hop, the beginning of our newspaper, and several active clubs were among these events. The Addison wing as we see it today was opened in 1915 to take care of the increasing membership which continued to grow so rapidly that the Waveland wing and the Tri- angle had tovbe planned for soon after.