Classical High School - Caduceus Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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MGH ana: mg. Classical High School is proud of its ninety- eight years of existence. During this time, it has consistently encouraged learning, fostered an interest in the classics, and achieved a place among the greatest secondary schools of the country. Like most great educational institutions its beginnings were insignificant, The first ses- sions of the school were held in a small build- ing on Benefit Street, opposite the First Bap- tist Meeting House. Two rooms of the building were allotted to the Classical depart- ment, and in these Henry Day and Albert Harkness, author of universally used Latin texts, opened their first classes in 1843. The boys and girls were assigned to separate rooms and remained so divided until 1855 when the boys' group was partitioned into two sections: Classical, and Scientific and English. The superintendent had his office on the ground floor of the building, since he then served in a twofold capacity as head of the Providence schools and Principal of Classical. At its inception, Classical High School es- tablished superior standards of scholarship and maintained as teachers men who later History of Classical High School became recognized leaders in the field of edu- cation. Edward H. Magill, later president of Swarthmore College, succeeded Mr. Harkness. who in 1853 became a professor in Brown University. Another distinguished instructor of the period was Benjamin Ide Wheeler, who eventually became president of the University of California. Both of these men undoubtedly furthered the expansion of the school until its sessions were abruptly cut short by the approach of war in 1861. Three teachers, the Messrs. Tass, Thurber, and Mowry, organized the older boys into a company, and together they joined that part of the Union Army defend- ing the Capitol at Washington. It is re- corded in the annals of the school that at the close of the war, the students decorated the building in red, white, and blue, only to remove the colors ten days later and replace them with black upon the assassination of President Lincoln. Conditions within the school itself necessi- tated a change of residence after the war. Classrooms became so crowded that several sessions were held in a room over the fire CADUCEUS, 1941

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FACULTY.. BESSIE W. ALLEN, Wenesxey, A. B. ' WALTER H. ANGELL, Brown, Ph. B. MARY V. BENNETT, .College of St. Elizabeth, A. B. KATHLEEN V. BOYD, Brown, A. B.: A. M. MRS. LINDA R. BROWN, Boston University, A. B.: Harvard, Ed. M. WALLACE R. BROWN, Harvard, A. B. ANNA M. BUCCI, Brown, A. B.: Radcliffe, A. M. BERNARD V. BUONANNO, BIOWII, A. B.: A. M. BENJAMIN CLAMON, BIOWII. A. B.: A. NI. FLORA M. COTTON, Brown, A. B. ANNE MARJORIE DAY, Vassar, A. B.: Brown, A. M. ENIS E. DEMAGISTRIS, Brown, A. B.: A. M. EDNA DWYER, Trinity College, A. B.: Brown, A. M. JEROME I... FISHER, Brown, Ph. B. PAUL F. GLEESON, Brown, A. B.: A. M, MRS. ELIZABETH C. GRANT, BIOWII, Ph. B., A. M. ALBERT ANGUS GRIFFIN, Brown, A. B. EMELIA A. HEMPEL, Brown, A. B.: A. PRISCILLA P. HORR, Brown, A. B.: A. M. FREDERICK H. HULING, Brown, B. E.: Ph. B. ANNISE B. KANE CLibrarianj , Simmons, B. S. . LOUIS I. KRAMER, Rhode Island State, Sc. B.: R, I. C. E., Ed. M. BESSIE A. LOUD, Brown, Ph. B. RACHEL G. McAULIFFE, Brown, A. B.: A. M. .IOHN E. MCGLINCHY, R. I. C. E.: Ed. B. MARY F. McKAY, Brown, A. B.: A. M. EDWARD F. MCLAUGHLIN, Providence College, B. S. CHARLES J. MCMILLAN, St. Marv's University, A. B.: A. M. ELIZABETH B. IVICQUAID, Brown, A. B.: A. NI. GILBERT MIGNACCA, Brown, A. B.: A. M. Con leavej ANGELO MURCHELANO, Providence College, A. B. 2 Brown, A. M. BRENDAN J. MURPHY, R. I. C. E.: Ed. B. IDA M. NICHOLS, Brown, A. B. JOHN F. O'CONNELL, Providence College, A. B.: Duke University, A. M. JAMES F. O'NEIL, Holy Cross, A. B.: Harvard, Ed. M. MABEL I. OSBORNE, Brown, A. B.: Columbia, A. M. MRS. EMILIE S. PICI-IE, Brown, A. B.: A. M. MARY B. RAE, Brown, A. B.: A. M. A. FORREST RANGER, Brown, A. B.: A. M. MARY L. ROBERTS, Bates A. B.: Harvard, Ed. M. BERNICE E. SEARS, Brown, A. B. GRACE D. SHEIN, BIOWII, A. BJ A. NI. ' , LAURA R. SHERMAN, Brown, A. B.: A. K fu 'uvvxaavs JOHN C. SIMKEVICH, Brown, Sc. B. in Chemistry: A. M. DOROTHY SLOCUM, Brown, A. B.: A. M. ANGUS L. THOMSON, Ohio Wesleyan University, A. B. : Boston University, Ed. M. I J. HERBERT WARD, Brown, Ph. B. CHARLOTTE A. WETHERELL, Smith, A. B.: Middle- bury, A. M. STUDENT TEACHER CLERKS MARGARET G. FICO, BIOWII, A. B. AGNES JONAS, Brown, A. B. VILMA A. STAVOLONE, Bryant. B. S. S. RUTH SEELEY

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station which occupied the ground where the Superior Court House now stands. In 1878 Edward H. Cutler became principal, and upon his resignation in 1881, Dr. William T. Peck succeeded to the office. After his graduation from Brown, Dr. Peck had gone to the Uni- versities of Leipzig and Berlin. While in Europe, he travelled extensively among the ancient ruins of Greece and Rome, cultivating that love for classical antiquity which he con- stantly sought to impart to his students at Classical. He remained in charge of the school until his retirement in 1931, after fifty years of organization and development of his school into a classical institution which he believed should establish in the student a firm founda- tion for life and leadership. Since 1931, his work has been carried on by Mr. Charles E. Paine, the present principal, whose policy has always been directed toward the preparation of the student for college. Of the hundreds of graduates of Classical, many have become famous in numerous fields of endeavor. Among figures prominent in civic life may be included U. S. Senator Theo- dore Francis Green, a graduate of 1883, and Frederick M. Sackett, of the class of 1887, former U. S. Senator from Kentucky, and later Ambassador to Germany. Former Gov- ernor Norman S. Case, now a member of the FCC, graduated from Classical in 1904. James Bennett, director of the Federal Prison Bureau, is also a former Classicalite, Many Classical graduates are now instruc- tors and professors in American universities, among them Professor Sharon Brown of the English Department of Brown University, and his sister, Mrs. Bernice Cronkhite, Dean of the Radcliffe Graduate School, Professor John F. Johnnie Green, for years the most CADUCEUS, 1941 popular professor in the Latin Department of Brown University: and Professor Shulman of Yale Law School. Novelists who have gained prominence in- clude Professor Israel J. Kapstein, of Brown University: and the late Dr. Rudolf Fisher, Negro novelist, short story writer, and phy- sician, author of The Walls of Jericho and many unforgettable short stories which were published by the Atlantic Monthly. Their achievements have accompanied the progress of Classical from its almost informal beginning to its present commanding position in American education. Its development along academic lines has resulted in its having been the first public school in the United States to be awarded a chapter of the Cum Laude So- ciety. In the modern world, Where emphasis has been transferred from cultural to voca- tional education, Classical is unique among schools in its belief that a study of the classi- cal heritage of man is necessary for true edu- cation. In a period when the school molds its curriculum about the careerist and seeks primarily to equip its students for a very specialized field, Classical is again unique. It trains students to found their education on the broad knowledge which comes with a study of classical achievements. Without a general cultural background upon which to build his vocational training, the student's education is empty. Classical, throughout its century of existence, has tried to preserve the cultural tradition of the past. It has always affirmed that progress is possible only when tradition is maintained and society learns from the successes and failures of its ancestors. It has trained its students not simply to achieve personal careers, but to face and solve the broader problems of life.