High School of Commerce - Commerce Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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-tha, M. the at its elevator, and goggled-eyed at the telephones in each room opened for business. Colonel Charles H. Murphy was principal and Mr. James B. Sykes, a teacher of commercial law, was vice principal. It seemed that at last everything was settled. What could be more permanent than a big brick building? But it was not to be. Commercial High seemed to be instilled with the same spirit of wanderlust that drove the earlier adventurers to California, or that moved the state capital as California expanded from San Jose, to Vallejo, to Benicia, to Sacramento success- ively. Truly the spirit of the state was in the school. In 1913 student body and ine brick building picked up and moved once more. This time to the corner of Fell and Franklin Streets. While the building was being moved Commerce went to school at Lowell. A cycle had been completed. At the time of this writing the building is still there where it was moved. We usually call it the Old Building, for in 1925 a New Building was completed on Van Ness Avenue between Fell and Hayes Streets. On December 12, 1912 the name of the school was changed from Commercial High to High School of Commerce. Like the state under whose educational system it functioned, Commerce had progressed from rather indefinite beginnings under a number of banners to a separate and distinct entity with its Own name, gov- ernment, traditions, and colors. She was now ready to settle down and prove what her destiny was. And as California had to gfiht battles, so did the school. What was to be one of the most important legal battles occured in 1915. The voters of San Francisco were asked to vote in March of that year on a Charter Amendment 135D which provided for the exchange of the land fronting 120 feet on Van Ness Avenue and 60 feet on Fell Street, the playfield at that time, for forty acres of the Sutro estate at Land's End. The land offered did not include Sutro Heights nor Sutro Baths. Commercites were against the amendment. They became politicians, in fact, were dubbed kid poli- ticiansn by their opponents. But the Hkid politicians fought the amendment with everything they had, and when the smoke of battle had cleared, they had de- feated the experienced politicians. It was a great battle and a greater victory. Commerce had shown its fighting spirit. Gold first, later the productive value of the soil, the climate, and the promise of wealth and health drew all races and creeds to California. Commerce too drew all races and creeds to its student body. Doubtlessly, it would be stretching words too far to say that gold-in the form of education-drew these students to Commerce. As- suredly, though, there was something of value, just as there was in the state of California that attracted students. And like California, not the least of these people, were the Chinese. But there were other racial groups too. Today, Commerce is as cosmopolitan a high school as one may find anywhere. Here all races, and creeds, meet and work together daily, for mutual as well as self betterment. And this is as it should be, for they and their parents are typical of California's cosmo- politan population in this year - the California centennial anniversary. site? 'ia gf HIGH SCHOOL OF COMMERCE

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75e 76:41 ?7adZcz Sedaaim Sem 7 In the early days of Commercial High the faculty was necessarily small in number. The Journal for June 1909 lists sixteen teachers and the principal. Today at Commerce we have a faculty of 79 and three administrators. We believe we have the best faculty in San Fran- cisco. Other schools may disagree. In San Francisco in 1848, however, there was no opportunity for such interscholastic disagreement. There was only one school with only one teacher, a Mr. Thomas Douglas. The one-room school building was located in Ports- mouth Plaza, on Clay Street and faced Kearny. Near- by was Brannan Place. The school was established April 3, 1848. The first day six children, boys and girls, attended. The largest enrollment at any time was 37. Teacher Thomas Douglas lost his pupils when gold was discovered. The adults deserted San Francisco for the gold mines and, of course, took their children along. Mr. Douglas, a teacher without pupils, thereupon did what everyone else was doing. He too took off for the gold mines. The pen and ink sketch on the previous page was done by Choy Chung from an old print of the school building.