Dubuque High School - Echo Yearbook (Dubuque, IA)

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TIE? wa . fq,Z,?::,: -I I, I 525 3 5 -I Q , A-A, . x .x,.,m-X: Q . r ,V 2 ttf. D ::,, ., 'i ' ' Q .- r '5 W K if A ,-.. , ,, 5 I l --, - I 'V. 'li , ,Q M WMM AMW .,.,. I fi ' . :W : M . w bii? . , -'wif I i s -V-'-N ' :ss 1 . .is A ,, , 1 Ti ': 5 ' . Z .,..'.'!i 5 . .... ,V ' jiij' lrrl IAE :QA I . A s' ,r ,r..l.. ' 3 s, -Q -' L4 f ' ,.' .- ll , ,, . .liens rn.. Mr. Henry Bechtel drew this picture of the Grand Opera House, now the Grand Theater, with a Flomaster pen. The graduation exercises were formerly held here. She recalls there was no athletic field connected with the high school, so football and baseball teams had to go to the ball park at 25th and Iackson to practice and have their games. There was a lot of school spirit and students enthusiastically attended the games. Physical education classes were held in the rooms, the pupils exercising for half an hour be- side their desks. Graduation exercises were held at the Grand Opera House, now Grand Theater. The girls wore long white dresses. Cabs, each carrying four students, transported them from the school to the Opera House. The graduation dinner was held at the First Congregational Church. In 1914 Miss Geisler began to teach clothing and foods. Her classes were held in the annex building. The equip- ment in the sewing room consisted of four long tables, a mirror, two ironing boards, an iron, and two old dressers. In the foods classes the equipment was kept inside the desks. There were gas plates on top for cooking, and one stove provided the only oven. The classes were large, usually filled. Other quotes from the Board of Edu- cation minutes give us further insight into school life at this time. In 1905 'can epidemic of diphtheria and scarlet fever broke out in the city. However, the schools were kept open and were fumigated once or twice a week during its durationf' and the truant officer sub- mitted his first annual report in which he stated he had investigated 105 cases, and in most cases the parents were at First home economics class.

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damage the ibuildingf' Another in- teresting quote from the Board min- utes states that a doctor requested permission to examine the students for the purpose of making a study as to what effect, if any, school life had on the health and eyesight of pupilsf, The request was granted. After the Civil War American life affected by the Industrial Revolution, changed greatly. The poet Carl Sand- burg wrote of this period: 3 i'Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of youth, half- naked, sweating, proud to be Hog Butcher, Toolmaker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads, and Freight Handler to the Nationf, This industrialization brought with it improvements in public education, the number of high schools in the nation increasing from 500 in 1870 to 6,000 in 1900. Even so, the aver- age American in 1900 received only five years of schooling. The nation- wide average expenditure per child of school age was only 83.84 a year, while in Dubuque it was 3520.99 for every pupil in average daily attend- ance. In 1893 lots on the corner of 15th and Locust Streets were purchased for a new high school. On january 17, 1895, this new high school build- ing was dedicated, and on February 4, it was occupied by the students. Kindergarten classes were held in the old high school building. Miss Eleanor Ceisler, a graduate of the class of 1902, commented on this period of high school history. She remembers that the classes passed between the new high school build- ing and the annex on Twelfth and Central and that the students used This is one street car, shown here on Main Street, that carried many students to high school. to stop at a nearby bakery between classes. Very few students had cars, almost everyone rode the street cars to school. There were no buses. There were seven periods, almost all of the pupils went home for lunch between 12 and 1:30, and school dismissed at 3:40. Miss Ceisler remembers that the students used to attend a movie after school for 12 cents. There was no regular library at the time, but a room was opened in the Fifteenth Street School for such a purpose. Stu- dents were in charge of the library. There were no monitors then, but students had to sign the register when they came to the library. This old car marks a period in the history of the Adams Company.

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faultf, school was moved to the old Prescott School building on the northeast corner of Twelfth and Clay Streets. 'CA so- cial center was opened at the Audubon School to be held on two nights a week during the winter months. In 1914 the vocational department of the high In 1917 a movement was begun for a new high school building. I11 1920, at a special election, Dubuque voters authorized the building of one senior high school and two junior high school buildings. On the same day it was an- nounced that the new senior high school would be located O11 a ten-acre tract at the head of West Locust Street. 1910 was the first year the public school system had an orchestra. The construction of the new high school was of native stone, the style being Gothic. There were 26 classrooms and two study halls. On February 3, 1923, there was an open house for the public inspection of the new school. So many people attended, over four thousand, that the overflow of the auditorium had to be accommodated in the gym- nasium. The speakers for the day gave speeches to both crowds. On February 17, 1923, the building was opened to the public when the High School bas- ketball team played Davenport lligh. The crowd of approximately 1000 peo- ple was the largest ever assembled in Dubuque for a basketball game. The enrollment for this first year at the new high school was 733. After this period of excitement over the new building passed, school life re- established itself. ln 1923 there were 17 members in the orchestra and 15 members in the band. Ferdinand Di Tel-