East High School - Redjacket Yearbook (Pawtucket, RI)

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1855 A CENTURY IN REVIEW 1 Cherished memories of high school days have remained an intangible treasure for Paw tucket citizens dating back to the Civil War years when Pawtucket then part of Massachu setts held its place on the map as a small town amidst wooded areas and farmlands Exactly one hundred years ago the first Pawtucket high school was established as an indication of the desire of the populace for better education higher standards of living and further progress in the future On April 9 1855 at a meeting of the Paw tucket School Committee a motion was enter tained and unammously 'agreed upon by its five members to establish a high school in the city of Pawtucket a high school that was to become a reality a beginning simply by the efforts of these five qualified persons who lived just a century ago Immediately a special committee empow ered with the task of procurmg a suitable teacher for the school set to work A month later it was voted that Mr William Tolman a graduate of Brown University be given the position as the first principal of Pawtucket High School The school was to commence within two weeks May 14 1855 classes bemg held in the Summit Street Schoolhouse The only entrance require ments for students entering from grammar school were Arithmetic as far as mterest Geography through Smiths Quarto English grammar discretionary with School Committee Reading and Spellmg good All prospective students were examined by the school committee and admitted to the High School with the understanding that should any of them be unable to keep pace with the majority of their classes they should be put back into the grammar school The school opened with an attendance of fifty pupils twenty six boys and twenty four girls from eleven to fifteen years of age The high school year was divided into three terms beginning the Monday after the first Wednesday in September The first term was continued for fifteen weeks followed by a vaca tion of one week The second term continued to the first of April followed by a vacation of two weeks The third term continued fourteen weeks followed by summer vacation the amount of school time somewhat similar to our present system In the succeeding year 1856 fourteen new students were admitted and an assistant prin cipal Elizabeth Ann Cleaveland was appointed at a salary of only twenty dollars per month From the original pupils six entered college and five became teachers Because of the loyalty and devotion of the first pioneers in the advancement of higher edu cation the first high school begun originally as an experiment proved its mdispensability , L , ... . ' I n qq , 1 Y Q s . . . . 4 ,, . 9 9 9 ' n - , 9 9 ' ' , - I , . 9 Q - V , - n v Q Q ' ' ' 3 1 , Q v ' - Q 9 , . . . ,, . . . . . 9 Q 9, - , . . . . 9 1 . , . . . . . . T 1 9

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vs flltig uf Qgafniurket oi' ' X 1 QR nba glslzmh 0 li X Gzmmfv 0Bffrce of the agar LAWRENCE A McCARTHY Mayo April 2 5 , 1955 Mr Gllbert F Curtis Editor in chief Redgacket East Senior High School Pawtucket, Rhode Island Dear Mr Curtis Through the pages of the Redjacket please permit me to congratulate t e students, the faculty past and present, and the alumni of East Senior High School upon its 100th anniversary Yet the occasion is not one to be enjoyed only by East High and its immediate friends It is a cause for celebration by the whole city of Pawtucket that East High in the one hundred years since its predecessor was founded on Summit Street has attained the eminence that it enjoys today The impact for good which the graduates of these one hundred years has had on our c1ty and state cannot be measured, but we all know it is tremendous If Mr William E Tolman and the other pioneers of high school education in our city could see the results of their handiwork I feel sure they would consider their every sacrifice repaid beyond their fondest hopes or dreams. The illustrious alumni of East High, and its predecessor in name Pawtucket High, were the leaders who founded our city and guided its subsequent growth. The story of Pawtucket is their story. What- ever measure of success we as a city may have had, we owe in large measure to them. On this glorious anniversary we salute East High School, its students, its faculty, and all its graduates! Our sincere wish is that East High may continue to grow in stature and in service to its students, and continue to be a strong force for good in our city. Yours sincerely, JZ Lawrence A. McCarthy Mayor LAMfmln O fx' .V 'wily wfsw. rf- 'V 35iQ.'Layf.I If Hx 5 i' X r . Y . . . . . ' : . l O 0 U C . Q

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,aaa X SE SECOND SCHOOL TOLMAN and contmued to grow untnl success was achleved Under the devoted guldance of its first prmclpal 1n 1858 the school was carried on as a prxvate enterprlse w1th the and of thlrty one pupxls as patrons after the school commxttee falled to provlde the necessary approprlatlons for the schools contmuance However nn the sprxng of 1859 the cxtlzenry voted to approprxate suffxcxent funds for the school once agam In twenty four years from 1855 to 1879 enght hundred seventy enght puprls had been enrolled The first class to complete a three years course was that of 1878 the dnplomas bearmg the name of the prmclpal Usmg the words of Prxncnpal Curtls Great crednt ns always due to one who labors IH the early days of a great movement and especnally to one who starts great moral force whlch IS destlned to uplnft future generatlons To W1ll1am E Tolman IS due the credlt of foundlng the Pawtucket Hxgh School It was he who bore the heat and burden of the day when not many strong lntellectual PEASF CLRTIS HOSMER WHIPPLE 4 y currents towards a hlgher educatxon had been set 1n motlon He must have labored alone and the crednt should be hrs For nearly twenty years the school con tmued nn the llmxted quarters of the Summit Street schoolhouse unt1l ln 1874 If became evldent that larger and better quarters were needed to accommodate the overcrowded condl tnons The people s fanth ln educatnon was gradu ally mcreasmg' Therefore a group of publlc sp1r1ted cltlzens lead by Danlel Lnttlefield were nmpressed wxth the value of the Second Baptxst Church whxch had become financnally embar assed and proceeded to purchase the burldmg for use as a hlgh school untll the school com m1ttee saw fit to buy nt from them Untll 1894 thxs bulldmg used as the home of the Pawtucket Hlgh School was greatly 1m proved by Prlnclpal Alvm F Pease C 1879 18841 who found time to teach Latm Greek Geometry some of the Scxences and Music aslde from h1s dutles as pr1nc1pa1 Durmg h1s admlnxstratnon was organnzed the flrst college class whxch gradu ated nn 1882 Th1s class mcluded Adeline L enckes the only gxrl to study Greek at that tame Upon the appomtment of Prmcxpal Pease to Supermtendence George j McAndrew became prmclpal 1188418885 Under the prlncnpalshnp of George J Mc Andrew the first Pawtucket Hlgh School endless ly expanded and contmued along the road of progress as the people of Pawtucket strnvmg for knowledge nn hlgher educatxon slowly began to realxze the outcome of thenr endeavor In 1888 when Wllllam W Curtxs became prmc1pal the school stnll sntuated xn the old Second Baptlst Church on High Street had enrolled one hundred and twenty five students Classes were held on two floors There were two recntauon rooms on the upper floor for the upper . 9 aw s V . , I , ,xl .. ,y My r P-,A 'S Mg' . 1 1 - 9 . . . , , U , . . . 9 ' 9 , . . . 9 - s ' . , . . . - , , Q Q n 1 - , . Q - , . . . 9 9 - 1 9 . . . . ,, . . ' ' - a . . . . ' . . . . 9 . . . . 1 ' . . ' Z ' ' a , 9 9 1 Y ' , 7 . , - J , , . , - 7 9 , . 7 , 9 ., ' , , rear