Elmira Free Academy - Torch / Sagoyawatha Yearbook (Elmira, NY)

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and tl1e thirtieth and last June reunion. In the school year of 1888-1889, Regents examinations were required for the first time. Tl1is was a noteworthy step in tl1e history of our scl1ool. When Charles W. Evans assumed tl1e principalship in 1895, few people realized how many traditions would be begun i11 his five year administration. ln 1896. the school first observed Lincolnis Birthday as a holiday. The first Senior Play was held in 1898. Early plays included senior classics, She Stoops to Conquer and The Ritals. Football was in its prime in 1898 when F, F A almost captured the state champ1onsl11p In 1999 THE V1NDEX 1THE DF.FElN DER1 emeged when a local paper pub llshed anonymous sl11rs on tl1e Academy ELMIRA FREE ACADEMY 1861 At a mass lI1Cl1 nation meellll tudent yoted to form their own paper to defend was s0 oyercrowded and teacher o scarce that ll1e NCIIIOI' tudled on an honor sy tem A club which has lon since CTIQHIJ peared was or amzed n 1899 but 1t is ICFCSUII to 11ote that tl1e Nlandohn Club consisted of two y1ol1n two banjos one u1ta1 and s1x mandol1ns ln 1900 Howard fonat succeeded Wir Eyan a pr111c1pal Tl1e class of 901 was the fir t class to pick a patron saint a custom continued f0l many years That year al 0 saw tl1e fir t wirelec tele raphy display Ill Llmira held at F F A Eyen tl1e library ,ot into tl1e act tl1at year t adopted the Dewey Decimal Sy tem of Flasslficatlon During the year 1902-19031. tl1e school was so overcrowded tl1at Mr. Conat com- mented tl1at it was impossible to take a step without danger of crushing some un- der-privileged freshmanf' Two to a seat was a rule in more than half tl1e seats. ln 1903 the situation was improved as the freshmen were divided and sent to schools 2 and 3. Tl1e Academyis Alma Mater was written by Florence Volbrecht in 1902. Miss Volbrecht had to leave school be- cause of illness, but she bequeathed tl1e school a wonderful reminder of herself. The Arbor Day custom of planting a tree named after someone beloved at the Academy began dur1n thls period Much of our shade today comes from these trees so lovingly planted In 1905 the first D A R Award was g1ven and tl1e Athletic A 5001311011 began The Glee Club was founded in 1906 Fra11c1s 11 Parker became principal in 1906 011 the 50th anniversary of the chool many of our present traditions ap peared '1he forerunner of our TURC H the I' I' A Yearbook was p11bl1sl1ed W 11 11am .1 liiownlow presldent of the Cla of 1909 designed our school seal and cho e tl1e motto LYEGI MON U 1V1 11. N T U NI AFR lL PERENNIUS 1 have bullt a monument more lastln than bronze A custom which was discontinued lon ago was started at tl1at tlme lf at 11 00 A N1 1t was ralnlng the bell was tapped three tlmes afternoon per1ods were short en d and school was dismlssed at 100 P W1 Many a student must have sup prt el a secret deslre to plav tl1e 110 e on 1Vlr larkers window' 111 1919 tl1e yeirbook was called tl1e SIGNUM and It po e ed a paper cover The 1920s roared at E 1' A as they d1d elsewhere lll the country Tle E F A IUC appeared 1n these gay' years The PILOT m 1930 and tl1e SAGOYAXX ATHA in 1951 were the respective names for the yearbooks of those years Also witnessed 111 that year was the 1un1or Prom and Ju111o1 Day The yearbook of 1957 adopted tl1e name TORCH and be all a tradition which continues to the present Apr11 19413 wltnessed the lar et NINDFX eyer publlshed twentv pa es ollicers tor the first time 1n many year Tl1e first female Student f0llI'lCll Presldent took oyer 111 tl1e m1ddle of tl1e school year of 1915 1936 whe11 the president reslffned and the yeep took 1115 place ln 1916 the Academy sadly said goodbye to 'ylr Parker H1s resi nation closed a11 d m1111 trat1o11 of thirty years Today our atl1let1c field named in 111s l1o11or br1n to mind tl1e man who did so much for our ehool Dr Albert B Helmkamp became our next prmclpal The Academy prospered under his uldance In 1917 he alned a wonderful helpmate when Silas F Parry stepped into the job as yice prlncipal ' ' . Y U q U ul v , , D 1 I I A U ' - 1 U . L s ' ' . 4 - . ,. , . , . ' . ' ' '. ' ss fe s I 11 1 1 . - -N . ' 0 ?'f g . Q M C 0 ' . . . : . , . 1 1 e 1 3 ' 's : , 'SSX .1 ' S y Y. 1. ' 55 SS . , . . Y . A A of s . , . Y' U . . Z7 ' -U - ' U , Q If . g s 1 . ' . 1. E as 3 L . ' 1- ' 0 ' ' ' 4 C ' t11eir rights, During this time tl1e school ln 1935 all classes were organized with , . , . D. - Y K . ,, 'sg .1 1.' ,1n- S F . I . . cz q as -Y 1 ' U' ' , . ' A Ci . F . A - g , 1 jx , M I .L .g . W a 1 ' s s ' ' . , ss 1 1 l ' 35 V :M . . l , 5 . . ' - v v S. - ' s 5 ' s -s g ' . . u' 'I Q . 'v g i g .M g I V ' 3 g 4 . . . .S . v l B l 7 6

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P1 us, at-iwzsfil-b Elmlra Free Academ 1909 ln 1859 the I:.lmlra Free Academy was establlshed as a free publlc school The facultv, although small an number Uulded the school through the start of a fine tra dltlon Prlncxpal Moses Converse and MISS Helen Phllllps lald the foundatlon for the Academy as we know lt today That early home of E F A , a far cry from our present structure was located ln the Flrst Presbyterian Church Isaac Mortlmer WCIIIIIUIOII succeeded 'Nlr Converse as prmclpal ln 1860 wh1le the school was housed ln a new IJUIIIIIIIU on the corner of Vfllllam and Church Streets It was durlnv Principal Welling tons admlnlstratlon that the first com mencement was held In 1862 only two quallfied for a diploma but the class always consldered a gentleman who had left school to attend another lnstltutlon as one of them One young lady com prlsed the class of 1863 It was also dur mv tlns period that the reunions of former students were held The senior class spon sored the Chrlstmas reunion and the juniors were ln charge of the ,Iune meeting Durmv the IIVII W ar the Academy was not all frlvohty The Academy Cadets functioned as a regular part of the school In 1865 amidst the protests of students and faculty allke Wlr Wellington turned the relns of authority oyer to G W' Tim low 1VIr IIIIIIIOXN remained ln charffe for six months durmv which the school was m perpetual not Perhaps no one better suited for the task could have been appointed to quell the riot than Joel D Steele The school soon returned to normal and Mr Steele granted the students a degree of self Government The first honor rolls appeared at this time Top students were known as I'1rst Head Scholars Second Head Scholars These students had dutles as well as pr1v1 leves They were the official bell rlngers and served as monltors They also were allowed to study ln rooms other than the ciapel as the larfe study hall was known at that tlme In 1867 the terms yaledlctorlan and salutatorxan were first used the yaledlctornan helng the highest boy ln the class and the salutatorlan being the hlghest Uxrl revardle s of whlch held the higher average During IIIIN tlme the Lyceum flub a literary society for stu dents and teachers and the Adelphlc De IJBIIIIU C lub were formed Both played an important role in school affairs for many years The faculty which had Urown to four estahllshed impromptu composl tlons on an announced topic at the same time These sessions were held once a week Ill alternatmg periods The class of 1809 orlvlnated the custom of placing the class plcture on the school wall a tradltlon which was continued until the late nmetles when the classes frrew too large Com mencement of 1871 saw the first prizes awarded at such an exercise In 1872 James R Monks one of e graduates of the first class bevan hrs mmlstratlon which was to continue or fifteen years In 1878 a unique class e only Christmas Class ln the IIl3tOl'Y of e school graduated It was caused by ie chanve from a four year to a three year program Also ln 187 the first FA RECORD a short llyed paper publl hed semi annually appeared Herbert M Lovell came to the Academy a prlnclpal IH 1887 His administration saw the formation of an alumni association ' ' A f , .hr 4 1 A ,. t t w... fr X: 5- . , ' '- ' f 'T' , Q nj C s .'i -C' '- A 1.1 A - ,, , I , wsu ir - :T TTTTHNTC' 'fx-ss . d , ,.is?! ' -:fig-s-sr 'ns Y- 1 Ksff Y ,qs . ,, , f T Y., ,A , 0 . . Q 1 I H -. v 1 ' ' ' -e 44 ev J . OI' . . . 1 N . . . . ' ' D ' o 1 1 1 N D . Q . , 7 ' .a I 19 i 1 i V i . , . E . . . . . . ' ' . J , ' 5 , ' .' ' ' - 1 . S , ' . . . . ' D , 5 rr s . . . . ' ' Qi , ' A ' 7 . A C C 5.x . . , V D N C , U Q vu 9 ' . ' , A , I . ' , ' y . U D- ' L ' L , . . . - 3 , , 1 , 1 i ve , D . . 'i sv V' . V , h , . . . ' J' - as 99 ' .' ., , I . - - ' 3- s If . D ' 'T . s . A - - ' ' f H s, A ' - D v T ' ' V s , ' ' D. n c ' ' ' 1 nn n v ' ' A - r 5 ' 9 l ' . , . , 1 th , C, :', O ad- , 1 . f Y Y . . - f . , th r . . . - . . , A , C . i th .1 .A .. , V - - . ,,, . '.- - 511 - c .' .I ' ' . 1 8. - E . 4 , - 7 v 'S . ', v . - -C . S . .

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ln 1910 lL 1' A celehrated the 100th annlyer ary of the hlmrra Academy a haylnv heen recogmzel hy the Hevents as an educatlonal lnstltutlon 1'hat eyent hevan our fme scholastrc traclltlon E F A ls stlll recovmzed a one of the out tandlnff lllvll schools ln the state The Ushers C lub came lnto exlstence lll 1940 and has helped to keep the school YUIIIIIIIU smoothly eyer lnce llecemher 7 1011 1 a day well re memhered hy all for the Japane e attack on Pearl Harhor Nlany hoy left school to Hffht for thelr country neyer to return llhe 1944 l'U11f1'l C0l'll3lllCi.l an h 17 A DLRN ILE HONOR HULL 1'h1 Honor Roll C0flt31IlCd1.l1C names of hoys rn serylce Army 9 Army Alr Corps 5 Navy 15 TIHYIIICN 2 The Academy lomecl the world ln mourmnff Prankhn Roosevelts untimely death 111 a memorlal assemhly on -X Tl 15 0 1'he war oyer the JUIIIOTN relaxed rn 1946 wlth thelr lirt play ln 1948 the Academy and Southslde Hlffh School he came two completely eparate schools as thelr athletlc teams spht Southslde won the first foothall Game hut Academy ha more than revenffed ltself ln 1949 Acad emy posses ed 1ts own hand 111 memher tronv llhe hand more than douhled rn memhershlp 1t 15 now a 60 memher or 031112311011 ln 1950 the hand and other Il'lllS1C3l orvanrzatrons comhmed to present C the first annual muslc festlyal The first of 1954 orlgrnated the ldea of the SCYIIOI' Prom and Banquet helng held on dlllerent eyenmv Also a jllIll0I' dramatlc Ol ann 7dll0I1 was formed that year lglmlla l'ree -Xcademy sard farewell to Dx Helmkarnp ln 1954 lts frlend and leader for almo t twenty years ln 1956 the school showed that lt would always rememher 111111 when lt cleclded to haye lts honor souety hear llls name Kenneth 5 Weayer one of Academy wellllked l1lQlOI'N teacher a sumed Dr Helmkamp s POSIIIOII The school has con llllllffl nts upward cllmh under hr dlrec tlon Scholastrcally the Academy has hoomecl Sports wx e who could de ne more than a .32 Game wrnnln streak put away foreyer by the haskethall teams of 195619509 In 1907 the Frrst completely run student productlon A Cup of Klllll ness was presented The tradltlon of ex cellence rn eyerythlnv has contmued The beyylldered look on the faces of fre hmen cla electron cheer songs the annual t hrr tmas tree trrmmlnv SCIIIOI' llay benror Day S 1-1 S rlyalry carm ya dances report carcl day and tre faculty gathered rn thc office rn the morn the e all make the centennial cla fee wrth cla e of years Hone by and of cla ses yet to come that Llmlra Free Acad emy wlll lllfleeil he clear to n alnay DR FRANCIS PARKER DR ALBERT HELMKAMP 1 6 s n . T C K: 1 C . . .Q . N . 2 . S S C U 7. U. T. 1 1 A I . Y - , rg w ' . M Y' A o s ' . . f- s ' 1' ' - ' , s ' ze 1 .4 1 ' , X f . . ,Q - M 1 . 3 . lg 3 4' . ' I : ', g A p 'l f. 1945. ll' 1 ,. ' S Y- f 7 A , C - . . 1, 5 5. , 5 , W ', ' : 5 . : ' . , Z. -T n ' s D. , , C . College Day' was held in 1951. The class Z '-r 'M. I . 1 5 D .' . , , 4 - 1 '- 'S . ' s' ' - ,' ' U . I' 37 ' F - ui - .T ' V .1 c- 3 ' ' s . ss ' s. . s. ' C1 I i . . N . ' ls. ' 3. ', 1 V I . . - ings s ' 55 1 ' ss s ' 5 , ' s: 5 ' ' 5 . - ,' ' I ' s 'sf T