Harvard Boys High School - Review Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Another striking fact is the wider spread of the school population, made possible by the development of good roads and automobile transportation. ln former days the school drew from a purely local field: now it draws not only frorn Kenwood and Hyde Park, but also from the South Shore district: and about thirty-five Beverly Hill Billies make the trip each day. For several years we had three boys from Palos Park, two from East Chicago, one from La Grange, and one from Evanston. One Beverly family has the travel record, for the two Hanney boys have together covered approximately 75,000 miles going back and forth to school, with 9,000 miles to go before they finish. In regard to choice of college and the shift away from the East several factors have been at work, chief among them the development of good mid- western schools like the University of Chicago and the state-owned univer- sities of Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois. ln the last ten years, of course, economic changes have been the predominant factor in the drop of registra- tion in Eastern colleges. ln compiling statistics we have compared the first twenty-five years from l880-l905 with the second twenty-five years from i905-1930, and have considered the third group, l930-40 separately. ln the first group twenty-two American colleges and universities are repre- sented, plus several European ones-the Beaux-Arts in Paris, the Universities of Munich, Leipzig and Oxford. Yale takes a preponderant first place, with an attendance of 3951 of our men: Harvard is second with l5Wy Chicago ranks third, with 9'Wp and Massachusetts lnstitute of Technology and Princeton tie for fourth, with 576. After them come Cornell, Dartmouth and Northwestern Clsawl. Seventeen per cent did not go to college. The second group includes thirty American colleges, with two European ones-the Beaux-Arts and the University of Grenoble. Yale still holds first place, but has slipped to 20752: Chicago has crept up to second place with l8'Z25 Harvard is third, with 872: Dartmouth, Michigan and illinois tie for fourth, with 6156765 then come Wis- consin, Pennsylvania CWharton Schooll, Alabama, Princeton and Cornell. Six per cent did not go to college. ln the depression group, registration for Eastern colleges stops with the suddenness of the crash itself, and Chicago jumps easily to first place with 40'W. Eleven per cent did not go to college, and the colleges represented show greater extension in geographical distri- bution as well as in number. Of the thirty-seven colleges, many appear for the first, or almost the first time, among them Beloit, Carleton, Lawrence, Hobart, Hamilton, Kenyon, Oberlin, N. Carolina, S. Dakota, Iowa and Car- negie. Of the Eastern colleges, Dartmouth, Massachusettes Institute, Harvard, Amherst, Cornell, Brown, and U. S. Naval Academy are still represented, but in small numbersp and Yale has disappeared. During the last fifteen years, Dartmouth has been the favorite eastern college. Of our 20 boys attend- ing Dartmouth during this time, five have won Phi Beta Kappa honors. Our most recent M. l. T. man last year ranked among the first five of the Freshman class. Of our two men now at Harvard, one has won scholastic honors and is on the football teamg both entered on honor scholarships. We find that our alumni live in twenty-eight states of the Union, plus Canada and Hawaii, and in four foreign countries,-France, England, ltaly and Egypt. Their occupations cover the whole field of business and professional life, and include, besides the more obvious ones, those of editor, publisher, interior decorator, industrial designer, oil geologist, brewmaster, chemist, tanner, trapper, rancher, artist and writer, with one bishop and one judge. In listing their occupations in order of frequency, we have lumped under finance bankers, brokers, auditors, estate managers, trustees, investment counsels and dealers in securities: under Fine Arts, architects, interior decorators, composers, artists, writers, and editors. Education includes teachers and PAGE 18

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ALUMNINOTES f FOREWORD The material for these Alumni Notes has been gathered over a period of eighteen months. During this tirne, innumerable personal letters, cards, blanks, and form letters have been sent out, hundreds of personal messages have been added to form letters, and many alumni and friends have been called upon for help. The response has been excellent. Not more than a dozen letters have been returned for want of a correct address: and the majority of blanks have been promptly returned, properly filled out, and frequently accompanied by additional information and pleasant personal messages. The latter have greatly added to the pleasure of the work. We could hardly get over our school-teacher habit of putting the old boys in their places. Those who did as they were asked were mentally marked satisfactory7 but if they added a friendly or interesting rnessage, they were given A or A+. The ones who didn't answer, and even kept the stamped and addressed envelope which had been provided, were flunked quite heartlessly. There are, however, few of these. Messrs. Charles H. Hamill, Arthur Meeker, Daniel I. Schuyler, Clarence Huling, Shirley High and Iohn I. Bryant were particu- larly helpful in locating lost boys of their respective times: and we are deeply indebted to Mrs. lohn Walsh, who proved a mine of useful information. By the time the work was concluded, we rnust admit that in regard to alumni We heartily echoed the sentiments of the little girl mentioned by Iune Provines, who after studying penguins at school, wrote in her report: I have learned rnore about penguins than I care to know. The records of the school were not kept accurately before 1880, which represents the first class graduating under Mr. Schobinger's regime, nor was a catalogue or student-roll kept. Therefore, although this is the seventy-fifth anniversary number of the Review, the notes will cover only the sixty years from l88O to l94O. What conclusions, if any, can be drawn from this survey of Harvard School boys over a period of sixty years, in relation to school, college, and private or business life? One striking fact is the ever increasing tendency of Harvard School boys to obtain the greater part of their preparatory education here, and to com- plete their high school work with us. In looking over the attendance records of the past twenty-five years, we find very many boys who have spent ten, eleven or twelve years in the school. ln a recent graduating class of fifteen, eight had had their entire education with us. A Ten Year Club would have a large membership. This was not the case in the early years, and up to about 1920, when many boys went East to Exeter, Andover, Hill, St. Mark's or St. Paul's for their junior and senior years. Now many boys come from other schools to spend their last two years at Harvard and, in very many cases, to take a postgraduate year before entering college. For the past fifteen years we have never been without one or two postgraduates. PAGE 17

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librarians: Engineering includes civil, aeronautical, naval and electrical en- gineering and geological and chemical research. 1880-1905 1905-1930 1. Finance Finance 2. Law Manufacture 3. Manufacture lnsurance 4. Merchandising Law 5. lnsurance Eine Arts 6. Engineering Engineering 7. Fine Arts Merchandising 8. Education Education 9. Medicine Medicine-Contracting Packing-Advertising The banking-investment field still holds first place in both, as the frequently recurring addresses-231 S. La Salle and 208 S. La Salle indicate. We be- came so familiar with one address especially,-175 W. Iackson, that we really considered working a little blackmail on its owner: for if we induced all Harvard School men to move elsewhere, the building would immediately go into bankruptcy. Lack of time prevented our carrying out this little plan. From these same groups, we have drawn other statistics which may be interesting. ln taking the first two hundred men of each group, we find that in the first group 117 are unmarried: of those who are married, 3'W are divorced, and there are two children per family. ln the second group 1599 are unmarried: of those who are married, QW are divorced, and there are 1.7 children per family. As many younger families are still incomplete, the difference is not great, and the .3 child will probably be picked up by the time another bulletin is issued. In the first group there are twenty families with four children, two with five, and one each with six and seven. The second group has seven families with four children, one with five and one with six, and has three families with twins. Although there are more larger families in the first group, there are also more childless couples than in the second. The question on the blank, Do you now have more sympathy than you used to for your parents for teachersl? was put in just for fun, to see what the boys would say. The comments were amusing. Some of the remarks are: Definitely! - 1 should say so. - And howl - With knowledge comes understanding, therefore sympathy. - l always did have sympathy with both. - Being both parent and teacher myself, I should say, 'Decidedly'. Others, having a chance to get even with teachers at last, frankly answered: No, or With parents, yes: teachers, no. And one man said: After paying all the bills, l think 1 need the sympathy. ln length of boy-year attendance, there are several interesting figures. The eight Mason boys spent 72 years in the school, the six Hamills, 47 years: the eight Burnhams, 27 years: the four Reams, 30 years: more recently, the five Barnards 21 years: and the grand total of the Kirchheimer families was PAGE 19