Jacksonville High School - Crimson J Yearbook (Jacksonville, IL)

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Top left: Amy Hess and Danny Williams leave school. Top right: Mattie Freeman and Steve Crites stroll down the hall at lunch time. Bottom left: Tina Standley works in the media center. Bottom right: Nancy Prewitt, Sharon Donovan, and Amy Cowgur wait for a ride after basketball practice. Students’ lives are always busy. They dash to school for their first hour class, and they race back and forth to their lockers during the day. They run for the lunch line and short study halls, and finally at the end of the school day, they rush to get out to their cars or buses. A typical day might include hustling to avoid a tardy first hour, taking tests, and finishing last minute assignments. Students listen to teachers’ lectures, take loads of notes, and enjoy a short break for lunch and conversation. They sleep in study hall, look up information in the media center for research papers, and finally wait patiently for the 3:30 bell. Before school the students fall quickly in with their group of friends. They can be seen lounging together in these groups before schools in the cafeteria or in the class halls. This is the time for finishing last minute homework and talking about everything that happened the night before. Hectic though it is, the life of a student at school is only a small part of the student’s life. Life at home or on the job, a life of activity or recreation, looms beyond the building. 2 Opening

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Top: The staff of the Crimson J in 1911 posed for this very formal shot. The members of the staff, as listed in the annual, are Lewis Osborne, Florence Spruit, Blanche Perry, Josephine Ross. Ruth Raylor, Esther Vasey, Davis Martin, William Hadden, and Charles Withee. Bottom: The first high school building in Jacksonville that the Crimsons J served was this building on West State Street. The school burned one night just after midnight in 1918. With this edition of the 1985 yearbook, we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Crimson J, the high school annual which was first published in 1910. Although we do not have at this time a copy of the 1910 edition, the media center at the school does have one copy of Volume Two, which was published in 1911. In its reserved section the media center has at least one copy of the Crimson J for each year since 1911. The Crimson J has evolved over the years in its format, meeting the needs of the changing times. The 1911 edition is a rectangular paperback with eighty pages and minimal photographs compared to the modern hardback copies of 200 pages or more with ample pictures. The 1947 J cost two dollars while this volume is $15. Throughout the history, the Crimson J has provided the same essential service of recording the names and faces of the classes and faculty, a catalogue of organizations, the activities, and the sports and scores for each year. The scope of the J has changed as the school has evolved. The J has served three high school buildings. The first building burned in 1918 and was replaced by the building on West State Street in 1922. The new high school on North Diamond was occupied in 1982. Not only have the buildings changed, but the size of the classes have altered as well with 61 seniors listed in the 1913 yearbook compared to 289 seniors in the 1985 roster. The Crimson J is one of the best sources for information about the school’s past. In 1935, for example, Jacksonville lost the district basketball championship to Mur-rayville High School (that’s right . .. Murrayville High School) by 44-32. Over the years the J has covered the activities of a wide range of clubs which' reflect the interest of each generation. Some of the clubs in the past include: the Ushers Club, the Bird Club, the Hunting and Fishing Club, the Knitting Club, the Projectionist Club, the Baby Sitters Club, the Future Teachers Club, and the Commercial Club. Better than any other document, the Crimson J has recorded for future generations the full range of the history of Jacksonville High School. 4 Opening