Lake View High School - Red and White Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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1874 + 4 1949 jkrougk ffm mam Seventy-five years ago Lake View High School was raised out of the heart of a prairie wilderness from materials consisting mainly of the faith, hope, and courage of early pioneers, who had little else with which to build. The year 1872 found the country struggling in the throes of a panic, general apathy reigned, and the calls for new enterprises were growing more feeble every day. As the clouds and storms of depression settled over the land, few people could hold onto dreams and aspirations any longer, and fewer still were they who managed to bring their dreams into being. One such rare man of action and imagination was William P. Jones, scholar, prophet, poet, and educator. In 1869 Mr. Jones came to Lake View inspired with the thought that a fine com- munity could be built out of the little town huddled on the open prairie against the 'driving winds and blinding snow of winter, and in summer, the unrelenting rays of a bright sun. He believed that the indomitable pioneers braving these hardships would soon be demanding schools for their children so that they could be educated into better lives than those of lonely backwoodsmen. Still, with foresight and wis- dom, he also realized that no single tiny village could raise and maintain an adequate high school. Determined that the urgent need for schools throughout the state, as well as in his own vicinity, be met, he labored undeasingly until he had created a public opinion which enabled him to induce the legislature of 1872 to pass a law authorizing the establishment of township high schools. Under this law funds for schools could be collected from an entire section rather than one small town. The first community to take advantage of the law was Lake View which almost immediately presented a petition for such a high school to the township treasurer. The petition was granted, and on August 3, 1873, the townspeople were called to- gether so that they might select a site, and authorize the trustees to issue bonds to the amount of fifteen thousand dollars to provide for the construction of a building. Although everyone agreed on the latter half of the proposition, a lively debate ensued as to where the school should be located, because a number of sites had been mentioned. It was the Graceland Cemetery Company that settled the controversy by offering a lot at the corner of Graceland lnow Irving Park Boulevardl and Ashland Avenues, free of charge, provided a building costing not less than fifteen thousand dollars be erected within two years. An election was then held, and of the four sites voted upon, the gift site received one hundred thirteen votes against fifty-five for the other three combined. Eager to begin construction before the bitter cold should set in, the willing laborers commenced work on the first day of September, under the direction of S. M. Ran- dolph, the architect, and Jens Olsen, the contractor. Completed the next spring at a final cost of sixteen thousand dollars, the build- ing was pronounced a beautiful structure and a model of its kind. The white two- story frame schoolhouse was nestled in the midst of several large willow trees, and was surrounded by a wide green lawn, which in turn was encircled by a low picket fence. On the first fioor was a library, a laboratory, and four classrooms, while the second was merely one large room with a platform at one end, serving as a combi- nation assembly hall and cloakroom. The ianitor, who from 1874 to 1914 was Robert Wilson, and his family resided in an apartment in the basement, and it has been said that the delightful aroma of cooking dinners floating up to the students during school hours was one of the greatest distractions from study. The school was dedicated on April 29, 1874, against the background of a rural township far outside the city limits of Chicago, and few of the onlookers even dreamed that some day the little building would be one of the oldest and best-known institu- tions in that great metropolis. 1. FIRST ASSEMBLY HALL 7. CLASS OF 1889 2. MR. CHARLES W. FRENCH, PRINCIPAL, 1890-1891 8. CLASS OF 1894 3. THE KERFOOT GOLD MEDAL 9. FACULTY OF 1899 4. THE KERFOOT GOLD MEDAL 10. SECOND LAKE VIEW 5. TICKET TO A SHOW, 1892 11. MARY l. REYNOLDS, CLASS OF 1894 6. MR. JAMES H. NORTON, PRINCIPAL, 1891-1900 I3

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