Latin School of Chicago - Sigillum Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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SIGILLUM outfit our teams and gave unstintingly of his time to extend the interest in all fields of athletics. Parents of the school are linked directly to the student activities, both academic and extra-curricular, through the media of our parents, groups. I take this occasion to express my sincere appreci- ation of the co-operation received from this group which has been so ably headed by Mrs. Augustus K. Maxwell and Mrs. William T. Alden. The suggestions of this group have been most helpful. In turning to the faculty, it is difficult not to over-stress my appreciation of the fine spirit evidenced and the loyal co-operation given by the entire group. A school is often considered as strong as its faculty and it is with great pride that we point to the fact that Mr. Thomas J. Bosworth and Mr. P. L. Whiting have each given thirty-five years of service. Recently copies of the Sigillum have been dedicated to these men and it is needless to say that their efforts have been appreciated. And now, a few words of interest concerning that important factor of our school, i.e., the pupils or student body. I would like to list the five Senior Prefects and pay tribute to their great assistance. Our first able leader in 1933 was Thomas F. Geraghty, Jr. and he has been followed by: Gordon Spens, Robert Antonsen, Charles Ford, and Edward Bennan. In addition to the usual athletic activities and annual Cvym. night, students have been busy with the following student activities: Student Council, student publications, i.e., News, Folio and Sigillum, the Glee Club, Orchestra, Debating, Dramatic Club, School Dances, and Boy Scout work. At this time it is very essential that we take notice of the outstanding work done this year on the school publication by Conrad Seipp, our editor of the Sigillum. He has labored untiringly in making this book a fitting testimonial to the goth Anniversary of the School. In closing I wish to thank the members of our present Board of Trustees for their assistance in raising an Anniversary Fund at this time. This is very essential to the progress of the school and means that more people will take a financial interest as time goes on. I hope that the members of the class of 1938 will feel that they will always find a hearty welcome at our school and I trust they will take an active part in our alumni association. Please remember that you are representatives of our school. I shall watch your progress with the greatest of interest and Wish you the best of success in your new surroundings.

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The Present School JAMES O. WOOD NASMUCH as my period of service in the Chicago Latin School extends over the brief period of five years I shall not have very much to report. It is my intention to outline the progress made during this period and to pay my respects to those who have so ably assisted. I have often stated that a school is made up of four component parts, i.e., Trustees, Faculty, Parents, and Pupils. With these four classifications in mind many items of interest pertaining to each can be discussed. The standards of academic training at the Chicago Latin School have always been set high and will naturally remain as such. Dur- ing this early period, as was the case with so many other schools, our immediate question was one of finance. Under the able guidance of Mr. W. W. Dixon, who was President of our Board of Trustees, a new bond holders agreement was arranged and carried through. It was at this time that Mr. Edward I. Cudahy established the Nora Brewer Cudahy Memorial Fund of 550,000 in memory of his late wife. It was a most appropriate tribute, for Mrs. Cudahy was keenly interested in the school and was one of its most loyal supporters. Our Executive Board at this time, composed of W. W. Dixon, John R. Winterbotham, F.. I. Cudahy, Clarence T. Seipp, and Wm R. Carney, was of great assistance due to frequent meet- ings pertaining to policies to be followed and the great amount of detail necessary to the completion of the Bond Holders Agreement. It has been a pleasure to work with such a co-operative group. It is not enough for this school to continue on its reputation. In- dividuals must catch the spirit through interest in order to make this an outstanding school in secondary education. Time does not permit detailed information regarding the benefits and useful facil- ities of the Kersey Coates Reed Memorial Field. Our new football coach, Frank Rokusek, has been a great inspiration to our boys for the past five years. We are indeed indebted to Mrs. Kersey Coates Reed for her continued financial support in the up-keep of the field. During this time, Mr. Thomas F. Geraghty, head of the athletic committee of the Board of Trustees raised a fund to

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C. L. S. Born L. PARSONS WARREN L. Parsons Warren, '03, VVilliams ,O7, keenly interested in alumni activity of the school, engaged in the Insurance business. Fifty years ago, the Chicago Latin School-it had no such exalted name in those days-boasted, among its members, only a few choice souls whose parents envisioned, perhaps, the place it was to make for itself in the development of secondary-school training in this district. It was soon destined to occupy a prominent place in the then developing residence district of the North Side. There must have been a certain amount of prophetic vision in the decision of the founders. To their insistence that an obvious need be met in the best Way possible are all of us later products of the School indebted for the splendid organization Which, this year, under the able guidance of an able Headmaster, is celebrating fifty years of a very fruitful life in the community. In its first days, history records that it was really no more than a small group of boys, carefully selected, meeting in a private home, and presided over by that rare personality, Mabel Slade Vickery. Her effectual ministrations over the destinies of that first group who came to her soon created a demand for expansion in space and increase in teaching personnel, and resulted in the calling, from the East, of Mr. Robert Peck Bates. Under his collaboration with Miss Vickery the class soon shuffled off its physical restraints necessarily inherent in a ball-room Ca private one, at thatj, and blossoming forth as an independent organization. Shortly, this Chicago Latin School was born. In 1894, it found quarters on Division Street, in What had been a private home. Its location changed on three occasions during the period before the building at the alley east of State Street, was erected. There it pursued the even and successful tenor of its way, building intellect and character, but little disturbed by com- petition offered by the University School at Dearborn and Elm Streets, and the Cobb School, at Ritchie Court fthen called Placej and Goethe Street. In the nine years from 1894 to IQO3, the en- rollment increased from I2 to 275, its graduates had gone out to the colleges and universities, and everywhere the School name stood for the best in secondary education, along with those finer things, the intangibles Without which scholastic attainments by them-- selves stand for so very little. Proof in the form of names of eminent citizens could readily be adduced-but these are Words about an institution, and not its off-spring!