Minneapolis Vocational High School - Tradewind Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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quarters, for. by this time, the school numbered over five hundred. The war conditions brought tremendous pressure. The power machine department moved into its present room, jumped from ten machines to forty, and began to take war orders. Red Cross pajamas, olive drab shirts, made by girls rushing in to get a quick training before rushing out again to take positions. were the order of the day. The telegraphy department was opened to prepare girls to take the positions being vacated by boys who were going into training in the camps. In connection with the Woman’s Christian Association. which turned one of its homes into an experimental hospital, a course for practical nurses was begun, and practical nurses were trained to help fill the gaps left by the nurses leaving for the Front, and to assist in fighting the terrible epidemic of influenza which was sweeping the country. Positions in all lines of work came faster than students could be trained to fill them. During the period of deflation following the close of the war. Vocational suffered as did all training institutions. Positions became scarce. Industries were trying to get back on a peace basis. Boys were returning to claim their old places. Girls were being thrown out of positions, and did not know what to do. Minneapolis and the Northwest was slow to recover from this depression, and is just now becoming reasonably normal. During these years, due to the great amount of war service contributed by the Dun woody Institute. only the more mature boys had been able to secure vocational training at that institution. 7’he younger boys were not having the advantages equal to those offered to the girls. In 1921. therefore, several courses for boys were organized in the Vocational High School. This meant a change in name, and from that time, the word “Girls” has been omitted from the title, and the school has been known as the Vocational High School. In the June graduating class of 1924. boys appeared as graduates from the Electrical course, the Automcchanics. Printing, and Telegraphy courses. The addition of boys made new demands on the already crowded space, so that, when the East High School students were transferred to the John Marshall School. Vocational moved

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SCHOOL Our old Vocational building looks rather desolate now. but it is quite a place compared to what it was in November of 1914. At that time, it had been twice deserted and looked the part. The Central High School, the first high school of the City of Minneapolis, after having been housed here for thirty-five years, had moved out. only to make room for North High, a tenant for a year while their building was being repaired after a fire. They. too. had departed, and the place was doleful indeed. Only the south half of the building was assigned to the use of the Girls' Vocational High School, as the school-to-be had been named. The north half had been loaned to the trustees of the William Hood Dunwoody Fund. For two months, both halves of the building hummed to the noise of intensive preparation, equipping, and cleaning. On Monday morning. [December the fourteenth. 1914. the two institutions. The Girls' Vocational High School and The William Hood Dunwoody Industrial Institute, opened their doors to receive the girls and the boys of the city who had the courage HISTORY to depart from the traditional line of education and to demand a trade or vocational training. Ninety-three girls answered the call and were welcomed by the principal who still presides over the destinies of the school, five teachers, of whom Miss Wright is now the only one remaining in the corps, and three substitutes. Bv February. Mrs. Kriedt. Miss Morris. Miss Harris. Miss Gilruth. and six other teachers had joined the first pioneers. Before the school celebrated its first birthdav. the teaching body numbered twenty-seven. This gives 3 slight idea of the immediate popularity of the new work. The big event of 1917 was the celebration of the first annual Commencement. Diplomas and certificates were awarded to thirty-six girls, indicating that two-year courses and successful work experiences had been completed in home-making, junior nurse work, dressmaking, millinery, and commercial training. The war brought busy, rushing days. Dun-woody moved into its new building and Vocational immediately expanded into the vacated space, glad enough to get out of its cramped 8

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one group pf the business girls and the electrical boys over to the East building. There, in what is known as the East Vocational School, these courses have flourished. A year later, the Tailoring course grew out of the need for soldier rehabilitation work, and a Woodworking course was also begun. In June of 1925. the hospital moved from the old building which had been in use into the two fine old homes which arc now occupied at 1700 and I7J0 Third Avenue South. Except for the two or three years after the war. the school has shown a steady, very solid growth. In spite of its poor housing and its meagre equipment, it has established itself as a real force in the city. Each department is working out its own problems, feeling its way more and more adequately into the needs of both the young people who need training and of the business of the city which needs trained employees. The prospect of the new building, which may be looked for by the fall of 1927. is giving added impetus to the work, and Vocational High School is looking forward confidently and courageously to the future. f)