Murphysboro High School - Crimson and Corn Yearbook (Murphysboro, IL)

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1950 Crimson and Cora - Historical Skctclz of M. T. H. pt-1o1u1ugo2o1o3-ngt'14'init11-iinioioioioxtvinrioinittitnitvit'11'11xioioioioioioioioq HISTORICAL SKETCH Our building, as it appears today, was not always the beautiful, two-story, buff-colored brick Town- ship lligh School. ln the beginning M. T. H. S. was only a dream in one man's heart. He could toresee the value to the entire township of having a high school. Its influence would extend not only to the students but also, through them. to their parents and neighbors. So this man, Ellis ll, Rogers, formerly a superintendent, of Murphysboro City Schools, began with patient et't'ort to sell his idea to the leading citizens of Olll' city. lle pointed out the advantage of having a school t'or the high school pupils only, who then were forced to attend school with grade school pupils. ln a new building the students could conduct their activities, sports, plays. etc., with no fear of disturbing the grade school pupils. Ltlr. Rogers pointed out to citizens the advantage of an auditorium for their plays and graduations. lle reminded them ot' the first formal graduation in 1800. There was only one pupil i11 this class and she was determined to have a formal graduation. This necessitated a special meeting of the board ot' education to approve the plan to appropriate five dollars to rent a hall for the graduation. The first thing to be accomplished. through the persistent efforts of lllr. Rogers, was a general election held at the court house on Saturday, April 14, 1900. for the purpose of voting for or against a proposition to establish a township high school. The p1'oposition carried. The second accomplishment was the election of the first hoard ot' education for a township high school. The third step toward the accomplishment of the goal set by lllr. Rogers was an election to vote for or against a proposition to issue bonds to the amount of 5l422,000 for the erection and equipment ot' a suitable building. The bond issue was voted on and carried. A tract ot' three and onerhalt' acres of ground, located in the Clarke and Logan addition to the city of Murphysboro, belonging to Tom Logan, and adjoining Logan Park, was chosen as the site for the building. In 19210 the State ot' Illinois selected this campus as the appropriate spot for the location ot' the .lohn A. Logan memorial. The plans for the building were prepared by .Xlr. .l. IJ. Drake ot' Alurphysboro, The contract for the erection ot' the building was awarded to Messrs. Russell, Drake and Vo. January 11, 1901, who immediately began the work of construction. The t'irst building was erected in the center of a huge campus. llere, in the midst of this large tract ot land. the new building seemed a lonesome object. The townspeople wondered why a big new school was being built way out in the country. M. T. H. S. 1900 ..--M ,..11it111v1.12-,102-,Soi-lztlzt.101-,xt11-izoioi-nxt-1 -gogoitqt1101-,103,init-xoxo:-'ini--Q 'Tlzc old orrlcr frlzaugetlt . . . Page Seven

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1950 Crimson and Corn - Table of Contents 2 1011 1031 it 1010101020101021lic114D11111111l1uin11mioi11ioZoZ4li HISTORICAL SKETCH ADMINISTRATION AND FACULTY SENIORS UNDER-CLASSMEN SPORTS ACTIVITIES HOMECOMING ADVERTISING M. T. H. S. HERALD l1n11ri1x1o1111v1 ini 11211: 1 Z 2 1 1 1 1 111 1 1 31 111: Page Six

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1950 Crimson and Corn QOQOQOQOQOQODOQOQOQOQ0.0QOQOQOQIYQ!IQ!iQ!lQllQllQllQl!Qll,1lQilQ!bQilQ1bQ1 QOQUQUQUQ UQUQ Since Mr. Rogers had been Principal of the Murphysboro City High School, he was advanced to the position as the first principal of M. T. H. S. The teachers who served under him on the first faculty were Roscoe C. McCormick, Mrs. Kate Chapman, and Aneta Baldwin. To Mr. Rogers, undoubted- ly, goes the honor of the title, FATHER OF M. T. H. S. Mr. Rogers served as principal here until 1905, when he moved to Everett, Washington, where he had been elected principal of the high school. When Mr. Rogers left, the board of education chose Mr. Edwin E. McLaughlin to fill the office of principal. Mr. McLaughlin spent the years from 1905-1907 here as principal. As an ardent advocate of prac- tical education he succeeded in introducing into the High School manual training and other practical activities. Following Mr. McLaughlin as principal was Mr. Edward E. Van Cleve. During his three years at M. T. H. S., from 1907 to 1910, efforts were made to beautify the campus. Trees that were selected for variety and were typical of the native woods of Southern Illinois were planted and are now flour- ishing in full maturity. It was during Mr. Van Cleve's term as principal that the teacher who is probably the best known of any to the people of Murphysboro first came to M. T. H. S. - Miss Anna Taggart. She is prob- ably best remembered as a Latin teacher. Miss Taggart was an outstanding teacher and a leading, civic-minded citizen of Murphysboro for thirty-one years. During these years she was also an able assistant to the principals: Mr. Todd, Mr. Caldwell, and Mr. Nicholas. Upon her retirement in 1940 she spent several years in Murphysboro and then moved to Carthage, Missouri, but still has retained a warm friendship for and an interest in Murphysboro, its citizens, and its activities. When Mr. Van Cleve left M. T. H. S., Mr. G. J. Koons, the assistant principal, was promoted to the office of principal. He remained here from 1910 to 1917. In March, 1911, the school was first placed on the accredited list of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Mr. Koons saw the need for landscaping the campus and, by acting promptly, was able to secure expert help for this work from the University of Illinois. The campus was allowed to be a project for the University's Agriculture School. Students, under the guidance of an instructor, visited the campus and recommended a plan. The only expense to the school was the cost of shrubs. Following Mr. Koons, Mr. A. N. Thurston was principal of the high school. Mr. Thurston's work began in the fall of 1910. Chemistry, physics, physiology, and physical geography were his principal subjects. He taught some agriculture as well as assisting in coaching basketball and baseball. In 1917 Mr. Thurston was appointed principal of the high school, which position he held one year. On leaving the high school Mr. Thurston was appointed chemist for the Ohio State Board of Health at Columbus, Ohio. The new principal of M. T. H. S. was Idr. M. N. Todd. Since the years he was in Murphysboro were filled with exciting events, perhaps, they can best be told in his own words. I was recommended as one capable for the position by a former superintendent of mine who was also at one time principal of M. T. H. S. I refer to Mr. E. E. Van Cleve. The school's enrollment increased rapidly from about four hundred students to five hundred and fifty. More room was needed and the Home Economics Building was erected in 1920 at a cost of :B8,500. By 1923 the enrollment was past the six hundred mark. The crowded condition demanded more room and modern buildings, and so the board invited the alumni, business and professional men and women, the editors of the local papers to visit the school for observation. Later a mass- meeting was held and the board, acting on the wishes of the meeting, asked the voters to confirm a bond issue of 3150.000 It cariied and two large and excellent buildings were erected. Now let us leave the building feature and enumerate the respects in which M. T. H. S. can be classified as the pioneer school of Southern Illinois. It has the honor of ranking among the first of the schools to expand the cu1'riculum in the following ways: the first or second township high school, since one other high school claims the same honorg first to establish the Smith-Hughes Home Economics corrsesg second school to establish a full time accredited teacher for girls' physical education, first high school in the United States to establish an extensive laboratory for testing poul- try for egg-laying characteristicsg first to establish a slide rule for valuating school grades on individual differences and probability curve, and first school in Illinois to establish on a permanent basis the forty-five minute nine-period day. M. T. H. S. did boast of the largest art display of oil paintings and prints in the halls of the school, but most of these were destroyed by the tornado. - Inf1918 football was organized when very few schools had reinstated it after the war. As for bas- ketball we had no gym so the friends down town made up a purse of 5400 and the school had a pie- social which netted another S400 with which they remodeled the Old Pavilion in Logan Park by arch- ing the ceiling. Then came the tornado of March 18, 1925. The Old Central building was entirely destroyed and much damage was done to the other three buildings. Fortunately the board carried S125,000 tornado Page Eight