Olean High School - Congress Yearbook (Olean, NY)

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opporfunify for a more finished educafion N THE handsome marble wall of fhe foyer in Olean High School is fasfened a bronze plaque sfafing This properfy was donafed in i852 for school purposes by Ansel Adams Perhaps a few of fhe sfudenfs who hurry by if every day have noficed if perhaps some have paused fo wonder af fhe paradoxical sifuafion if suggesfs They are sfanding in a building consfrucfed wrfhin fheir lifefirne buf on a plof of land dedicafed for fhaf very purpose almosf a cenfury before Yef such is fhe case for fhe firsf Olean Academy fhe forerunner of our High School as builf on fhe very same spof a decade before fhe Civil War The idea of erecfing an academy for higher educafion was conceived early in fhe year I85I by a group of fhe leading cifizens of Olean Professional men business men and men of God fhev had a common pride in fhe fown of Olean and an honesf desire fo presenf fheir children wifh an The mosf immediafe problem fo be surmounfed in fhis plan was fhe lack of funds fo erecf an adequafe building The men decided fhaf enfering upon fhe prolecf as a business venfure afforded fhe besf chance of success so a meefing was accordingly held and fhe Olean Academy Associafion was formed fo raise fhe necessary money The specfacle of fhese men devofing fheir fume and financial supporf so unselflshly fo such a communify underfalcing was graflfying fo say fhe leasf buf if was nof surprising for the people of Olean had always con sidered fhe educafion of fheir hildren imporfanf r aps f is significanf fhe early records of fhe Holland Land Company show fhaf af fhe fume of fhe purchase of fhe land of Caffaraugus Counfy in ISO3 promise was given f and e u ca lon Af any rae IBIO s w fhe firsf school esfablished in fhe secfion now known as Pleasanf Valley a scanf seven years affer f firsf seffler of Olean ad b if his home Nine years a er school was being faughf in Olean OLD OLEAN HIGH SCHOOL . , proper, in a log cabin on Soufh Barry Sfreef: and in I822 a frame schoolhouse was erecfed by Sefh Simmons and his son Ephrian, approximafely on fhe locafion of fhe presenf School No. 3. ln acfualify liffle is lrnown abouf fhese early schools of Olean' cerfainly no comparison can be drawn befween fhsse schools of over a cenfury ago and fhe ones of foday. The former were drab cheerless lacking in lighf land comforf: represenfing perhaps more fhe spirif of educafion fhan ifs developmenf. The subecfs were as rudimenfary as fhe facilifies, reading, figuring and wrifing being fhe sfaple ones. As differenf fo us was fhe schoolmasfer, or schoolmarm as fhe case may have been. who as members of a learned alfhough alien profession, enjoyed a unique posifion in fhe communify. O e of fheir prerogafives was fhe privilege of boarding af fhe homes of The sfudenfs. compensafing for Their , board by helping wifh fhe fasks abouf fhe house, and by exfra fuforing of fhe children. The school slowly grew: by 1846 if numbered almosf one hundred sfudenfs and feachers. Wifh fhe passage of fime came fhe change from fhe one-man ruler of fhe schoolhouse, fo a sfaff of feachers. The school- house ifself progressed from fhe rude log cabin fo a fine fwo- sfory building, puf up in l35l SCHOOL 3 IO OLEAN SCHOOLS - A HISTORY

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N K W X xx ls D Qlean cfzaald 14 Jf1Al'afuf P I I 1 V I I I I I I 'V I 7 M I I f M f 1 I f' i I I1 ' F I I 1 I I I I I I I + I ! I I 1 I I ' 1 I I! Wd' 1 H 1 I ! I I 1 1 1 I J : I L 5 I 0 x J , I I r - o 1 1

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OLEAN SCHOOLS A HISTORY o e s a m e Q Y' spoT as The TrrsT Tr a m e sc ool TwenTy nune years e ore T h growTh was o qulck muTaTnon :T was The culrm na lon oT s w evoluhon keep rn pace wrT The growTh T Olean 4TselT SCHOOL 4 Olean had Indeed grown an l85I The populahon was numbered on The larger snde of 900 Th Erne ranlroad had recenTly been compleTed To Olean local manuTacTurnng was esTablushed and The consTrucTuon oT The long awa1Ted Genesee Valley Canal was To be underTalcen The Town was ready Tor :Ts nexT sTep IH educaTnon The Olean Academy The money whlch The AssoclaTuon had seT ouT To ralse was secured wlThouT duTTlculTy Con sTrucTnon was begun and he bunldmg was comple+ed IH I852 aTTer which ProTessor J A Wood ruTT assumed oTTlce a The TrrT runcupal u neuT er nor anyone else presenT aT The open ang oT The new buuldlng had any vnsnon oT whaT TaTe had In sTore Tor The producT oT Their worlc and bunldnng burned To The ground Again The cnTuzens oT Oean banded TogeTher Ths Tame To rebuald Thenr school A Tempo rary bunldnng was nmmedlaTely SCHOOL I nanclal embarrassmenT worlc was noT begun on The permanenT bulldnng unT1l a Tew years laTer The school was comp-leTed In I858 wuTh FayeTTe Royce as prnncnpal consTrucTed buT because oT T The school nTselT was slTuaTed on a prormnence overlooklng The clTy and only a Tew mlnuTes rxde Trom The ranlroad Traclc as an early Academy BulleTun expressed :T Whale The locaTuon rs per haps Tamullar The curriculum was cerTaunly allen To a sTudenT oT Today Such beguiling subgecTs MeTaphysucs EThucs OrThography RheTornc AsTronomy and lnTellecTual ArnThmeTuc were among Those sublecTs pursued by The scholars oT The Academy Smce The lnsTlTuTnon was prnvaTely owned TuxT1on was also paud The sum OT TnTTeen dollars was The cosT oT The enTure Three year course The husTory oT The Olean Pub lnc Schools acTually began ID The year T864 wrTh The esTablushmenT oT Olean Unuon Free School Das T cT No I Four years aTTer he DnsTrlcT was organized :T pur chased The Olean Academy and nn I880 Tunds were voTed To con sTrucT a new bulldnng This was To Torm The cenTral porhon oT The old hugh school whuch was de mo :shed n T935 SCHOOL 2 n Th ' b T . I s n T' lo . Q . h o e . . Y . . : . V f I , ' - - T ,f , Y I I V . S . S S T If p' ' . BT 'h he, r ' . T ,V l W ' l V . T hopes. Three years later The . . . I T T ' 2 ie .. I , . . l ., . as ' - 1 T' . I x T TT . i g A ri - . T I I' I .