Pittsfield High School - Yearbook (Pittsfield, MA)

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iq- 15-4 1850 1851 T1 1 '1'lIl1f!TiJ11l Jonathan Tenney 1853-57 Prim-ipal A. B. Whipple 1857fti-4 Principal S. J, Sawyer 1864-611 Principal W. H. Swift 1867 1866-G9 Principal .l. E. Bradley 1870 1 869- 78 Principal '1ll1El'1 Tolman 1 STG 18THf82 Principal E. G. lla dwin 1882388 Principal E. G. Rive 1882+ E11 Principal J. li. Welch One Tfunbreb years 1850-1950 Centennial Occ By Doris Byrdy f llark, all who will, and we shall relate The history of our Alma Mater to date. From the solons at Boston came the farsighted ruling That the towns must. respond to the need for high schooling. What an adverse reception this ukase received! For most, from the least to the mayor believed 'Twas nonsensical. After years of evading the 1aw's demands, Our town built a school where the post office now stands. It had three rooms to boast. of, cost three thousand dollars, Had an M.A. in charge of some five dozen scholars. The townsfolk dropped in whenever they wanted. The exams, which were oral and public, then haunted The students. The subjects they studied were straight from the classics: E.g., rhetoric, Greek, and Euclidean mathematics. Philosophy, mental and moral, was askedg And with bookkeeping also the students were tasked. The school grew in numbers, but not in capacity: So to deal with the great intellectual voracity 'Twas rebuilt. Grade school and high school were therein combined. Soon enrollment surpassed that for which 'twas designed. When the powers deemed it well to reward lucubration . Two lone girls were first honored in formal graduation. Now the Meciical School on South Street was bought, But this acquisition quite soon came to naught: A fire razed the structure considered so fine, But a new one was built in a very short time On the same site. Innovations were addedg new ideas were expressed, Such as, English, not Latin's what ought to be stressed. A heretical teacher was heard to exclaim On the subject of homework, I think it's a shame! A foresighted school board began to insist That science and French be put. on the list To keep up with the times. With the passing of years t.he at.tendance increased: Accommodations, however-not in the least. One perplexed princeps made this suggestion: Th' elementary students who increase congestion Might well be removed, to our satisfaction: Their presence, forsooth, is a cause of detrac-lion From high scholars' dignity. Wi ts

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LAYING THE CORNERSTONE OF THE PRESENT BUILDING

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THE CLASS OF 1394