Pittsfield High School - Yearbook (Pittsfield, MA)

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THE CLASS OF 1394

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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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1805 1891fl905 l'rinm-ipl t'. A. Hyram 1897 1898 1 P45111 1905-1 l 1'rineipn1 W, D. Goodwin 1911 1911-17 Principal Hurry E. ltratt. 10l7f21 Principal Lorne 13. Hulsman 1921 Principal Roy M. Strnut. 1928 ltkil 1050 Needs and pleas went unheeded: facilities were dwindling, lint the Fates got some action -used the school for their kindling! Although the town fathers commissioned a new one, A good two years passed before it was done. A half-finished block at a Wlest Street location, Sadly equipped to advance education, Served in the meantime. Our very first high school, so the archives express For the space of a year next. relieved the distress. Down by the Vommon at a First Street address The new building was ready-a peerless suecessf-4 A structure imposing, with classrooms to spare, lt boasted labs, a cafeteria-in those days quite rare- And an auditorium! Business was booming, so they made a decision To arrange and conduct a commercial division. When the attendance had doubled in but a deca.de's space The students of business were prevailed on to make place By transferring their section to ltead School nearby: Their departure, however, served not to supply The much-needed relief. All methods and means were tried out in this crux In an effort to cope with and shelter the infiux They set. up more seats, held a double session, And accomplished slight ends by corporeal compression, They converted the attic without insulating tlt was freezing in winter: in spring, suffoeatingl - Into classrooms. A sin of omission to leave t.his unsaid: In this fortunate year Mr. Strout becalne head. The since titled High School of Commerce returned And the crowding seemed hopeless. Then aid was discerned The mayor appointed a special committee To seek and suggest some fit spot in the city For a new school. Sentimental objection couldn't bar their selection So, soon was complete the long-needed erection. The years intervening have swiftly passed by To find cause for expanding even this Pittsfield lligh Its history up to the presentis been told. Now, we'll opine what the future will hold That its first hundred years were the hardest! 'mf V