Rindge Technical School - Brownie Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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1932 RINDGE TECH BROWNIE A REVIEW OF “OLD RINDGE” HE RINDGE TECHNICAL SCHOOL was founded in 1888 by Frederick H. Rindge, a wealthy Cambridge citizen, who gave to the city of his birth not only a technical school, but a city hall and a public library. He chose for his first principal, Mr. Harry Ellis, who had been active in the founding of the school. On June 1, 1888, the following notice was issued to the pupils of the grammar schools: “The committee in charge of the new industrial school, given to the city by Frederick H. Rindge, wishes to state for the benefit of pupils who desire to attend that it is intended to open the school the coming fall. Boys will be taken upon graduation from the grammar schools, or an equiv- alent, for a three year course, to include one hour daily for drawing and two hours for shop work, the latter to include courses in Carpentry and Joinery, Wood Turn- ing, Pattern Making, Printing, Casting. Blacksmithing, Chipping, Filing, and Machine Work, with practice in actual care of engines and boilers. The school will be free to boys of gcod physique who have been residents of Cambridge for two years. A course of study at the English High School will be planned, to be taken in connection with the Industrial School. This course, though not definitely fixed, will probably be as follows: Mathematics, History, Physiology, and Chemistry, Civil Government, French or German.” With our present numbers it does not seem possible that the beginning in CA 9 1K

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RINDGE TECH BROWNIE 1932 RINDGE, FROM THE LIBRARY (GROUNDS THE SHOP BUILDING

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RINDGE TECH BROWNIE 1932 SS 1888 was with but one building, which we have always called the “Shop Building.” At first no academic work was carried on here, all the boys marching with military precision to the old English High School. In these early years the school was famous as an experiment station in a new kind of education, the technical education. Equally famous were the men who guid- ed its destinies at this critical period. Among these might be mentioned, in addition to Mr. Rindge, the Honorable William E. Russell, the father of our present mayor, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and Harry Ellis, the first Head Master of the School. In 1892 the school was established firmly enough to warrant the addition of a second building. Thus it was that the building we knewas the “Science Building,” was erected in the rear of the “Shop Building” and was connected to the latter structure by a covered passageway. Three years later the school met with an irreparable loss through the death of Harry Ellis, who had, combined with extraordinary executive ability, a deep under- standing of the needs of the boys who attended the school. The first phase in the history of the School closes in 1898 when Mr. Rindge relinquished control. The transfer was accomplished without any loss of efficiency. In recognition of our debt to the founder, the name of the School was changed from the “Cambridge Manuai Training School” to the “Rindge Manual Training School.” It is not easy to put in figures the amount of the gifts which Mr. Rindge made to his city and to the boys who benefited by them, but after the buildings were erected and equipped, for ten years he maintained the school at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars each year. In 1902 a new school building was erected on the Rindge School Playground, for the classes of the old Washington School, which stood on Brattle Street. When the building was erected it was understood that as the Rindge School grew, the new building would be occupied by its students. In 1905 the Washington School was transferred to the new Houghton Building, and the Technical School came into full possession of the Washington Building. Three years ago the two dwelling houses adjoining the Washington Building were acquired and next the home of former Mayor Wardwell, all of which housed classes up to this memorable year. To meet the demanids of education in the ever increasing field of technical work, it has been necessary to add entirely new courses to the curriculum and to radically revise some of the old ones. Such changes have been made as quickly as it became clear that developments in the industrial field warranted such additions. This mod- ernizing of instruction means not only a broader training of distinctly high school grade, but also means a wider choice of vocations for the students of the school. All of the modern changes have taken place under the watchful and foreseeing eve of our present Head Master John W. Wood, who more than measures up to the standard set by Mr. Rindge himself in his appointing of Harry Ellis. The history of Rindge fully justifies the hopes of its founder, Mr. Rindge. It is true that the school has changed but such changes have come in response to the changes in the life of the community and in spite of these changes, the school con- tinues faithfully to carry out the purposes for which it was founded. FAREWELL TO OLD RINDGE! HAIL, NEW RINDGE! CH «10 «(RD