Riverside High School - Mercury Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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DEDICATION In recognition et unselfish service during Hs twenty live years ef leadership and in gratitude tor guidance during cur own years here we dedicate this Mercury to 6eorge A. Chamber lain cur beloved principl

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In the few short years of our stay at Riverside, we cannot help but learn to ad- mire and esteem Mr. Chamberlain, — not only for what he, as principal, does for us and means to us, but also for what Mr. Chamberlain, the man, really is. Capable farseeing, broad-minded, encouraging, pleas- ant, this versatile man is the most prominent figure in our school life. Because of our appreciation for the prin- cipal and our admiration of the man, the life story of Mr. Chamberlain should be doubly interesting to us. Mr. Chamberlain ' s high school days were spent at the Woonsocket, Rhode Is- land High School. After graduating there he attended Harvard University, where he received his A.B. degree in 1891. For the next two years he assisted in the Harvard Physics Laboratory. Soon afterward he started his career as a member of the facul- ty of East Side High, in the physics and chemistry department. During the period 1892-1902 he was coach of the football and baseball teams, adviser on the Mercury, and coach of the winning intersocietv debate team of 1902. In 1903, the responsible position of prin- cipalship descended upon Mr. Chamber- lain. Immediately after his appointment, he introduced several changes which, though then considered rather radical, extreme, and unfounded, have since proved sound and worthwhile. Among these was the development of the nine different depart- ments under their respective chairmen who work with the principal. Another change was the classification of students into homo- geneous groups, according to ability to learn rapidly or slowly. This was the basis of our present x , y , and z classes. 1912, the year in which the new high school — the present building, — was erected, marked a turning point in the history of Last Side. If it had not been for Mr. Chamberlain ' s foresight and keen inter- est in the welfare of the school, the his- tory of Riverside might have been consid- erably different. For it was due to Mr. Chamberlain ' s efforts that the new school was built, not in the middle of the lot, but to one side, thus allowing plenty of space for our spacious and beautiful athletic field — and providing for our unusual athletic development. The many banners, cups, and other victory trophies which we now display in our halls are silent monuments to Mr. Chamberlain ' s vision. But Mr. Chamberlain has not been in- fluential in these fields alone; fof Riverside today holds a scholastic position unique among the high schools of the city and of the whole state. From schools all over the -country Mr. Chamberlain receives letters expressing congratulations for the superior work of our graduates. Mr. Chamberlain, however, has found time for many outside activities. Recently he has been appointed Chairman of the Educational Committee of the Milwaukee chapter of the Izaac Walton League. He- is an active member of the Wisconsin State Board of Control, supervising state high school contests for 24 years. He has been instrumental in developing the present rules and systems of supervision. He has found time for community service also. For a number of years he has been a member of the City Club Committee on Civil Service, which introduced and secured the passage of a bill to improve Milwaukee County Civil Service. Mr. Chamberlain is also a member of the Wisconsin High School Principals ' Association, the City Club, the National Educational Society, and the Harvard Club. Thus Mr. Chamberlain, the man and the principal, can be well considered a suc- cessful man in every sense of the word. And so he is today — an inspiration and an ideal for all his students to admire, honor, and emulate.