Seven Hills High School - Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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early book sellers. These business men were the first to interest people in reading and from their work has resulted much of our love for books and ultimately the establishment of libraries. Already in the late Eighteenth Century a library had been estab- lished in one of our earliest residential districts, Waliiiit Hills. This library was a private one which was well equipped with 700 volumes. The library was destroyed by fire soon after 1800. The Theological College of Lane Seminary dedicated its library in 1833. President Lyman Beecher, DD., was the president of the college when its 1000-volume library was com- pleted. The school then had an enrollment of one hundred students. There was no tuition, just a monthly payment of 35 for board. The Lane Medical College had already been endowed with 2000 volumes in the year 1825. The Cincinnati Board of Education was the first promoter of the public libraries. As early as the year 1838 or 1840 the Board had established a library in the center of the city and equipped it with 164,000 volumes. At first, each book was read approximately three times yearly. The Mercantile Library soon followed in the steps of the first Public Library. This library had a more specialized selection of books and was turned into a private library. One of the most interesting libraries was that of Mr. A. T. Coshorn. Mr. Goshorn, who refused compensation for having aided the state in engineer- ing an exposition, was given an appropriation of 310,000 by the citizens of Cincinnati. This sum was to be used in equipping one room in Mr. Gos- horn's home as a library. ln 1858 this gentleman bought books of his choice and established a private reading room. Enoch l. Carson, whose library burned several years ago, had the most complete Masonic library of the world. He also had a fine collection of Shakespearean works. One of the earliest clubs was the 4'Historical and Philosophical Societyn which was located on Garfield Place. This club possessed a library of 7000 volumes and over 40,000 pamphlets. The Unity Club was started as a Sun- day afternoon pastime for debaters and book lovers. This club later charged a nominal fee and as its membership grew it moved to the Grand Opera House where both men and women met under the leadership of librarian A. W. Whepley. The U.C.D. was founded in 1866 for ladies and gentlemen of Mt. Auburn and surrounding communities. This club devoted its weekly sessions to essays. Even earlier than this one, was founded the Literary Club under the auspices of a Librarian of Congress, A. B. Spofford. This club dis- WL wlfone, 193 9 1901

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school by the boys, who had provided themselves with provisions, in case a long siege was necessary to obtain their demands. The holiday was usually granted with a treat of apple cider and cakes. Until 1823, the curriculum of these schools consisted largely of instruction in the languages, mathematics and some rhetoric. At this time the method was slowly changed, as was shown by the 4'Cincinnati Female Academyii under Dr. John Lock. He had liberal and enlarged opinions on Hfemalei' education and introduced the higher branches of Science among the pretty creatures who assembled there. One lovely girl took a degree in mathe- matics, another in moral philosophy. They blushed so sweetly and looked so beautifully puzzled and confounded, that it was difficult for many to de- cide how far they merited a diploma? This school was of high rank and extremely popular, in fact, the daughters of the most distinguished citizens were enrolled there. Dr. Lock showed great zeal and devotion for his work, and at the same time had perfected the system of upouring oil on the troubled watersf' lt is amusing today, to read in the paper the advertisement of the Joseph Herron Academy, which appeared in 1850: 4'School for boys situated on the north side Sixth Street between Walnut and Vine, out of the business part of the city and surrounded with line private residences and shaded by beauti- ful trees. About 1855, Mr. Chickering came from the East and established a school in Avondale. It became necessary, however, to have a larger building, so it was moved to the hall of The George Street Engine House between Central Avenue and Plum Street. These private schools continued for many years to prosper and enlarge, forming the foundation for our public schools of today, and strengthening themselves for their long existence through the years. NANCY MCLAUGHLIN, 1940 Cincinnati A Literary Center uCincinnati more than any other Middle Western city, has been,', writes Henry Howe in his uHistorical Collections of Ohiof, ua literary center-a great book-publishing, book-selling martf' The bookstore of Robert Clarke and Company was one of the few literary focuses before the Nineteenth Cen- tury. Here one met the most eminent of social, literary and musical com- pany. This unusual popularity for books is credited to the integrity of our Winona, 193 9 i891

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cussed essays, a monthly newspaper and books. It was the oldest of its kind to consider the newspaper as a source of knowledge. At the outbreak of the Civil War, this club renamed itself the 4'Burnet Riflesn and devoted its efforts to the Union Army. We can hardly realize the effort needed to interest people in any kind of book reading, now that we have at our disposal 30 Public Libraries, 89 Public Schools, each with a supply of Library books, and many other spe- cialized libraries in our own city, namely medical, law, and theological. It is hard for us to realize that in 1850 the books in our city may have num- bered 200,000 while now our main library alone has approximately 100,- 000,000 volumes. RUTH EYRICH, 1940 The Earlier Education of Cincinnati When the early settlers moved westward into the Ohio Valley, their chief implements were the plow, the rifle, the speller and the arithmetic. The rifle was necessary to protect the people from the Indians, the plow, to till the fields, and the speller and arithmetic to educate the young children. These pioneers had high ideals, and as soon as a little community was formed, steps were taken to organize a school and a church. Every settler contributed his share toward the building materials and the salaries of the teacher and the minister. This collection was the beginning of the present school tax system. The first important teacher was John Filson, who sug- gested 'the name of Losantiville for this present city of Cincinnati. While Filson was engaged in laying out a new subdivision in the wilderness fnow near the corners of Fifth and Elm streetsj he was killed or carried off by the Indians, and was never heard of again. Twenty years from this time, there were several schools and school mas- ters. Cincinnati was the first city, formed from the Northwest Territory, to start a school. The very first school was a log cabin built at Columbia-now a part of Cincinnati-in 1790. The first public school was on the river bank and the second one was on Sycamore street near Fifth street. The first model school was built in 1833, and this was the beginning of nine other schools all built alike. The land was usually acquired by donations or by the city school board buying it. At first, ordinary rooms were rented in which the classes were held. As the population increased, the city was divided into five wards, each Yfmgdone, 193 9 i911