Strong Vincent High School - Spokesman Yearbook (Erie, PA)

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program does not provide for any physical instruction, we feel that any- thing that tends to strengthen the body is to be heartily supported.” Until 1907, when a group of ambitious girls raised the money to equip a gymnasium, there was no place for exercise but the lawn in front of the school. The field where the Cathedral now stands was used for base- ball and football practice. The cellar of the school served as a place to “limber up.” A few minor accidents occurred when some athletically in- clined student tried to do a trapeze act on the gas pipes thus spreading the contents all over school. In this way several half-holidays were procured. Athletics not being fully recognized, there was no competition with other schools. This tended to make inter-class rivalry an important factor in high school life. Each class developed the best team possible and played in a tournament with all the other class teams. The winning team became the varsity and was the only one which had suits or equipment. Conse- quently it was more advantageous then than now to be on the first team. As soon as athletics became prominent a campaign was started by the students to purchase and equip an Athletic Field. By 1912 they had raised the necessary funds. For several years assemblies were held every day during which the en- tire faculty sat on the stage. At the close of school the rooms formed in Central School before the addition. 11

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white elephant as was predicted by the Graphic at the time it was pro- jected. The high school portion of the building is cut up into small rooms holding fifty pupils each and there is no place for them to assemble except in the big hall on the second floor. This hall, however, is so large and low that the whole high school is lost in it and someone speaking from one end cannot be heard halfway down it. When it becomes necessary for a teacher to hear another class recite, the pupils in her home room are com- pelled to change from one room to another. The process of changing is so confusing that one of the members of the School Board described it as pigs in clover.” About 1895 the part of the building from the tower to the Tenth Street entrance was added to accommodate the increasing number of stu- dents. In 1891 it was practically all Central School and very little High School, but in 1904 it was very little Central School and nearly all High School. At first, graduation exercises were held at Central but as the school grew it became necessary to have them at the Opera House. As the primary section of the school diminished and the high school enrollment increased rapidly, people began to combine the names Central grade school and Erie High School and speak of it as Central High School. Gradually the name Erie High died out. One of the men identified with the early struggles of the High School was Assistant Principal James R. Burns who was called the “greatest friend and teacher of youth.” When Mr. John C. Diehl took over his duties as principal, the enrollment of the High School was over 1,000 stu- dents. Crowded conditions made it imperative that another school be built in the near future. In a few short years the High School had increased from a hundred or more pupils to over a thousand. Soon plans for a new high school were completed and the Academy High under construction. Because the Central High was crowded beyond capacity it was necessary to divide the school into two parts. The first division under Principal John C. Diehl met in the morning from 8:00 until 12:30. The afternoon session, held from 1:00 to 5:00 was under the supervision of Principal George O. Moore. When the Academy was completed Mr. Diehl and his section of the school were transferred to the new school. Central High School returned to the regular all day session with Mr. Moore as principal. Now, when Central has the smallest student body of any of the schools it is hard to realize that once she had as many pupils as Academy and that the other Erie high schools are, figuratively speaking, her children. We are proud of Central’s athletic history. Have you ever stopped to consider that there was a time when school athletics were practically un- heard of and that only through the efforts of the students themselves were they given a place in the curriculum? An Athletic Association was started among the pupils and on May 22, 1896, the first Field Day was celebrated. This occasion came to be a cus- tom which has only recently been abandoned. A report from the school previous to this event shows the attitude toward athletics: “While our 10

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twos and marched to music in military order from the school. It was the highest ambition of every freshie to “make” the Glee Club, the most im- portant activity. Organizations and extra-curricular activities always exert direct in- fluence on a school. No matter how small or insignificant a club may be, it has had some effect upon school life. Therefore a bird’s eye view of some of Central’s former activities and clubs will aid in creating an un- derstanding of her history. The growth of the school is reflected in her clubs. The musical and debating organizations are the only ones which have continued to be ac- tive from the very beginning to the present time. The other clubs were organized, lived for several years and then gradually ceased to function. After a while they were reorganized, perhaps with their name changed and purpose revised, and they again took their place in school activities. The history of the clubs is, for the most part, a con- stant organizing and reorganizing. For many years, literary societies were the most important cog in the school wheel but they have gone the way of the Eta Byte Pye Society and the Olympian Club, the purpose of which was to promote all around de- velopment and social service. After the school was moved to “Central School” the influence of the Girls’ Society was far reaching as was that of the Scientific Educational Bureau. The present French Club had its be- ginnings in 1922 under the title “La Cercle Fi'ancais.” In the early part of the twentieth century the Flask and Retort Club, organized to promote an interest in industrial chemistry, was active. The new Radio Club at Central this year was not the first, as a similar one ex- isted in 1922. The Sphinx Club, which was rather exclusive, and the John Club, composed only of boys named John, were two of the most amus- ing organizations. In 1912 the Spokesman conducted a campaign for a Dramatic Club and the result was the club which is active today. Until the war it was the custom of the senior class to go to Washington, D. C., in a body after commencement. A group called the Washington Club was re- sponsible for all arrangements pertaining to the trip. During the war, Erie High School had a large cadet corps, trained to a high degree of efficiency by a member of the faculty. The Y. W- C. A. and the Y. M. C. A. have always been represented by some organization at the school. At first the medium between the “Y” and the school was, the Girls’ order of the Sterling Yardstick which has since become the Girl Reserves. The boys have the Hi-Y Society. When a new school is organized some of the old clubs are discarded and new ones organized to take their place. Before doing this we hope that Strong Vincent will consider the clubs and activities of former days, and reject only the unworthy and impractical ones. There are many old organizations and customs which could profitably be renewed. For in- stance, until recently it was the custom of the Junior Class to give an en- 12