Waukegan High School - Annual W Yearbook (Waukegan, IL)

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4-gk sim wax agzizixf fe :ffgakf Itewas in 1870 that the High School was recognized, and was held in the Central School. The population of Waukegan was then about five thousand, and with three fine grade schools and a High School, the people considered that they had as fine a public school system as any city in America, the buildings all being new and furnished regardless of expense with the most approved style of school furniture . The early students of the High School differ in their recollections as to the first principal of the Waukegan High School, some say that James Lane Allen, who was the principal of the old Central School, was the first, and we find in an old Alumni publication that he is given this honor, others declare that when the High School opened in January, 1870, Mr. Henry 'Pratt was principal. No newspaper can be found of 1869 or 1870 to verify either statement. Mr. Edwin Crawford, who was principal in 1874, writes us that prior Pto the complete forming of the course and organizing of the High School, James Lane Allen, a graduate of a little college in West Virginia, I think Bethany, was principal of the highest school in the Wau- kegan Public School Course, which was then mainly composed of grammar school studies with a few High School studies intermixedn. Since then the principals have been: Henry S. Pratt, Yale '63 .............................. ..,..... P irincipal, 1870-1874 Edwin C. Crawford, Dartmouth, '74 ........ ....... P rincipal, 1874-1878 Herbert J. Barton, Dartmouth, '76 ......... ........ P rincipal, 1871-1881 William H. Ray, Dartmouth, '77 ...... ........ P ifincipal, 1881-1883 Edward W. Chase, Amherst, '73 ........... ..... . ..Principal, 1883-1888 Charles H. Sawyer, Dartmouth, '88 ............... ........ P rincipal, 1888-1891 Charles E. Collins, Illinois Wesleyan, '88 .,.... ........ P rincipal, 1891-1893 Frank Hall, Bowdoin, '69 .......................... ....... P rincipal, 1893-1897 C. Victor Campbell ......,......... ....... ........ P r incipal, 1897-1898 William F. Cramer ........ ........ P rincipal, 1898-1901 Miriam Besley ,........... . ....... Principal, 1901-1905 Webster J. Stebbins ........ ....... P rincipal, 1905-1912 William C. Knoelk ....... ....... P rincipal, 1912-1918 I. Lloyd Rogers ......... ...,.... P rincipal, 1918-1920 Paul G. W. Keller ............................................................. Q .............. Principal, 1920-1923 In 1871 there were about twenty-Eve students in the High School and two teach- ers. In 1874 there were fifty students. This class graduating four girls, held the first Commencement in the old Presbyterian Church. Each graduate read an essay. This custom was continued until 1883 when the innovation of having one prominent oustide speaker was made. In 1881 the class was so large Qtwenty-onej that it took two nights to graduate the members, half the class reading their essays one 'night and the other half the next. ' While Mr. Crawford was principal, the school increased from forty-two to ninety-three, although the population decreased during that period by somewhat more than five hundred people. The first directory of the city of Waukegan was published in 1874 and gave the following course of study for the High School at that time: First year: higher arith- i2if3gj'g. ,f:3 'X Q'4' 331 fviz IPX Qi3,fT3,i?Y?.i3' ig Eighteen

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AZ' 'X xx LQ? QL Qlwsiajfizisqzlfis-K ' I he ID gales:-aj 1-1125221222-aiaiwiivf The Historq of the lllaukeqan High School The writing of a record of the part the Waukegan High School has taken in guiding the bewildered feet of lthe youth of the city through learning's maze , has been no easy task. There are no written or printed records of the beginning of the High School, as the files of the newspapers of that time have been lost, destroyed or stolen, so practically all information has had to be obtained from older residents of the city and early students who have kindly given their aid. Let us first make a record of important dates in Waukeganis history, which lead up to the forming of the Waukegan Township High School. The first settlement in Little Fort was made by Thomas Jenkins 'in 1835, a post oiiice was established in 1841, and a village incorporated in 1849, when there were twenty-five hundred in- habitants, at an election held in March, 1849, the name of Little Fort was changed to Waukegan, and on January 31, 1859, Waukegan was incorporated as a city. The county seat was located herein 1841, the county having been created by an Act of the Legislature in 1839. The early education of the children of Waukegan seems to have 'been almost wholly taken care of by private schools. The first school taught in Little Fort was by E. M. Haines, in the winter of 1841-1842. It was in the upper story of a dwelling house of Andrew Rice, on State Street Cnow Sheridan Roadj a short distance south of Madison Street, near the present site of the Elks' building. It lwas a private school, sustained by subscriptions and continued for three months. Later in the sixties and seventies many private schools flourished. One was held in the old jail fwhere the Bunting Printing Company now standsj, taught by Miss Flo Nichols, afterwards Mrs. James Porterg one by the Misses Cleaver in their home lon Utica Street, just north of Madison Street, one by Miss Ida Jones, now Mrs. George S. Wheeler, in her home on the corner of Sheridan ,Rfoad and Clayton Street, where the Clayton Hotel now stands, one by Mrs. Sawyer in a barn on Genesee Street, north of the home of Mrs. F. C. Bassettg one by the Misses O,Reilly in their home where Hewes Garage now stands, one by Miss Clara Timpson in her home where the Armory now stands, one by Miss Betsy Carpenter fafterwards Mrs. I. R. Lyonj in Union Hall on Madison Street, near the present Telephone Building. There were also private schools connected with the two Catholic churches and the German Reform Church on West Street. The Waukegan Academy was a pioneer institution in the city, remembered for its valuable work in the interest of education. It was built by Mr. H. L. Hatch in 1848 and opened in the same year with Mr. I. L. Clarke as the principal. Mr. Clarke continued until 1851 when F. E. Clarke took charge until 1854. It discontinued in 1869, lMr. Henry Pratt then being principal. Coll's Com- mercial College was established in February, 1858, by the business men of the city, to give the boys a mercantile education and continued for several years. The first regular public school house was built on the East Side of Utica Street about the middle of 'fthe block north of Clayton Street. It was a district school, and was used until 1870. Later there were the Central, the North, and the South schools, which were district schools and took care of Hall grades. The public schools of the city were reorganized and graded in 1870. C H fsxfx EZFQKV 352' 2152521 3 I 923 Qc:'2'e3sfqf T21 4?iiZQQY,3-li Seventeen

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if w 4 MJ wr 'W Nr W v CL V W, l 'K tr tk kiss! 4 542'-45 lg WY 'N 'N l '41 fl ja I , 1 V ' w W ty ll I l 'w 1? if . Ll at 1if31m,:i:?22iaw5t'l he ID aim ffiziwe fisgfirps-sz 5 metic, physical geography, English grammar and analysis, Latin, composition, nat- ural history, reading and spelling. Second year: elementary algebra, rhetoric, Latin, Greek, natural philosophy, elocution and reading. Third year: geometry, physiology, Latin, Greek, chemistry, ancient history, botany and geology. Fourth year: trigo- nometry, surveying, Latin, Greek, zoology, astronomy, political economy, English literature and mental philosophy. Twolteachers taught it all! High School affairs moved along from year to year with no outstanding events until the evening of January 21, 1889, when the Central School, with all contents, was burned. On the morning of the twenty-second nothing was left but three bare walls. This was a calamity indeed. Without books Cexcept those which had been carried home by the pupilsj, without apparatus and without all needful auxiliaries for efficient school work, the High School was re-established in the basement of the Baptist Church. Mr. C. L. Sawyer, then principal, enlisted the Alumni in helping to replace the library and apparatus. The incidents of the year in the Baptist Church are always recalled with enthusiasm by the students of that time. No newspapers can be found containing the story of the burning of the Central School. Work on the new school was immediately begun and the present building was finished and occupied in January, 1890. It was thought that the High School rooms were large enough to accommodate the school for years. In an assembly room which seated all the pupils and in the separate recitation rooms which easily accom- modated all classes, pupils and teachers worked with much enthusiasm. The first Alumni reunion was held on June 20, 1882, and with the exception of a short interval they have been held annually since. In September, 1893, Waukegan was most fortunate in obtaining for the principal of the High School and superintendent of the city schools, Frank H. Hall, an educator of national reputation, who had been Superintendent of the State School for the Blind at Jacksonville, Illinois. Under his guidance the High School became ac- credited to the University of Illinois, Northwestern University and the University of Michigan, having been placed on the accredited list of Lake Forest in 1891. The first Baccalaureate sermon ever given in Waukegan was delivered by Rev. Mr. Pate to the class of 1892. This class is also credited with having the first Class Day , enthusiastically celebrated by all the later classes. Literary societies flour- ished in the High School in the decade of the 90's and the programs given by the A. E. I. and the Belles Lettres Societies were of high order, and there was great and stimulating rivalry ther. In 1896 the attendance at the High School was one hundred and sixty-seven and was increasing so rapidly that the assembly room and the class rooms were overcrowded, and the building of a new school became a necessity. The matter was agitated for several years, especially after the High School became a Township High School in July,'1905, and was then no longer a part of the city system. A bond issue was voted on, and work on the Waukegan Township High School building was started in 1908 and the school opened in September, 1910. . In 1904- there were two hundred and twenty students in the school and eleven teachers, in 1920 there were five hundred and forty-seven students and twenty-eight teachers. As the school that had been built in 1910 accommodated only four hundred 2515 5 382' fi? GK fffk Z 1 92 3 .SQ ZYQAZFCSV? QA za fiD3i2gfi2Q'Q Nineteen as fl Q5 FIV Ver 'SM' Vi 4 4 V l li i ff YN! Xl lsr Tir' Lu .iv is-Nr ii Nr NM Wi jr rl W 1 w w '-rr W , I rf Fl' Rr' if VV? 4, KY! fig, W lg :W