Weatherwax High School - Quinault Yearbook (Aberdeen, WA)

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iinstoriral Mptrli nf Alim'imt liiyli § rluuil S A REAL high school, this, the Aberdeen High School, had its beginning some thirty years ago, when in 1890 it was found there were enough pupils in the district who had completed the eighth grade and who desired further schooling, to warrant the school board to employ a teaching force sufficiently • large that at least two years of high school work might be of- The board elected Prof. Campbell as principal of the school, and under his direction the first high school was organized. At this time it was decided to offer but three years’ work above the grades. As a consequence no graduating exercises were held for two years after the organization of the school. During the two years that Mr. Campbell served as principal the high school was housed in a two-story building of four rooms, located on Wishkah Street, between G and H Streets, where the Wishkah Block now stands. By this time the school population had grown so that the district was confronted with the problem of providing more adequate quarters for the high school. Several good building sites were available, all of which were considered by the board. The final selection of the site on the hill was made and a new building erected. As the city grew and more buildings were needed to house the grade children, this building on the hill became known as the Terrace High School. It is now called the A. D. Wood School. At the time of its construction this building was the largest and most up-to-date building in the whole county. The $25,000 spent in its construction was at that time considered rather a fabulous sum to invest in a school building. In 1892 the school board elected Prof. T. T. Davis as head of the school and gave him the title of Superintendent of City Schools. It was hoped the new building would be ready for occupancy on September of this year, but for some delay it was not completed. At the end of the third month of school, however, the building was finished, and the entire student body, grades as well as the high school, were transferred to the new building on the hill. This marks the real beginning of the high school, for in the spring following the class of 1893, the first to be graduated, were given their diplomas, having completed the three years required at that time for graduation. In the first class to be graduated from the high school were three young ladies, namely: Bessie Crammatte, Jessie Haynes and Elizabeth Kellman. All three of these young women taught school for a few years, later marrying and becoming very successful housewives and homemakers. Miss Crammatte is now Mrs. L. P. Dudley, and a resident of Aberdeen. Mary Dudley, her daughter, is a member of the class that finishes school this year. Miss Dudley has the distinction of being the first daughter of a former graduate to receive a diploma from the same school from which her mother was graduated. fered.