Withrow High School - Withrow Annual Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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V31 w l .fl .. K, f . . d , .H :,,:,-. - r C -5 1 X' : :E I1 Q f x 1 1. .-she 'M' it so 1 F W -1 fa . J 4. v ' 4 ' We 1 Q-.yffi M. ,nu , if f- in -, I ew-- ,.- hd, f ,B .il l y I I i 47 Y ,. yep 5 ng 2 uw xl 4 - A IA v-11. . - I A .5 A S , ff' ,lhi l gr gi Q a- i. 15,15 ' F 'TQ' 1 ,L W? , 1 I r. A. U - I f ff I K' ' 1, ,,AAf , 1 Jai'-'Xff The History of Withrow High School HE twenty-seven acre tract at the junction of Erie Avenue and Madison Road, where now stands Withrow High School. was originally part of the Erkenbrecher estate. At that not distant date it was a small farm with a few scattered buildings and a pasture for grazing cattle. Yet this tract had already made its bid for fame when. years before, Andrew Erkenbrecher. the founder of the now famous Cincinnati Zoo, housed his hrst collection of animals there. The Board of Education bought the property in 1913 as the prospective location for a new high school. Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Condon, and the President of the School Board, Dr. Withrow, were both intensely interested in the project and spent several years in the preliminary planning of the building. The firm of Garber 53 Woodward was employed for the architectural work, and on the eleventh of December. 1915, ground was broken. The construction was well under way when the war upset all calculations, and when the main buildings were completed, it seemed necessary to convert 'them into a government hospital for wounded soldiers. Fortunately the signing of the armistice prevented their,use as such. and the erection was resumed in three units: the academic and industrial buildings, the gymnasia, and the stadium. ' When completed in 1919 the school presented an imposing appearance. It was a departure from the customary school type, being a combination of northern and southern 'colonial archi- tecture. The low red brick building with its pillared portico, the lofty tower. and the graceful bridge are reminiscent of Revolutionary days. On the tower and buildings are -engraved quota- tions from Ruskin, the Psalms, and Superintendent Randall J. Condon. The Hyde Park Business Club added a thing of beauty to the plaza in front of the school in giving a handsome Rookwood fount fashioned of varicolored tiles and bearing the signs of the zodiac. The A view of the farm buildings from Madison Road 13

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t i A Tribute to Mr. Lyon that we do honor to its principal Mr Edmund D Lyon He has been the head of Withrow High School since its opening in September. 1919. He has fostered its growth from a modest beginning to its present positiori as an institution of learning known throughout the country for high scholarship and aspiring ideals. In a sense these qualities are symbolized in the stately group of buildings which stands as an open altar to the dawn upon a site un- matched in natural beauty. N THIS Annual in which the history of our school is told for the first time, it is fitting His devotion to the welfare of our school is a thing for which we cannot hope to make early requitalf We know, however. that by rendering service to the school and community, we can best discharge the debt of gratitude due to him. and to the people of Cincinnati who have entrusted him with so noble a temple in which to instruct youth in the ways of knowledge. IZ

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Womenfs Garden Club also showed much interest in the embellishment of the grounds and presented the flagstones which surround the fount. In September, l9l9, the school. which can accommodate 2.500 pupils in its combined units, was opened with an enrollment of thirteen hundred students which seems a small number when compared with our present family of 2,100 pupils and 90 teachers. These were drawn from Hyde Park. East End, Oakley. Madisonville. East Walnut Hills, Evanston, Pleasant Ridge, Kennedy Heights. and Mt. Washington. Mr. Edmund D. Lyon. who earned an enviable reputation as principal of Hughes High School, was chosen to head the staff of 65 teachers. Electric lights. class bells, parts of the laboratory equipment. the gymnasia, and the manual training equipment were lacking. Two buglers served as the announcers of class periods. Since the library was yet unfinished, the pupils were denied the use of it for several months. The lunchroom was opened, but so incomplete in equipment was it that the students were obliged to bring their own silverware. That which is now the teachers' lunchroom then housed a manual training class. The stadium was still in process of construction. andthe athletic field was not yet leveled. School spirit sprang into an early existence. and the Senior and Junior classes chose orange and black for the school colors. Teams there were. indeed, and the boys walked a mile to and vf' 'Tn K ,- wmv '1 I W The old driveway from football practice with no visions of a shower awaiting them at the end of their labors. The basketballers were also handicapped in being forced to use a room in the Industrial Arts building for practice work. Other branches of activity took form and later added zest to the curriculum. The Junior class established a precedent by giving the Seniors a reception in March. Then came the end of the initial year, and joint commencement exercises were held in Music Hall. When school reopened in September, 1920. a transformation met the eyes of the students who returned, The corriders were lined with neat lockers in place of the unsightly holes of the previous year. There were two completed gymnasia and two large swimming pools ready for immediate us. Furthermore. the wonderful stadium with a seating capacity of 8,000 had been completed. The clubs of the preceding year were reorganized. and many new organizations were formed. The work of the Garden Club is worthy of special mention, for they planted a wild flower garden in the ravine and ceaselessly labored to beautify the grounds. Now, in the nook beside the girls' gymnasium, there is a hardy garden growing about a bubbling fountain as a further monument to their efforts. The pupils were highly delighted when. on the second of December, the magnincent organ presented to the school by Richard K. LeBlond was dedicated by the great French organist. Joseph Bonnet. The wonderful instrument, which is perhaps the best in Cincinnati, is a four- 14