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

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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

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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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The old spring house-now the wild flower garden manual Skinner organ. Mr. Heinroth. one of the world's greatest organists, and other noted artists have favored the students by playing for them. The Class of '21 presented to the school a bronze tablet. which was placed near the organ, as a testimonial of gratitude to Mr. LeBlond. The organ screen, which adds beauty and symmetry to the stage, was built by the Board of Education. The organ has played a prominent part in the Annual Concerts which have con- tinually increased in popularity sinceitheir inauguration in June. 1920. They are rendered by the Junior and Senior Orchestras, the Girls' Glee Club, the Boys' Glee Club. and a Mixed Chorus. These musical organizations, under the leadership of Mr. Surdo. have become very proficient and their performances always receive a favorable reception from the public. With the funds of various organizations the school was able to purchase several cellos, violas, clarinets, trombones, snare and bass drums, and tympani. The auditorium was equipped with a motion picture machine and screen through school funds. The stage furniture, consisting of Windsor chairs and velour curtains, was purchased, and recently the addition of the drop curtain has made the stage complete in every detail. , Thus passed the second year of the wonderful life amid these beautiful surroundings. The Class of '21 inaugurated the custom of holding the graduation exercises in our own auditorium. They also started the pretty and impressive practice of marching from the northeast door to Madison Road, returning across the bridge, entering the door of their alma mater for a last time as students, and then taking their places in the auditorium. Our stadium ten years ago 15