Now I know my A, B, C’s…

- Chippewa Falls High School in the Early 1900s
- A New School, An Evolving Ideal
- The 1st Class: Chippewa Falls High School Student Life in 1907

Chippewa Falls High School in the Early 1900s

The ring of a bell, student’s feet shuffling down the hallways, and the sound of chalk on a chalkboard…these are the sounds that bring life into a high school. And these are the sounds that have been around to greet people every school year for decades. High school however has experienced a multitude of changes in the past 100 years. The twenty-six members of the Class of 1907 from Chippewa Falls High School had a much different high school experience than we would have today. The classes that were offered, and the make-up of the school itself have evolved greatly. So let us now step back into the hallways of Chippewa Falls High School…

The whole notion of high school education was quite different at this time. Although high school education was accepted as a “public function” and that the public should support schools, it was not so easily put into practice. 9 The idea that education went beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic was not one that the general public yet believed. In fact in 1888 when the Bennett Law was passed which required students between the ages of seven and fourteen to attend school for twelve weeks of school a year, the bill itself only mentioned those three subjects along with United States history. It stated, “ no school shall be regarded a school unless there shall be taught therein, as part of the elementary education of children, reading, writing, arithmetic and United States history, in the English language.”10

A New High School, An Evolving Ideal

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had to deal with the concern of making education practical in regards to immigrants, the changing dynamic of the rural and urban life, as well as the changing work environment that was occurring around this time. It was a common idea that education further than the basic reading, writing, and arithmetic would discourage young people from manual labor.11 Therefore people looked at high school education as being more college preparatory.

The 1907 graduating class of Chippewa High School was the first to graduate from the newly built high school, as well as some of the first graduates to become a part of the evolving high school ideal. The courses offered at Chippewa Falls High School in 1907 were beginning to reflect the idea of high school being focused on preparing students for an overall education rather preparing only those who planned on attending an institute of higher education. At graduation one of the keynote speakers was Don McGraw, a former graduate of the old high school. He stated in his speech,

The courses in our public schools should be such as to broaden the student, give him self reliance and develop in his those qualities which go to make real stalwart manhood…the student should acquire something more than facts – ability and capacity to acquire knowledge.12

Chippewa Falls High School was beginning to do just that by offering a greater variety in the courses being taught. Here is the course schedule for each grade level that was decided on in 1905 by the Chippewa Falls School Board;

First Year-
Algebra
English
Rhetoricals, one each semester
Manual Training- Required of those who do not take Latin. 3 hours a
week.
Latin
Commercial Work
Physiology, first semester; Physiography, second semester.

Second Year-
Greek and Roman History
Botany
English
Rhetoricals, three during the year
Manual Training, one and one half hours each week required of those who
do not take Latin or German.
Latin
German
Bookkeeping

Third Year-
Geometry
English
Rhetoricals, Original productions-four during year.
Commercial work.
Chemistry
Latin
German
Modern History

Fourth Year-
Physics
American History and Civics
Rhetoricals, as Third Year
Latin
English
German
* Subjects underlined are required of all. 13

As one can see the specialized classes that are available for high school students now were not an option for those in high school back at the turn of the century. However, the courses were indeed beginning to reflect a more well rounded education instead of strictly the “reading, writing, arithmetic” of previous decades. Right around this time period the incorporation of vocational education classes and trade schools was beginning to develop as well. In fact, the Chippewa Falls High School added a whole vocational education wing to the school to accommodate the changing curriculum. Industry, labor, and educational organizations were not happy with the manual training strictly for “cultural purposes” included in school curriculum.14 Many wanted the option of specialized schools that students could attend if they were considering going into more vocationally based employment. Therefore in 1907 the Wisconsin legislature passed a law allowing cities to establish trade schools as a part of the public school system.15 This helped to change the face of industry all over the state, as students could obtain more in depth manual training than had been traditionally offered in the past.

CONTINUE