Historical Note

Austin High School has been the focal point of the Austin neighborhood's educational activities since the last quarter of the 19th century. Residents of Austin have always expressed pride in their high school.

Delos Buzzell was Austin High School's first principal from 1876 to 1879. During that time, the school occupied one room of the North School on Ohio Street. In the late 1870s, Austin High School's library consisted of some 700 books, which led to the hiring of the school's first librarian. 

After Austin's annexation to the City of Chicago in 1889, Austin High School's student population began to grow dramatically. From 400 students in 1900, the school's population increased to 2,298 in 1920. A phenomenal 6,815 students were enrolled by 1931.

Austin High School, like the community it served, experienced a great deal of turmoil during the 1960s and 1970s. Racial tensions were brought to the surface by federally mandated desegregation attempts and demographic changes in Austin's population. In addition to reporting other activities and achievements associated with Austin High School, newspaper clippings in this collection document this critical time in Austin's history.

Scope and Content

AUHS consists of an initial accession and one supplementary accession. Photographs are listed following the Box and Folder Inventory of non-photographic material.

Initial accession (Boxes 1-2)

The initial accession is divided into 6 series. Each series is arranged alphabetically or chronologically depending upon the nature of the materials. 

Series I: General Records, 1895-1950s
This series consists of bulletins, newspaper clippings, programs, and school correspondence, documenting Austin High School's activities and students over a period of some 55 years. The documents in this series are arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Series II:  Historical Essays and Sketches, 1879-1931
This small series contains written histories of Austin High School, its teachers and students. A history of the high school's Parent-Teacher Association is also included. This collection, consisting primarily of original typescripts, is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Series III:  Newspaper Clippings, 1900-1970s
Newspaper clippings from local newspapers provide invaluable insights to the activities and people associated with Austin High School. This clipping series is divided chronologically into three folders: 1900-1929, 1930-1949 and 1950-1970.

Series IV:  Parent/Teacher Association, 1909-1969 (predominantly 1950s)
Since the early part of the 20th century, the Austin PTA has been active in the affairs of Austin High School. The PTA's activities are chronicled by bulletins, fliers, newspaper clippings, and programs. The series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Series V:  Programs, 1916-1965
Numerous Austin High School activities are documented in this series, including class and commencement exercises, Austin High's Diamond Jubilee, field day, programs from recitals, and music announcements. The material is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Series VI:  Publications, 1888-1959 (predominately 1910-1930)
This series contains student newspapers and yearbooks. The materials are arranged alphabetically by title and chronologically within each publication run.

Supplement 1 (Boxes 3-4)
Supplement 1 include a number of class and other photographs documenting school activities. The materials also expand the original collection's programs, yearbooks, and newspaper clippings. 

Provenance

Materials in the Austin High School Records were collected over a period of 30 years by various Austin historical organizations. The records were kept at the Austin Branch of the Chicago Public Library until November 1984, when under the auspices of a Dr. Scholl Foundation Grant, the Special Collections and Preservation Division processed the papers according to archival standards. They are housed in Special Collections in conservationally-sound storage.

Additions (Supplement 1) to the Austin High School Collection (AUHS) were originally part of the collections of the West Side Historical Society, an organization that was started in 1930 at the Legler Branch of the Chicago Public Library to promote and collect the history of Chicago's West Side. Upon the dissolution of the historical society in the late 1950s, its records and materials remained at the Legler Branch where they suffered from poor bibliographic control, inadequate storage facilities and unsupervised use. To ensure the historical integrity of the remaining materials, a 1976 arrangement gave the University of Illinois at Chicago temporary custody of the collection. Under the arrangement, the materials were transferred to the Chicago Public Library’s Special Collections Division and Preservation Division 10 years later, where they were divided up by community area, processed under the auspices of the 1986 Dr. Scholl Foundation Grant, and placed in the Neighborhood History Research Collections.

Access

AUHS is available to the public for research in the Special Collections and Preservation Division Reading Room on the 9th floor of the Chicago Public Library's Harold Washington Library Center, 400 South State Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60605. The collection does not circulate, although photocopy and photoreproduction services are available depending upon the condition of the original materials. First time patrons to Special Collections must present photo identification and complete a Reader Registration Form. Telephone inquiries on this collection and other Special Collections holdings can be directed to 312-747-4875.
Duplicate materials and selected photocopies from AUHS have been returned to the Austin Branch Library's historical collection.

Box and Folder Inventory

BOX 1

Series I: General Records

1. Bulletins and postings, 1950
2. Class song (typescript), 1916
3. Dean of Girls, Elva Weston Deaton: Newspaper clipping, n.d.
4. Ephemera: Daily program card, n.d.; school letters, n.d.
5. Football Team: Newspaper clipping, 1895
6. Graduating students: Newspaper clipping, 1916
7. Poem: "Golden Jubilee" (typescript), by Mrs. Stanley E. Young, 1965

Series II:  Historical Essays and Sketches

8. Austin High School (typescript), 1931
9. Austin High School PTA History (typescript), 1906-1915
10. Community Background: Austin High School, 1950
11. Chronology: Principals and Assistant Principals, former students and faculty, (typescript), 1879-1965

Series III:  Newspaper clippings

12. Newspaper clippings, 1900-1929
13. Newspaper clippings, 1930-1949
14. Newspaper clippings, 1950-1970s

Series IV:  Parent-Teacher Association

15. Bulletins and fliers, 1950s
16. Newspaper clippings, 1911-1956
17. Program announcements, 1909, 1955, 1956
18. Program yearbooks, 1954-1957, 1964-1969

Series V:  Programs

19. Class Night Exercises, 1916-1924
20. Commencement Exercises, 1917-1924
21. Diamond Jubilee, 1965: List of former students; program script.
22. Field Day, 1916, 1917
23. General announcements, 1913-1925
24. Recitals and music announcements, 1916-1934; 1954

Series VI:  Publications
Austin Times (bimonthly)
25. vol. LXVII, nos. 4-5, 8, 1955
26. vol. LXVIII, nos. 1-2, 1956
27. vol. LXXIV, no. 8, 1959

Maroon and White (monthly)
28. vol. X, nos. 1-2, 1915
29. vol. XI, nos.  2-4, 1915
30. vol. XII, nos. 1, 3, 1916
31. vol. XIII, nos. 1, 3-4, 1916
32. vol. XIV, no. 2, 1917
33. vol. XVI, nos. 3-4, 1918
34. vol. XVIII, no. 4, 1919
35. vol. XX, 3-4, 1920
36. February, September-December, 1920
37. vol. XV (volume change), nos. 6-9, 1921

BOX 2 1. vol. XVI, nos. 1-4, 1921
2. April, June, 1922
3. vol. III (new format), no. 7, November 1923

The Pigmy Boomerang
4. vol. II, no. 5, 1888 Yearbooks
5. 1929
6. 1930
7. 1931
8. 1932
9. 1933
10. 1934

Supplement 1

BOX 3 Series I: General Records 1. Class list: Identification of students in an 1890 class photograph
2. Newspaper clippings, 1931-1953
3. Programs: Commencement, 1883, 1890, 1938, 1944, 1945

Series VI: Publications

The High School Voice (newspaper)
4. March 1898. Maroon and White
5. April, June, 1919
6. 1920 Jan.
7. 1921 Jan. 
8. June 1921  [See also below, 4:9.]
9. June1922
10. December 1922
11. [...], 1922
12. June 1923
13. June 1924

BOX 4 1. January 1925
2. June 1925
3. 1926 Jan.
4. 1938 June
5. 1944 June
6. 1945 June

Series IV:  Parent-Teacher Association 7. Handbook; 1938-39
8. Reunion of graduates; 1954
9. Maroon and White (semi-annual): 1921½ Jan. (vol. 16, no. 5)

PHOTOGRAPHS

Photographs with accession numbers 1.1-1.9 form the original accession. They were collected by various Austin Historical organizations and were housed at the Austin Branch of the Chicago Public Library.
Photos with accession numbers 2.1-2.8 were received as part of the West Side Historical Society transfer and comprise the photographic materials in AUHS

Supplement 1. Series: Schools

2.6 Austin High School, exterior, 1890s
2.3 Austin High School cadets at camp, Antioch, IL, 1890
2.4 Austin High School cadets, mess and cook tents, Antioch, IL, 1890
1.8 Baseball Team, 1894 (oversize)
2.8 Baseball Team, 1890s
2.5 Fred Bowes, Captain of the Austin High School Cadets
1.4 Calesthenics class, ca. 1920s
1.5 Class, ca. 1890
2.1 Class, 1881
2.2 Class, 1890 (2 copies)
2.7 Class, 1890s
1.6 Field Day, n.d. (oversize)
1.7 Rugby Team, 1894 (oversize)
1.9 Rugby Team, 1896 (oversize)
1.3 Staff of Austin High School, July 5, 1928