Austin High School Records

Dates: 1881-1987
Size: 6.5 linear feet in 14 boxes, including 16 photographs
Repository: Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections, 400 S. State St., Chicago, IL 60605
Collection Number: spe-nhrc-auhs
Immediate Source of Acquisition: Transferred from Chicago Public Library, Austin Branch in the 1984 as part of a Dr. Scholl Foundation grant. Supplements to the collection have been donated or transferred from multiple sources.
Conditions Governing Access: Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use: Please consult staff to determine ability to reuse materials from collection.
Preferred Citation: When quoting material from this collection the preferred citation is: Austin High School Records [Box #, Folder #, Photograph #], Special Collections, Chicago Public Library.
Finding Aid Author: Original author unknown, 1984. Updated and ingested into ArchivesSpace by Michelle McCoy, 2021

Abstract

This collection documents Austin High School from its earliest days in the 1870s through the federally mandated desegregation attempts of the 1960s and 1970s. The documentation includes histories, news clippings, photographs, programs, student publications and yearbooks.

Biographical/Historical

The Austin neighborhood is seven miles west of Chicago’s Loop. Community number 25 of Chicago's 77 official communities, it is on the western edge of the city bordering Cicero, Oak Park and Elmwood Park. Austin was annexed into Chicago in 1889.

Austin High School has served Chicago’s Austin community since the last quarter of the 19th century. 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.

Following the Austin community settlement’s annexation to the City of Chicago in 1889, the Austin High School’s student population grew dramatically from 400 students in 1900 to 2,298 in 1920 and 6,815 students in 1931.

Austin High School, like the community it served, experienced demographic change during the 1960s and 1970s. Racial tensions were brought to the surface by federally mandated desegregation attempts and demographic changes in Austin’s population.

Scope and Contents

This collection documents Austin High School from its earliest days in the 1870s through the federally mandated desegregation attempts of the 1960s and 1970s. The documentation includes histories, news clippings, photographs, programs, student publications and yearbooks.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transferred from Chicago Public Library, Austin Branch in the 1984 as part of a Dr. Scholl Foundation grant. Supplements to the collection have been donated or transferred from multiple sources.

The initial accession is held in Boxes 1-2 and includes photographs 1.1-1.9 that were collected by various Austin Historical organizations. Supplement 1 is held in boxes 3-4. Supplement 2 is held in boxes 5-13. During the cataloging of Supplement 3, the entire collection was checked for duplicates, and several duplicates were discarded. Photos with accession numbers 2.1-2.8 were transferred from the West Side Historical Society.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into 2 series: Series 1: Documents, 1883-1987 and Series 2: Photographs, 1881-1928, undated

Subject Headings

  • Austin (Chicago, Ill.)
  • Parents’ and teachers’ associations
  • Race relations
  • Schools -- Illinois -- Chicago -- History
  • School integration

Related Collections

  • Austin Community Collection
  • Austin Daughters of the American Revolution Records
  • Austin Newspapers Collection
  • Austin Women’s Club Records
  • Goldwin E. Anderson Notebooks
  • David Gremp Photographs
  • Slack Family Photograph Album
  • West Side Newspaper Collection

Collection Inventory

Series 1: Documents, 1883-1987

Scope and Contents

Series 1 documents over one hundred years of Austin High School’s activities and students. The series consists of bulletins, historical sketches, news clippings, programs and yearbooks. A notable selection of materials relate to the Austin Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Active in the affairs of Austin High School since the early part of the 20th century, the organization’s files include bulletins, flyers, news clippings, programs and a typescript history. The Maroon and White yearbook, however, comprises the bulk of the series and spans approximately 80 years.

Arrangement

Series 1 is arranged alphabetically by title or topic and chronologically within publication.

Box 1 Folder 25 Austin Times, vol. LXVII, nos. 4-5, 8, 1955
Box 1 Folder 26 Austin Times, vol. LXVIII, nos. 1-2, 1956
Box 1 Folder 27 Austin Times, vol. LXXIV, no. 8, 1959
Box 1 Folder 1 Bulletins and postings, 1950
Box 3 Folder 1 Class list, identification of students in an 1890 class photograph, undated
Box 1 Folder 2 Class song, typescript, 1916
Box 3 Folder 3 Commencement, programs, 1883, 1890, 1937-1938, 1944-1945
Box 1 Folder 20 Commencement, programs, 1917-1927
Box 1 Folder 4 Daily program card, undated
Box 1 Folder 3 Dean of Girls, Elva Weston Deaton, news clipping, undated
Box 1 Folder 21 Diamond Jubilee, program script with history, list of former students, 1965
Box 1 Folder 22 Field Day, program, 1916, 1917
Box 1 Folder 5 Football team, news clipping, 1895
Box 13 Folder 4 Gala Performance, program, 1926 March 19
Box 1 Folder 23 General announcements, 1913-1925
Box 1 Folder 7 “Golden Jubilee,” typescript poem, by Mrs. Stanley E. Young, 1965
Box 1 Folder 6 Graduating students, news clipping, 1916
Box 3 Folder 4 The High School Voice, newspaper, 1898 March
Box 1 Folder 8 Historical Sketches - Austin High School, typescript history, 1931
Box 1 Folder 9 Historical Sketches - Austin High School PTA, 1906-1915, typescript history, 1915
Box 1 Folder 10 Historical Sketches - community background, 1950
Box 1 Folder 11 Historical Sketches - Chronology of Principals and Assistant Principals, former students and faculty, 1879-1965, typescript, 1965
Box 5 Folder 1 Maroon and White, 1908, 1909, l910
Box 1 Folder 28 Maroon and White, vol. 10, nos. 1-2, 1915
Box 1 Folder 29 Maroon and White, vol. 11, nos. 2-4, 1915
Box 1 Folder 30 Maroon and White, vol. 12, nos. 1, 3, 1916
Box 1 Folder 31 Maroon and White, vol. 13, nos. 1, 3-4, 1916
Box 5 Folder 2 Maroon and White, vol. 13, no. 5, 1917
Box 1 Folder 32 Maroon and White, vol. 14, no. 2, 1917
Box 1 Folder 33 Maroon and White, vol. 16, nos. 3-4, 1918
Box 5 Folder 3 Maroon and White, vol. 16, no. 1-5, vol. 17, no. 1-4, 1918
Box 1 Folder 34 Maroon and White, vol. 18, no. 4, 1919
Box 6 Folder 1 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1919
Box 3 Folder 5 Maroon and White, yearbooks, 1919 April, June
Box 1 Folder 35 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1920
Box 1 Folder 36 Maroon and White, yearbooks, 1920 February, September-December
Box 3 Folder 6 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1920 January
Box 6 Folder 2 Maroon and White, yearbooks, 1920-1921
Box 1 Folder 37 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1921
Box 2 Folder 1 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1921
Box 3 Folder 7 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1921 January
Box 3 Folder 8 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1921
Box 3 Folder 9 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1921 June
Box 6 Folder 3 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1921
Box 2 Folder 2 Maroon and White, yearbooks, 1922 April, June
Box 3 Folder 10 Maroon and White, yearbook, June 1922
Box 3 Folder 11 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1922
Box 2 Folder 3 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1923 November
Box 3 Folder 12 Maroon and White, yearbook, June 1923
Box 7 Folder 1 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1923
Box 13 Folder 3 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1923
Box 4 Folder 1 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1924 June
Box 7 Folder 2 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1924
Box 4 Folder 2 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1925 January
Box 4 Folder 3 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1925 June
Box 4 Folder 4 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1926 January
Box 7 Folder 3 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1926 June
Box 7 Folder 4 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1926- 1927
Box 7 Folder 5 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1927
Box 7 Folder 6 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1928
Box 7 Folder 7 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1928
Box 8 Folder 1 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1929 June
Box 2 Folder 5 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1929
Box 2 Folder 6 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1930
Box 2 Folder 7 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1932
Box 2 Folder 8 Maroon and White, yearbooks, 1932-1933
Box 2 Folder 9 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1933
Box 2 Folder 10 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1934
Box 8 Folder 2 Maroon and White, yearbooks, 1934-1935
Box 8 Folder 3 Maroon and White, yearbooks, 1935-1936
Box 13 Folder 5 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1937
Box 4 Folder 5 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1938 June
Box 13 Folder 6 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1938
Box 8 Folder 4 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1939
Box 8 Folder 5 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1940
Box 8 Folder 6 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1941
Box 13 Folder 7 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1942
Box 8 Folder 7 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1943
Box 4 Folder 6 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1944 June
Box 4 Folder 7 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1945 June
Box 8 Folder 8 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1946
Box 9 Folder 1 Maroon and White, yearbooks, 1946-1947
Box 9 Folder 2 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1948
Box 9 Folder 3 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1949
Box 9 Folder 4 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1951
Box 10 Folder 1 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1954
Box 10 Folder 2 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1955
Box 10 Folder 3 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1956
Box 10 Folder 4 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1959
Box 10 Folder 5 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1960
Box 11 Folder 1 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1961
Box 11 Folder 2 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1962
Box 11 Folder 3 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1965
Box 11 Folder 4 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1966
Box 11 Folder 5 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1967
Box 11 Folder 6 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1968
Box 12 Folder 1 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1969
Box 12 Folder 2 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1979
Box 12 Folder 3 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1985
Box 13 Folder 8 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1986
Box 12 Folder 4 Maroon and White, yearbook, 1987
Box 13 Folder 2 New Austin High School, building dedication program, 1931 May 12
Box 1 Folder 12 News clippings, 1900-1929
Box 1 Folder 13 News clippings, 1930-1949
Box 3 Folder 2 News clippings, 1931-1953
Box 1 Folder 14 News clippings, 1950-circa 1970s
Box 1 Folder 19 Night Class Exercises, programs, 1916-1924
Box 12 Folder 5 North Central Association, visitation, 1975 April 7-10
Box 13 Folder 1 North Central Association, self-evaluation, 1982 March 16-18
Box 1 Folder 15 Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), bulletins and fliers, 1950s
Box 4 Folder 8 Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), handbook, 1938-1939
Box 1 Folder 16 Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), news clippings, 1911-1956
Box 1 Folder 17 Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), program announcements, 1909, 1955, 1956
Box 1 Folder 18 Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), program yearbooks, 1954-1957, 1964-1969
Box 4 Folder 9 Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), reunion of graduates, 1954
Box 2 Folder 4 The Pigmy Boomerang, vol. II, no. 5, 1888
Box 1 Folder 24 Recitals and music announcements, 1916-1934, 1954
Box 1 Folder 4 School letters, undated

Series 2: Photographs, 1881-1928, undated

Scope and Contents

Series 2 contains photographs that show some representative Austin High School classes and student activities between 1881 and 1928. The Maroon and White yearbooks in Series 1 offer additional graphic representations of the school community.

Arrangement

Series 2 is arranged alphabetically by topic.

nhrc Shared Photo Box 1 Photograph 2.6 Austin High School, exterior, 1890s
nhrc Shared Photo Box 1 Photograph 3.1 Austin High School, exterior, 1926
nhrc Shared Photo Box 2 Photograph 2.3 Austin High School cadets at camp, Antioch, Illinois, 1890
nhrc Shared Photo Box 2 Photograph 2.4 Austin High School cadets, mess and cook tents, Antioch, Illinois, 1890
nhrc Shared Photo Box 1 Photograph 1.8 Baseball Team, 1894
nhrc Shared Photo Box 2 Photograph 2.8 Baseball Team, 1890s
nhrc Shared Photo Box 2 Photograph 2.5 Fred Bowes, Captain of the Austin High School Cadets, undated
nhrc Shared Photo Box 2 Photograph 1.4 Calisthenics class, circa 1920s
nhrc Shared Photo Box 2 Photograph 1.5 Class, circa 1890
nhrc Shared Photo Box 2 Photograph 2.1 Class, 1881
nhrc Shared Photo Box 2 Photograph 2.2 Class (2 copies), 1890
nhrc Shared Photo Box 2 Photograph 2.7 Class, 1890s
nhrc Shared Photo Box 1 Photograph 1.6 Field Day, undated
nhrc Shared Photo Box 1 Photograph 1.7 Rugby Team, 1894
nhrc Shared Photo Box 1 Photograph 1.9 Rugby Team, 1896
nhrc Shared Photo Box 2 Photograph 1.3 Staff of Austin High School, 1928 July 5
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