52 Ancestors,
in 52 Weeks
Week 35:
School
High School Yearbooks
Have you looked at old high school yearbooks? Not just your own, but your parents or even grandparents. A few years ago I discovered the yearbooks from my grandmother’s high school had been digitized and put online. [1] It had not occurred to me that yearbooks were even published when she graduated in 1913. What I found particularly interesting, is the book is more of a literary publication compared to today’s year books full of photographs. These older yearbooks feature short stories, poetry, art, humor and even short plays all authored by the students. And, there are photos, too.
Tipton High School, 1908 Tiptonian
My grandfather, Earl LaFara 1888-1928, was in the graduating class of 1908 from Tipton (IN) High School. The yearbook of Tipton High School is called the Tiptonian. The Tipton County (IN) public library has digitized and posted online over 80 editions of the Tiptonian. [2] They cover the years 1898 to 1979. From the 1908 Tiptonian I learned a new high school had been built in Tipton and the class of 1908 was the last to graduate from the original county school building. [3] The first high school class had graduated in 1876. My grandfather’s class in May 1908 had 22 graduates. I also discovered the class Motto, Colors, Flower and Yell. The last item ends with the line, “We’ll take our Diplomas and Skidoo!”
Earl L LaFara, 1908
1907 Tiptonian
The 1907 Tiptonian was a larger publication than 1908 with more content, both literary and photography. My grandfather was on the 1907 Tiptonian staff when he was a junior year student. [4] From this edition I learned that my grandfather participated in the Junior Frolic (a sort of satire play) as a clown. And he wrote an essay for the yearbook titled “The Reconciliation of Our Fathers”. Basically he proposed that the opposing views of Hamilton and Jefferson about government had reconciled themselves to our current form of a centralized democracy. Pretty heady stuff for a high school junior.
Tipton (IN) HS – Tiptonian Yearbook Staff picture
Flossie Kemp, Noble Coryell, Earl LaFara (left, 2nd row), Esther Lewis, Ora Bates, Edna Doversberger, Ben Boughman, Byron Tranberger, Alta Mount, Junita Tresidder, Sam Bolden, and George McCarty.
Shortridge High School, 1913 Annual
My grandmother, Pearl Osborne 1893-1972, was in the graduating class of 1913 from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis. The Shortridge yearbook is simply called “Annual.” An interesting item in the 1913 Annual is statistics about the graduating class. For instance, of the 260 members of the senior class two-thirds were girls. The stats also include the fact the average weight of the girls was 153.7 pounds, and the boys 137.4 pounds. However, the grade point average of the girls was 76.3 but the boys were 87.6. The statistics close out with the average age of the girls being 19 years old and the boys being 17 years, 7 months. [5] I wonder how these statistics compare to senior classes today.
My grandmother’s class portrait appears to be an illustration print rather than a photograph. My grandmother’s brother Lou Osborne worked as a photographer and engraver, and I wonder if he produced the engraving for her portrait from a photograph he had taken. [6]
Also in the 1913 Annual is a poem, with illustrations, written by my grandmother. I think it sums her up rather well. The facing page to the poem has a quote attributed to satirist Alexander Pope. I’ve looked it up and it is from line 55 of “Epilogue to the Satires,”
“Laugh at your friends, and if your friends are sore, so much the better, you may laugh the more.”
Conclusion
High school yearbooks can be a wealth of information about our ancestors, their friends and neighbors, local events and the times in which they lived. Plus, some photographs. Look for your ancestors’ high school yearbooks online through local libraries. [7] Also, search for yearbooks on one of my favorite online sources for copyright free books, the Internet Archive. (Archive.org) If you have an Ancestry subscription, you may find your ancestor’s yearbooks there as well.
EPILOGUE
My father graduated from Howe High School in Indianapolis in 1943. Here I have placed his senior yearbook photo from the 1943 Hilltopper annual between that of his parents.
I previously wrote about my grandparents, Earl and Pearl, for last year’s Week 4 prompt “Close to Home” [8]
SOURCES
- Collection, Shortridge High School Yearbooks Collection; The Indianapolis Marion County Public Library; access online: https://www.digitalindy.org/digital/collection/shs
- Collection, Tipton County (IN) Public Library, Tiptonian Yearbook Archives; access online:
https://www.tiptoncountylibrary.org/services/genealogy/yearbook/ - Book, Tipton High School yearbook, 1908 “Tiptonian”, Pub: Tipton High School, digitized by the Tipton County Library, access online: http://www.tiptonpl.lib.in.us/yearbooks/1908tiptonian.pdf
- Book, Tipton High School yearbook, 1907 “Tiptonian”, Pub: Tipton High School, digitized by the Tipton County Library, access online: http://www.tiptonpl.lib.in.us/yearbooks/1907tiptonian.pdf
- Book, Shortridge High School yearbook 1913 “Annual”, Pub: Shortridge High School, 1913, digitized by The Indianapolis Marion County Public Library, Collection: Shortridge High School; access online: https://www.digitalindy.org/digital/collection/shs/id/2038
- Profile of Louis Wilbur Osborne, ‘Osborn‘ tree, Ancestry.com; https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/13493206/person/-60123993/facts
- Collection, Yearbooks Archive; The Indianapolis Marion County Public Library; access online: https://www.digitalindy.org/digital/custom/home-yearbooks
- Blog post, Family Finds: Close to Home; https://barblafara.com/close-to-home/
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