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Girls High School (San Francisco)

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Girls High School in San Francisco, California, was established in 1865 and was discontinued in 1952.

A tableau vivant was given on May 29, 1897, in the Girls High auditorium by Union Army veterans, at right, who sang Tenting on the Old Camp Ground.
Graduation party, June 6, 1900
Publicity illustration for a stage play, The Chaperon, by Rachel Baker, presented by Girls High students in April 1902
Fire destroyed a building surrounded by scaffolding on August 19, 1934.

Founding

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The city's Board of Education declared on July 25, 1865, that the existing Rincon School would thenceforth be an "all-girls school".[1] It had ninety seats assigned to it.[2]

On September 18, 1868, the Board of Education authorized the expenditure of $25,000 to erect a Girls High School[3] on the southeast corner of Stockton and Bush streets,[4][5] where the existing building stood.[6]

In 1869, the expense of educating one student in the Boys High School, later renamed Lowell High School, was $116.64 and one student in Girls High was $68.64.[7]

Faculty

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In 1889, "Eighty or more" students signed a petition on behalf of teacher Jessie Smith, who had been singled out for dismissal, ostensibly by a new vice principal who wanted to hire a teacher from the Eastern United States. Others, however, said that the proposed dismissal was occasioned by a rumor that Smith had Negro ancestry.[8] She and her brothers denied that was the case, her ancestry being "three-fourths English and one-fourth Irish."[9] In 1891 Smith was president of the San Francisco Teachers Mutual Aid Association.[10]

Campus

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In 1892, a new building was completed at Geary and Scott streets. A grand jury indicted the contractor, J.P. McCormick, and others for collusion to defraud the county treasury.[11]

The school auditorium, ten classrooms, and locker rooms were destroyed by fire that swept through the O'Farrell Street wing at Scott Street the morning of August 19, 1934. Eleven firemen were injured, some of them trapped under a falling ceiling. The fire was blamed on sparks from a worker's blowtorch during work on the building, which was surrounded by scaffolding.[12]

Discipline

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In 1988, a group of graduates recalled that gum chewing was forbidden in the 1920s. "So was Charleston dancing in the hallways, smoking in the toilets and sneaking downtown for chocolate sundaes."[13]

Closure

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The last term ended in spring 1952, and the campus became Benjamin Franklin Junior High School.[14] At that time the school was in an area considered to be blighted.[15]

List of principals

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  • E.H. Holmes, 1865[16]
  • George W. Minns, 1880–1888[17]
  • John Swett, resigned July 1889.[18] The School Board was dissatisfied with his administration because he had taken no steps toward the school's accreditation by the University of California and because no women had been sent to the university since 1884.[19]
  • Mary W. Kincaid, 1889–1892. She made the instruction identical with that in the Boys High School, and graduates were enabled to enter the University of California simply with their diplomas.[18][20]
  • Elisha Brooks, 1892–1904. During his term, Girls High became the only school west of the Rockies accredited by Vassar College. Brooks was investigated by the school board with "gross mismanagement" in that he spent his time as a farmer in the school garden instead of attending to his duties. He was also accused of mishandling a personnel matter involving the relationship between a male and a female teacher.[21][22][23][24][25]
  • Arthur W. Scott, 1904-1920s[13][25]

Notable alumni

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References

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  1. ^ "Local Intelligence," San Francisco Examiner, July 26, 1865, image 3
  2. ^ "Local Intelligence," The Daily Examiner, August 9, 1865, page 3
  3. ^ "Resolution 8918," San Francisco Examiner, September 19, 1868, page 4
  4. ^ "School Examinations," Daily Morning Chronicle, San Francisco, June 1, 1869, page 3
  5. ^ "Board of Supervisors: Resolutions Adopted," San Francisco Chronicle, August 31, 1869, page 3
  6. ^ "The Girls' High School," San Francisco Chronicle, October 17, 1869, page 1
  7. ^ San Francisco Call, quoted in "Spirit of the Morning Press," Daily Examiner, San Francisco, February 13, 1869, page 2
  8. ^ "Her Descent Disliked," San Francisco Examiner, June 24, 1889, page 1
  9. ^ "Her Ancestry English," San Francisco Examiner, June 25, 1889, page 2
  10. ^ "A Pension Fund," The Morning Call, San Francisco, February 3, 1891, page 2
  11. ^ "McCormick's Record," The Morning Call, San Francisco, May 17, 1892, page 3
  12. ^ $250,000 Fire at Girls' High School; 11 Firemen Hurt," San Francisco Examiner, August 19, 1934, images 1 and 3
  13. ^ a b Lily Eng, "60 Years Later, a Trip Back to the Old School," San Francisco Examiner, August 25, 1988, page A-2 (with photo)
  14. ^ "Principal to Be Honored," San Francisco Examiner, May 10, 1952, image 16]
  15. ^ Gale Cook, "S.F. Could But Has Done Little to Remove Slums," San Francisco Examiner, July 4, 1952, page 13
  16. ^ "Board of Education," San Francisco Examiner, June 16, 1865, page 3
  17. ^ San Jose State College; San Jose State College; California. State Printing Office; Royce, Ruth; Young, J. D. of the State Printing Office (1889). Historical sketch of the State Normal School at San José, California : with a catalogue of its graduates and a record of their work for twenty-seven years. University of California Libraries. [San Jose, Calif. : The College]. pp. 109–111.
  18. ^ a b "The School Board," San Francisco Chronicle,July 11, 1889, page 8
  19. ^ "Swett's Resignation," The Daily Examiner, San Francisco, July 16, 1889, page 4
  20. ^ "Mrs. Kincaid Resigns," The Examiner, San Francisco, December 31, 1891, page 4
  21. ^ "The Question: Should the New Charter Be Adopted," The Examiner, San Francisco, October 23, 1896, page 8 (with a sketch of Brooks)
  22. ^ "Mrs. Reeves Has Lost Her Class," The Examiner, San Francisco, January 8, 1898, page 11
  23. ^ "Tales of Scandal Stir Teachers to War," The Examiner, San Francisco, February 25, 1898, page 10 (with a sketch of Brooks)
  24. ^ "Girls' High School Fully Up to Standard," The San Francisco Call, May 24, 1899, page 12
  25. ^ a b "Scott Takes Brooks' Place," The San Francisco Call, May 13, 1904
  26. ^ Palmquist, Peter E. (1990). Elizabeth Fleischmann: A Tribute. Elizabeth Fleischmann: Pioneer X-Ray Photographer (exhibition catalogue). Judah L. Magnes Museum. Berkeley, California.
  27. ^ [1].
  28. ^ Abrams, Jeanne E., Jewish Women Pioneering the Frontier Trail, New York University Press, 2006
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