| 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 |
