NEGenWeb Project
Resource Center
On-Line Library
ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF YORK, YORK CO., NEBRASKA


Show picture

YORK HIGH SCHOOL. PLATE XVI.


 

The York High School.

"Y. H. S. Come Along And Try!
O. K.  O. K.  Y. O. R. K.  YOrk!"

   The York High School with all it stands for today is a feature of the City's life that cannot be passed by without appropriate notice. The development of this institution is probably more remarkable than that of any other in the city. The beginnings of the High School can be traced to 1871 when Judge Montgomery taught the first school in the county in the old County House directly opposite the Blodgett Hotel. The next year a new school house was put up on the site of the present High School building and Miss M. A. Hill presided within it. In two years the school outgrew its quarters and the Congregational Academy was rented. Hon. N. V. Harlan, J. Corchran, T. A. Parkerson, and Miss Kate Keckley are among the teachers connected with the school at this period.
   A new brick building was erected just back of the little frame school house in 1881. Prof. R. M. Bridges who was elected at this time was the first man to be dignified with the title of Superintendent. Under his direction, the first three graduating classes of the school, those of 1884, 1885 and 1886 held their Commencement exercises.
   During the administration of Prof. C. S. Edwards, who succeeded Prof. Bridges, the school building was declared unsafe and board sheds were constructd (sic) on the grounds for temporary use. These were the "cow sheds," famous in poetry and song for many years, under which the class of 1888 completed its school life.
   Supt. F. C. McClelland the next year had the honor to graduate the first class from our present high school building.
   In 1890, Supt. H. C. Corbett, who afterward held the position of State Superintendent, came to the school, remaining four years and graduating as many good classes. During his administration the school grew rapidly and many new



42

YORK HIGH SCHOOL.

features were introduced into the work.
   When Mr. Corbett assumed the State Superintendency, Prof. Moulton, who had previously served as Principal of the High School, succeeded him, Supt. Moulton has the longest term of service in the high school, up to date, to his credit. He worked faithfully for six years, during which time the crowded condition of some of the rooms in the Central Building became a serious problem.
   With the advent of Supt. C. R. Atkinson in 1900, the Central Annex, sometimes known as the Boyer building, became a part of the school system and this year the old German church was fitted up as a home for the Eighth Grade under the name of the Whittier School. The room formerly occupied by the Eighth grade is now used for high school recitation purposes and with an additional teacher in the high school force it is possible to look after the two hundred pupils in the four grades in the most thorough hand systematic manner ever known in the school. Every Monday after noon the Lyceum League of America, the boys' literary society of the high School, now marches to its quarters in the Fraternal Hall, having outgrown its former meeting place in the Ninth Grade room. These and other changes have been brought about so naturally and so quietly in the past three years that it is difficult to realize the extent of the improvement made.
   The York High School as now organized is an enthusiastic and self-reliant body of two hundred loyal Young Americans with nearly a thousand more in the lower grades to draw from in the years to come. It does things. It is equal to the occasion whether the demand is to move a piano, fix the clock or wire the building for electric lights. Under Supt. Atkinson's administration all the good features of the past have been preserved and every encouragement has been given to the new student's organizations and interests required to meet the demands of a growing school. Perhaps no better testimony can be given to the good work done in our high school than the fact that when vacation comes nearly every pupil on the rolls is anxious to engage in some form of useful and profitable labor.



Show picture

YORK COLLEGE. PLATE XVIII.

York College.

Three x bar

   THE PRIDE OF YORK. York College is the pride of the city of York and of York County. It is now one of Nebraska's standard colleges and making a fine record. It has a strong faculty of eleven members and offers thirteen courses of study, including Music, Art, Elocution, Commercial Branches and Shorthand, Normal Subjects, and full College Courses.

   THE PEOPLE'S SCHOOL. York College is the people's school. It was not created by a single individual for the sake of gain, but by the united efforts of thousands for the sole purpose of helping the young people of this region to secure a thorough education at the least expense of time and money and under the most pleasant, healthful, moral influences.

    FOUNDED IN 1890. It was founded on Aug. 26, 1890, and two weeks later its doors were opened to students. Its first quarters were rented rooms in the Wirt Block and very unsuitable for college purposes, but served as a makeshift till a building could be erected.

    ITS BEAUTIFUL SITE. A more beautiful site could not be found in the State of Nebraska -- a gentle eminence in the, eastern part of the the (sic) city, the highest ground in York County. Here on a campus of eleven acres the first building was erected, and dedicated in June 1892. It is a splendid edifice of brick and stone, 88 x 99 feet, basement and three stories, beautiful in architectural design and in approaching the city from any direction can be seen for many miles.

    EXCELLENT EQUIPMENTS

The building is well furnished and well equipped and unusually well planned for college purposes. The recitation rooms are large and light. The commercial room covers nearly half of the second floor. The chapel will seat about six hundred. The literary halls are



44

YORK COLLEGE.

among the finest in the State. The library contains about 1500 volumes, and the reading tables are constantly supplied with an abundance of the best periodicals of the day. The museum has several hundred feet of shelf-room filled with specimens in geology, zoology and botany. The laboratories are well supplied with apparatus to facilitate the work in the natural sciences.

    ANOTHER BUILDING. Another building has been projected and the work begun. The foundation is laid and the structure will be completed in 1903. It will be 80 x 36 feet, four floors, containing thirty-five rooms, besides halls, closets and bath rooms. It will be heated by steam as is the main building and both supplied with city water and electric light. The building will be devoted to the conservatory of music and ladies' dormitory.

    STRONG BOARDS. York College is controlled by a Board of seventeen Trustees, composed of educators, ministers, professional and business men. On the present Board are three ex-state officers. E. A. Gilbert, Ex-Lieut. Governor of Nebraska, is Chairman; J. W. Purington, Secretary; N. A. Dean, Treasurer. The Board elects the president and members of the faculty and has. general supervision of all the work of the college.
   There is also an executive Board of six members, all residents of York, whose duty it is to carry out the will of the Board of Trustees.
   Such strong managing Boards are an assurance to all patrons that their interests will be carefully guarded and wisely conserved.

   PRESIDENTS. -- Rev. J. George, A. M., D. D., served as president from August 1890 to August 1894. The average yearly enrollment during his term was 176.
   Rev. W. S. Reese, Ph. M., D. D., succeeded, President George and served three years. During this time the average yearly enrollment was 149. The large debt incurred by the erection of the main building became a heavy burden during this administration, owing to financial panic and crop failure.


Show picture

YORK COLLEGE FACULTY. PLATE XIX.
J. E. MAXWELL
M. D. ADAMS
ANNIE P. JORGENSEN
RUTH SMITH
WM. E. SCHELL
LENA E. SCHELL
L. E. PORTER
LAURIETTE DOWELL
SAREVA DOWELL
MAX BAUMEISTER
THEO. JORGENSEN
G. E. DRIVER



YORK COLLEGE.

45

Rev. William E. Schell, A. M., D. D., was called to take charge on August 3, 1897. That was a dark hour in the history of the institution. Every dollar of a great debt was due and suits entered for collection. There was nothing in the treasury to stay the impending crisis. Some of the trustees advised giving up the work. Every member of the faculty had resigned except J. E. Maxwell, M. S., Professor of Natural Sciences and Mrs. D. E. Sedgwick, Director of the Music Department. No catalogue had been issued.
   The details of the five succeeding years cannot here be given. It is enough to say that the entire situation has been changed. The debt is liquidated. The sum of two thousand dollars has been expended for additional equipments and six thousand dollars in good pledges, is now on hand for another building. The courses of study have been strengthened.
   In the faculty enlarged and York College has taken high rank among the institutions of Nebraska and the West. The average yearly enrollment during the five years of President Schell's term has been 281 -- over three hundred yearly for the last three years. The present year is going nicely, with a fine attendance and flattering prospects of continued success and growth.

    FACULTY. -- William E. Schell, A. M., D. D., President and Professor of Philosophy.
    (Western College, Toledo, Iowa, June 1890, A. B.; June 1893, A. M.; Lane University, Lecompton, Kas., June 1902, D. D.)

    J. E. Maxwell, M. S., Vice President and Professor of Natural Sciences.
    (Nebraska Wesleyan University, June 1894, B. S.; June 1895, M. S.)

    Sareva Dowell, A. M., Professor of Latin and Greek.
    (Amity College, College Springs, Iowa, June 1893, A. B.; June 1898, A. M.; Post Graduate work in Europe.)

    Theodore Jorgenson, A. B., Professor of Modern Languages.
    (Western College, Toledo, Iowa, June 1900, A. B.; Post Graduate work in Europe.)



46

YORK COLLEGE.

   Annie P. Jorgensen, A. M., Professor of Mathematics.
   (Nebraska State University, June 18,99, A. B.; June 1902, A. M.)

   Lena E. Schell, A. B., Assistant in English and History.
   (York College, June 1902, A. B.)

   M. D. Adams, M. Acc'ts., Principal of the College of Commerce and Professor of Commercial Branches and Shorthand.
   (Gem City Business College, Quincy, Ill., June, 1898, M. Acc'ts.)

    Ruth Smith, Director of the Conservatory of Music and Instructor of Piano, Pipe Organ, Reed Organ, Harmony, General Theory, History of Music and Voice Culture.
    (Western College Conservatory, June 1899, Diploma in Piano Course; June 1901, Diploma in Voice; Victoria College of Music, London, June 1902, Diploma as Associate in Piano.

    Max Baumeister, Instructor OD Violin.
    (Studied in Omaha and St. Louis, then five years at the Bavarian Conservatory, Wuerzburg, Germany. Court Musician.

   L. E. Porter, Principal of the School of Expression and Instructor in Elocution and Physical Culture.
    (Studied at York College. and Columbia School of Oratory, Chicago.)

   Lauriette Dowell, Principal of the Art Department and Instructor in Drawing and all lines of Art Work.
    (Studied at Tarkio College, Tarkio, Mo., and at Nebraska State University.

    G. E. Driver, College Pastor.
    (Educated in England. Traveled extensively in Europe and Palestine.)

   STUDENTS. -- The aggregate of the enrollment, for the twelve years is 2556. The students have always been of a most excellent class and the graduates are toiling in fields of usefulness this wide world over, even in India, China and the Philippines. In Chicago, Washington, St. Louis, Omaha, Kansas City, Denver, Cheyenne, St. Paul, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Lincoln and in almost all the cities and towns of Nebraska they are doing a good and honorable part in the



YORK COLLEGE.

47

business and professional work of the world. Their ranks include college professors, ministers' missionaries, civil service men, lawyers, physicians, merchants, musicians, machinists, superintendents of schools, teachers, public officers and other vocations worthy of note. And many, though not completing courses, have gone forth after terms or years of profitable association and study, with increased knowledge, improved gifts and larger life, and are now filling useful positions in the industrial pursuits and professions of this busy age. The passing days, ever and anon, bring back the story of their success and their joy in having made York College their choice.
   Fifty-eight of the business men of York and eighty four of the teachers now in charge of schools in York County are old York College students.

Departments and Courses of Study.

    THE COLLEGE. -- The Collegiate department offers four courses of study: Classical, Philosophical, Scientific and Literary, each of four years. Those who have completed a high school course or the preparatory course may be admitted to the College Courses, and on completion of the work receive college degrees.

    THE NORMAL. -- The Normal Department offers superior training to those who wish to enter the teaching profession.
   The Teacher's Course includes all the branches required for a First Grade Certificate, and also Latin, Zoology, Physiography and General History.
   The Normal Course extends two years above the Teachers' Course and leads to the degree Bachelor of Didatics.

   THE PREPARATORY. -- The Preparatory Department officers a course of study covering the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades and gives the student an excellent preparation for the higher courses of study. It is superior to a high school training, because the student comes into close association with a large faculty, has all the benefits arising from the Literary Societies, Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations, and the incitement of the higher college classes.




48

YORK COLLEGE.

   THE COLLEGE OF COMMERCE. -- The York College of Commerce is second to none in helping young people to a business education.
   The Commercial Course embraces three term's work and is equal to that ofiered (sic) by the best commercial schools.
   The Advanced Commercial Course takes the student two terms further, gives him a special fitness for managing business enterprises, prepares him to teach the commercial branches and leads to the degree Bachelor of Accounts. After two years of successful teaching, the degree Master of Accounts may be conferred.

    THE SHORTHAND DEPARTMENT. -- The Shorthand and Typewriting Courses are up to date in every respect. The length of time required will depend largeley (sic) upon the aptness of the student -- from two to three terms.
   The Gregg system of Shorthand is taught. This system is the shortest, quickest and best; easiest to learn, easiest to read, and easiest to write.
   The touch method of typewriting is employed. The most improved Remington and Smith Premier machines are used and the work is conducted in a room specially fitted up for this purpose.

    THE CONSERVATORY. This department offers the best of instruction at moderate expense and those desiring to study Music will find it to their advantage to come to York College.
   Courses are offered in Piano, Organ, Violin, Voice, Harmony, General Theory and History of Music.

    SCHOOL OF EXPRESSION AND PHYSICAL CULTURE. This department carries a splendid two year's course, including Life Study, Bodily Expression, Elocution, Sight Reading, Repertoire, Fencing, Clubs, Bells, Wands, Etc., and the work is open to students in auy (sic) department at reasonable rates.

    SCHOOL OF ART. The Art Department offers lessons in Still Life, Pencil, Crayon, Oil Painting, Water Colors, Pastel, China Painting, Newspaper Illustrating, and Pyrography.

   OTHER FEATURES. Mention can not here be made of Lectures, Contests, Athletics, Cadet Company, Young Men's


Show picture

REV. WILLIAM E. SCHELL. PLATE XX.


YORK COLLEGE.

49

and Young Women's Christian Associations, Literary Societies, Students' Receptions and Socials and the many features that go to make up the helps and benefits of life at York College.

    MANY TRUE, ONE FALSE. York College was born of noble purpose and high aims and has been fostered by many of the good and great. Its teachers have toiled hard and made many sacrifices in order that the work might be carried forward and, like the twelve disciples, all have proven true save one.

   A FACTOR IN PROGRESS. York College from its inception has connected itself with the best life and most vital interests of the city and county and has wrought a mighty part in their material growth and moral welfare. The object has ever been to produce true manhood and true womanhood; not only breadwinners, but also world-movers. It has already proved to be a great blessing to the city, the county. the state and the world and is still bestowing its benefactions with open hand. All may be well assured that influence exerted in its behalf, whether by the expression of helpful words or by pointing the youth to its halls, is for the advancement of a Christian public enterprise of inestimable value to us all.
   The rates are very reasonable. The advantages are in every way superior. The large faculty and the many students in attendance take special pains to promote the welfare of all who choose to join their ranks.

Four x bar

REV. WILLIAM E. SCHELL, A. M., D. D.,
President of York College since August 3, 1897.

   William E. Schell was born in Carroll County, Ind., Oct. 25, 1861. He is of German decent, related to some of the best families of the land and his kin are found in the U. S. Congress, among financiers, bishops and scholars of wide reputation.
   His mother died when he was but a child. His father, a prominent Chicago business man, went down in the panic of 1873. This left the lad to face the world alone, long before he had reached his teens. With the true spirit of German independance he remained away, from his relatives, leaning upon his own efforts for success. He taught school at the


50

YORK COLLEGE.

age of fifteen, was in the mercantile business in his early twenties, bending his energies, meanwhile, in the direction of a college course, which he completed in due time at Western College, Toledo, Iowa, in June 1890, with the degree A. B. and with highest honors.
   After graduation he served for three years as pastor of the U. B. Church, DuBois, Nebraska.
   The next two years he was the York College pastor. Being an indefatigable worker, fully appreciating the various needs of the church, and one upon whom God has set his seal of approval, his years in pastoral labor were fruitful in an unusual degree many being added to the church year by year. But during these years so crowded with pastoral duties, he still found time for study and in June 1898 he took the degree, A. M.
   Then followed nearly three years of service as Presiding Elder of York District before he was called a second time to the presidency of York College, the first call being declined three years before.
   Though a modest, unassuming man, Pres. Schell is an excellent financier, prepossessing in appearance, an eloquent speaker, possessed of good judgment, keen insight, rare tact, and a faculty of bringing things to pass.
   He has served the church as a member of two General Conferences and as a director of the Board of Missions. He is now serving a four year's term on the Board of Education which has the supervision of all the colleges of the denomination.
   He has been a member of the Nebraska College Association for several years and has served as secretary and as president of the same. He has been elected to membership .in a number of national associations of scholars, and his name appears in several biographical cyclopedias, while in June 1902 Lane University, LeCompton, Kansas, honored him with the degree D. D.
   His services have been repeatedly sought by other institutions, but at the earnest solicitation of his many friends he has continued in his present relation; and having the support of the people of York and a large constituency out over the State, it is to be hoped that he will remain for years to come.




previous pageSpacerpicturesSpacercontentsSpacerindexSpacernext page

© 1999, 2000, 2001 for NEGenWeb Project by Ted & Carole Miller