Eastern High School (Maryland)

Last updated
Eastern High School
EasternHIghSchool 08 11.jpg
old Eastern High School, 33rd Street and Loch Raven Boulevard, August 2011
Baltimore osm-mapnik location map.png
Red pog.svg
Location1101 East 33rd Street at Loch Raven Boulevard
Baltimore, Maryland, 21218, U.S.A.
Coordinates 39°19′40″N76°36′8″W / 39.32778°N 76.60222°W / 39.32778; -76.60222
Area17 acres (6.9 ha)
Built1936—1938
Architect James Edmunds
Herbert Crisp
Architectural style Tudor Revival & Jacobethan
NRHP reference No. 00000870
Added to NRHPAugust 16, 2000

Eastern High School, established in 1844 along with its sister school Western High School, was a historic all-female, public high school located in Baltimore City, Maryland, 21218, U.S.A. Its final building, at 1101 East 33rd Street, is to the west of The Baltimore City College, also at 33rd Street, and across the street from the former site of Memorial Stadium. E.H.S. was operated by the Baltimore City Public Schools system at successive locations until it was closed in 1986. The final building was renovated in the 1990s and is currently owned and used for offices by the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. [1] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. [2]

Contents

History

In 1839, the Board of School Commissioners of Baltimore City established the first public high school in Baltimore, City College. While public schools for white students of both sexes had been in operation since 1829, girls were not given the opportunity to advance beyond a "Primary" education until 1844. The Baltimore Board of Education wrote in 1843 that "[girls] who may have manifested superior abilities and attained suitable acquirements[sic] in the Primary Schools" should be given the same chance at a higher level of education as the male students, though girls were not given opportunities to study languages or advanced science and mathematics for several decades. [3] (African-American children in Baltimore were not able to attend a public school until 1867, when the Baltimore City Council opened 13 primary schools for "Colored" students. [4] )

Believing female students too delicate to be able to assemble from across the city at one central school like boys did for City College, two schools for girls were established: Eastern and Western High Schools, named for their location in the city relative to the Jones Falls. In order for a young lady to attend Eastern, she had to meet certain requirements: She had to be twelve or older, had to have spent at least one year in a female primary school, have good moral character, and pass an entrance examination. Additionally, there was a tuition of $1.00 a quarter unless a student could obtain a tuition waver from the Board of Education. [5] Originally, girls could attend Eastern for three years; in 1867, this was changed to four years. [5] Further changes to instruction came in 1898, when electives were introduced to the school and it was possible for students to specialize somewhat their area of study at Eastern, instead of taking each subject (math, science, history, etc.) in detail all three or four years.

The school colors of green and gold, the school flag, and the school song were all adopted by 1920. In 1924, Laura J. Cairnes became the first female high school principal in Baltimore when she took over the position at EHS. [6]

During World War II, the students of Eastern were actively raising money through the sale of bonds and stamps. According to records kept by the War Stamp and Bond Project committee at the school, over $200,000 (1943 value) was raised from between December 8, 1941 to June 1943. [7]

In September 1954, following the decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Baltimore city schools were integrated and African-American girls were eligible to attend E.H.S for the first time in its history. On February 20, 1970, the school dismissed students early in response to a student protest over a white teacher using an ethnic slur on a black student in class. The police were called and allegedly began beating students and using mace (spray) and tear gas to get them to go back to class or to get them out of the school. Another incident of police beating black students allegedly occurred at neighboring City College the same day. [8] By 1984, the school was predominately African-American.

In 1979, Eastern High School became coeducational and added on a business magnet program to the regular curriculum. Additionally, after some years of serving the entire neighborhoods of Ednor Gardens-Lakeside and Waverly, it once again limited admission to those who met a series of criteria. [9] Despite this, Eastern's time was coming to an end. In 1984, hoping to shrink a school system that had over-expanded in the 1970's, the Baltimore City Public Schools system included Eastern on a list of schools to be closed, citing low test scores, low admission, and cost of repairs for the building. [10] Allegations flew that the real reason behind the closure was to provide more parking space for neighboring Memorial Stadium, located at 900 East 33rd St. [11] [12] [13] Already by this point, a large strip of lawn had been taken by the city from Eastern for the purpose of creating 1,200 new parking spaces at the stadium. [14] An appeal was filed by supporters of the school but rejected. [15] In June 1986, following the end of the school year, Eastern High School was closed for good. Many students, and the business magnet program ended up at nearby Lake Clifton, at one point the largest public high school in America. Lake Clifton-Eastern, as it came to be known, was dismantled in 2003, [16] though the building is still in use by the Reach! Partnership School.

Locations

Throughout its 142-year history, Eastern High School moved to different buildings as the number of students enrolled in the school outgrew the schoolhouse, or as the building became too old or damaged to use further.

  1. From November 1844 to July 1852: Front and Pitt (now called Fayette) Streets
  2. From September 1852 to August 1868: Aisquith and Mullikin Streets
  3. From August 1868 to August 1870: Baltimore and Lloyd Streets
  4. From September 1870 to December 1906: Aisquith and Orleans Streets, in a Greek Revival building designed by R. Snowden Andrews
  5. From January 1907 to February 1938: Broadway and North Avenue
  6. From February 1938 to June 1986: East 33rd Street and Loch Raven Boulevard

The last building was a three-story, H-shaped structure, with a main lateral section and four projecting wings. Designed by James R. Edmunds Jr. and Herbert G. Crisp, who had designed the new Western High School building almost a decade earlier, the campus at E. 33rd and Loch Raven Boulevard was noted for its structural design and large, shady yard. It has a steel and concrete superstructure frame with red brick cladding and carved limestone trim in the Tudor Revival or (Jacobethan) style. Closed in 1986, this building was renovated in the 1990s. It is considered a historical/architectural landmark in the City and is currently owned and used for offices by the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, a part of the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Johns Hopkins University institutions. The Eastern High School building at East 33rd St. was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, which is maintained by the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior. [17]

After the death of EHS alumna and former WHS teacher Lizette Woodward Reese in 1935, her friend, sculptor Grace H. Turnbull, gifted a memorial in Reese's honor to Eastern High School. Titled "The Good Shepherd," it depicts a shepherd, cradling a lamb while his flock stands behind him. It was installed on the grounds of the school in 1939. Despite the efforts of the principal of Western High School to have the monument moved to her school after Eastern's closure in 1986, [18] it remains at its original location.

Notable alumnae and faculty

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Clifton Eastern High School</span> American public high school in Baltimore, Maryland (1971-2005)

Lake Clifton Eastern High School (LCEHS) was a public high school closed in 2005, located in the Clifton Park area of northeast Baltimore, Maryland. Originally called Lake Clifton High School (LCHS), although it was commonly known as Lake High School or Lake Clifton, it is now called the Lake Clifton Campus (LCC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore City College</span> School in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C. is the third-oldest active public high school in the United States. City College is a public exam school and an International Baccalaureate World School at which students in the ninth and tenth grades participate in the IB Middle Years Programme while students in the eleventh and twelfth grades participate in the IB Diploma Programme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Polytechnic Institute</span> School in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

The Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, colloquially referred to as BPI, Poly, and The Institute, is a U.S. public high school founded in 1883. Established as an all-male manual trade / vocational school by the Baltimore City Council and the Baltimore City Public Schools, it is now a coeducational academic institution that emphasizes sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). It is located on a 53-acre (21 ha) tract of land in North Baltimore on the east bank of the Jones Falls stream. BPI and the adjacent Western High School are located on the same campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute of Notre Dame</span> Private, all-female school in Baltimore, , Maryland, United States

The Institute of Notre Dame was a private Catholic all-girls high school located in Baltimore, Maryland. After 173 years, the school closed on June 30, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friends School of Baltimore</span> Private, co-ed, day school

Friends School of Baltimore is a private Quaker school in Baltimore, serving students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lizette Woodworth Reese</span> American poet

Lizette Woodworth Reese was an American poet and teacher. Born in Maryland, she taught English for almost five decades in the schools of Baltimore. Though Reese was successful in prose as well as in poetry, the latter was her forte; she was named Poet Laureate of Maryland in 1931.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western High School (Maryland)</span> Public secondary magnet school in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Western High School is the oldest public all-girls high school remaining in the United States. It is the third-oldest public high school in the state of Maryland and part of the Baltimore City Public Schools. Western High was named a "National Blue Ribbon School" of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education in 2009 and a "Silver Medal High School" by the news magazine U.S. News & World Report in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Douglass High School (Baltimore, Maryland)</span> Public, comprehensive school in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Frederick Douglass High School, established in 1883, is an American public high school in the Baltimore City Public Schools district. Originally named the Colored High and Training School, Douglass is the second-oldest U.S. high school created specifically for African American students. Prior to desegregation, Douglass and Paul Laurence Dunbar High School were the only two high schools in Baltimore that admitted African-American students, with Douglass serving students from West Baltimore and Dunbar serving students from East Baltimore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heritage High School (Baltimore, Maryland)</span> Public, comprehensive school in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Heritage High School was a public high school located in the northeast area known as Clifton Park of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It served Baltimore City high schoolers from 2004 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waverly, Baltimore</span> Neighborhood statistical area in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Waverly is a neighborhood in the north central area of Baltimore, Maryland, located to the north of the adjacent same neighborhood called Better Waverly and west of Ednor Gardens-Lakeside, north and east of Charles Village west of the area of Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhoods, along with the campus of the former red brick H-shaped building for Eastern High School (1938–1984), facing north towards 33rd Street, now renovated since the 1990s into offices for The Johns Hopkins University, a mile to the west. Adjacent to the east of the Eastern High/Johns Hopkins campus is the landmark tree-shaded campus of The Baltimore City College, at 33rd Street and The Alameda. The College is a massive stone structure with a 150-foot bell tower visible for miles, nicknamed "The Castle on the Hill", constructed 1926–1928 of Collegiate Gothic architecture on one of the highest hills in the city, "Collegian Hill", with the downtown skyline visible to the south. City College is the third oldest public high school in America, founded 1839 in downtown has been through eight different sites in its 179 years of history and five major buildings, each were architectural landmarks in their times. From its beginnings, until 1979, it was a single sex secondary school for boys in the Baltimore City Public Schools, when it co-educated admitting young women. These three major institutions and their sports events dominated the east side of Waverly/Better Waverly for nine decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Baltimore City College</span> Historical events of Baltimore City College

The history of The Baltimore City College began in March 1839, when the City Council of Baltimore, Maryland, passed a resolution mandating the creation of a male high school with a focus on the study of English and classical literature. "The High School" was opened later in the same year on October 20, with 46 pupils under the direction of Professor Nathan C. Brooks,(1809-1898), a local noted classical educator and poet, who became the first principal of a new type of higher institution in the developing public education system in the city begun in 1829. It is now considered to be the third oldest public high school / secondary school in the nation. In 1850, the Baltimore City Council granted the school, then known as the "Central High School of Baltimore", the authority to present its graduates with certificates of completion. An effort to expand that academic power and allow the then named "Central High School of Baltimore" to confer Bachelor of Arts degrees began following the Civil War in 1865, and continued the following year with the renaming of the institution as "The Baltimore City College", which it still holds to this day, with also the retitling of its chief academic officer from "principal" to "president", along with an increase in the number of years of its course of study and the expansion of its courses. However, despite this early elevation effort, it ended at that brief period unsuccessfully in 1869, although the B.C.C. continued for a number of years as a hybrid public high school and early form of junior college which did not fully appear in America in different form until the beginning of the 20th century. Very often the elaborate decorative fancy engraved graduation diploma from the B.C.C. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was accepted by many other colleges and universities entitling City graduates to enter upper-division schools at the sophomore year,.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello, Baltimore</span> Neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland

The Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello community, often abbreviated to C-H-M, is a neighborhood in northeastern Baltimore, Maryland. A portion of the neighborhood has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Coldstream Homestead Montebello Historic District, recognized for the development of a more suburban style of rowhouses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward L. Palmer Jr.</span> American architect (1877–1952)

Edward Livingston Palmer Jr. was an American architect from Baltimore, Maryland, credited with the design and development of several planned neighborhoods such as Homeland, Roland Park, Guilford, Wawaset Park, and the design of many buildings within Dundalk, Maryland, which were created specifically for the workers of Bethlehem Steel

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clifton Park, Baltimore</span> United States historic place

Clifton Park is a public urban park and national historic district located between the Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello and Waverly neighborhoods to the west and the Belair-Edison, Lauraville, Hamilton communities to the north in the northeast section of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is roughly bordered by Erdman Avenue to the northeast, Sinclair Lane to the south, Harford Road to the northwest and Belair Road to the southeast. The eighteen-hole Clifton Park Golf Course, which is the site of the annual Clifton Park Golf Tournament, occupies the north side of the park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern High School (Baltimore, Maryland)</span> Defunct high school in Maryland, United States

Southern High School was a former public secondary school on Warren Avenue between William Street to the west and Riverside Avenue to the east, in the Federal Hill neighborhood of the northern side of the larger old South Baltimore community on the Whetstone Point peninsula. With historic Fort McHenry from the War of 1812 (1812-1815), to the southeast at the point itself and additional residential areas surrounding the high school in tightly packed rowhouses and streets known as Locust Point and Riverside to the south and southeast along with the restored Otterbein and Sharp-Leadenhall neighborhoods to the west, also just south of the downtown central business district and famed "Inner Harbor" of the City of Baltimore, in Maryland.

33rd Street, originally called Thirty-third Street Boulevard, is a long, wide, east–west parkway with a broad tree-shaded median strip. It is surrounded by 1920s-era "Daylight-styled" row houses with porches and small front yards. It was designed by the Frederick Law Olmsted Brothers firm, as part of their Baltimore Plan of 1904 and 1921 for establishing stream valley parks and connecting boulevards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Female High School</span> United States historic place

Eastern Female High School, also known as Public School No. 116, is a historic female high school located on the southeast corner of the 200 block of North Aisquith Street and Orleans Street, in the old Jonestown / Old Town neighborhoods, east of Downtown Baltimore and now adjacent to the recently redeveloped Pleasant View Gardens housing project / neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It was built in 1869-1870 and is typical of the Italian Villa mode of late 19th-century architecture. It was dedicated in a large ceremony with speeches later published in a printed pamphlet and attending crowds in early 1870. Old Eastern High is a two-story brick structure that features a square plan, three corner towers, and elaborate bracketing cornices, with a similar wood decorated porch/portico over front entrance on its west side facing Aisquith Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore City Public Schools</span> School district in Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), also referred to as Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) or City Schools, is a public school district in the city of Baltimore, state of Maryland, United States. It serves the youth of Baltimore City. Traditionally, however, the Baltimore City Public Schools system has not referred to itself as a "district," as the operation of the schools was synonymous with the city of Baltimore. Its headquarters are located on 200 East North Avenue at North Calvert Street in the Dr. Alice G. Pinderhughes Administration Building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Heritage</span> Nonprofit historic-preservation organization

Baltimore Heritage is an American nonprofit historic-preservation organization headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homewood Campus of Johns Hopkins University</span> Campus of Johns Hopkins University in north Baltimore, Maryland, United States

The Homewood Campus is the main academic and administrative center of the Johns Hopkins University. It is located at 3400 North Charles Street in Baltimore, Maryland. It houses the two major undergraduate schools: the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering.

References

  1. ↑ "Eastern HS Renovations in Full Swing". The Gazette Online. The Johns Hopkins University. November 6, 2000.
  2. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. ↑ A Committee of the Faculty (1944). Through The Years At The Eastern High School (First ed.). Baltimore, MD: H.G. Roebuck & Son. p. 2.
  4. ↑ "Male and Female Colored School No. 1 at the Peale". www.thepealecenter.org. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  5. 1 2 "Through The Years At The Eastern High School, p. 98."
  6. ↑ "MISS CAIRNES SERVICES SET: Former School Principal In City Dies At 89". The Baltimore Sun. December 17, 1969. ProQuest   536559136.
  7. ↑ Calder, Alice E. Eastern High School War Stamp and Bond Report for School Year September 1942- June 1943. June 1943. Report. Alumni of Eastern High School Collection. BMS 51-5-12. Baltimore City Archives.
  8. ↑ "Eastern High School: A Picture of Turmoil". The Afro-American. Afro-American Company of Baltimore City. 21 February 1970. p. 19. ProQuest   532486798.
  9. ↑ "Eastern Will Be Coed, With Business Specialty". The Baltimore Sun. The Tribune Company. ProQuest Historical Newspapers. 2 March 1979. p. C9. ProQuest   536807412.
  10. ↑ Smith, Jane A.; Davis, Ron (September 26, 1984). "Eastern Considered For Closure". The Baltimore Sun. ProQuest   536595869.
  11. ↑ Black, Esther; Kramer, Joyce A. (March 27, 1985). "The Plot To Kill Eastern H.S.". The Baltimore Sun. ProQuest   537680508.
  12. ↑ Englund, Will (March 29, 1985). "Defenders Rally To Save Eastern High". The Baltimore Sun. ProQuest   537730413.
  13. ↑ "Eastern High: Location Not A Factor In Deciding School's Fate". The Baltimore Sun. March 30, 1985. ProQuest   537676021.
  14. ↑ Hatter, Lou (March 29, 1984). "1,200 Parking Spaces Added". The Baltimore Sun. ProQuest   536693330.
  15. ↑ Alvarez, Rafael (August 10, 1985). "'86 Closing Of Eastern Is Upheld". The Baltimore Sun. ProQuest   535622892.
  16. ↑ Bowie, Liz (May 14, 2003). "City School Board Votes To Split Off Part Of Lake Clifton/Eastern High". The Baltimore Sun. ProQuest   406567959.
  17. ↑ Laura H. Hughes; Andrea Schoenfeld; Simone M. Moffatt (May 2000). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Eastern High School" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  18. ↑ Wighton, Sandra (September 27, 1986). "The Baltimore Sun". ProQuest   910640622.
  19. ↑ "Bishop Vashti McKenzie's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  20. ↑ "Online Collections | Jewish Museum of Maryland".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.