Friday, September 26, 2008

Genealogical Research with High School Alumni Publications

High School alumni directories can be very helpful in genealogical research. The page below shows both the maiden names and married names of female graduates. Since the directory was current to 1909, by searching the 1910 United States Census, more details about the graduates can be gleaned, such as place of birth, occupation, and the names of children and spouse. (U.S. Census records are available at the Archives Research Center on microfilm, as well as through the databases Ancestry Library Edition and Heritage Quest. See the Reference Staff for assistance.)
Laura Beattie married the Rev. Charles Dinsmore, and moved to Waterbury, Connecticut. Evelina Ball had become Mrs. George W. Perkins. Charles Henry Arndt had become a minister serving a church in Germantown, Pennsylvania. A. J. Weis was employed by the Keystone Fish Company in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The listings in the directory will provide the names of the classmates of your ancestors. By then searching through the appropriate Sandusky High School “Fram,” you can view photographs of various clubs, teams, and organizations, which give further details about the students of Sandusky High School throughout several decades. Yearbooks from St. Mary’s Central High School and Perkins High School can also be found at the Archives Research Center.

In 1994, the Sandusky High School Alumni Association published an Alumni Directory, which is shelved immediately after the collection of high school yearbooks from Sandusky High School. The Alumni Directory serves as an index to the yearbooks, giving the year of graduation, and providing the maiden name of females. An address that was current in 1994 is also listed. At yearly class reunions, current addresses of living graduates are usually proved in a pamphlet given to attendees.
Alice Reber Johnson is just one of the many persons whose names are listed in the “Complete List of Living Graduates of Sandusky High School from 1855 to 1909.”

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