The First Edition of “The Gleaner”

While the Sandusky High School Alumni Directory lists the first graduating class of Sandusky High School as taking place in 1855, there were school students in Sandusky, Ohio prior to that date. The first edition of The Gleaner came out on June 28, 1850. The masthead stated that The Gleaner was edited and published monthly by the superintendent and students of the Sandusky City High School. In 1850, M. F. Cowdery served as both the Principal and Superintendent of Public Schools in Sandusky.

The first page of The Gleaner was to be devoted to articles about the operation and history of the public school system in Sandusky, and was to be edited by the Superintendent of Public Schools, while the remaining three pages of the publication were edited by the students. The Board of Education for the Public Schools in Sandusky was made up of: F. M. Follett, President; C. Leonard, Secretary; F. T. Barney, Treasurer; and members Earl Bill, H. F. Merry, and Thomas Hogg.

Student editors for the June 28, 1850 issue of The Gleaner were Miss Martha Hastings and Miss Henrietta T. Day. Some of topics in this issue discussed were governing the tongue, maintaining a good carriage (walk), and how the use of ardent spirits was leading young men to ruin and destruction. A student writer identified only as Leonora wrote a ten stanza poem in memory of the steamer G.P. Griffith, which went down in Lake Erie on June 17, 1850. Hundreds of people lost their lives in this shipwreck.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view a copy of The Gleaner. Ask the Reference Services Staff for Assistance.