Graduation '79

 

Jessie Martha Wilcox, the daughter of Rollin M. Wilcox and his first wife, the former Martha Newton, graduated from Sandusky High School in June of 1879. At this time, U.T. Curran was the superintendent of Sandusky Public Schools and Emily Patterson was the Principal of Sandusky High School. 

Here is the cover of the program from the annual commencement exercises, held on Friday, June 27, 1879:

During the ceremony, several students gave essays and orations. Jessie Wilcox spoke about “Friendship of Books.”  Charles Courtney Curran, the son of the Superintendent U.T. Curran, gave an oration on American Inventions; he would go on to become a well-known artist. The Great Western Orchestra began and ended the program with musical selections.

The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has in its Schools Collections many primary sources related to Sandusky High School, including several commencement programs, class photographs, graduation pictures, and many decades of the Fram.