Sandusky High School’s Graduating Class of 1914

Pictured above is a composite picture of the 1914 graduates of Sandusky High School, created by Sandusky photographer W.A. Bishop. Most of the female members of the graduating class wore their hair swept back away from their face, and several girls wore a middy blouse, which was a popular style at that time.  

In his senior year, Lloyd Weninger wrote both the words and music to the Sandusky High School Victory Song. He went on to become a professor of Dramatic Arts at Carnegie Tech for thirty-one years, retiring in 1961.

  The principal of Sandusky High School in 1914 was R.E. Offenhauer. In 1937, Roy E. Offenhauer became the second president of Bowling Green State University. 

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view more historical pictures from Sandusky and Erie County.

Knute Rockne Addressed the Sandusky Kiwanis Club in 1925

Image from Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

A front-page article in the March 6, 1925 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that football genius Knute Rockne gave the address at a Sandusky Kiwanis banquet which was held at the Elks Club on March 4, 1925.  The Register article stated, “With raptor like forensic thrust and fairly bubbling with the college athlete spirit, the man who last year coached the first national collegiate football eleven in the nation’s history, gave what was unanimously declared to be the best address scholastic athletes ever heard here.” 

Sandusky City Solicitor Edmund H. Savord, a Notre Dame alumnus, introduced Knute Rockne to the crowd of two hundred fifty people. In his opening remarks, Coach Rockne recalled his summers at Cedar Point, where his boss had been J.F. Singler. Rev. William F. Murphy, who had officiated at the wedding of Knute Rockne to Bonnie Skiles, sat next to Rockne at the speaker’s table. 

According to Rockne, there were five components of success needed in football. They included brains, ambition, hard work, dependability, and proper psychology. Knute Rockne stated that the ideals of college athletes also “make for better men and better citizenship.”  In his closing remarks, Coach Rockne quoted the words of Theodore Roosevelt, “Don’t foul, don’t flinch; and when you hit the line, hit hard.”   

Members of the Sandusky High School football and basketball teams attended the banquet. Each of the football players have been identified in this picture from the 1925 Fram, which covered the school year of 1924-1925.

The uniforms of the basketball players for SHS in 1924-25 were quite different from the high school uniforms we see today.

After Coach Rockne’s address, George W. Wiles led the group in singing. Sandusky High School’s “Victory” song was sung by the high school athletes first, and then sung again by all guests at the banquet. Lloyd Weninger, who wrote the words and music to the “Victory” song, was given an ovation. 

   

Sandusky High School Victory Song

In 1914 Sandusky High School senior Lloyd F. Weninger wrote both the words and music to the Sandusky High School Victory Song, published by the Alvord Peters Company.

For a time, Lloyd Weninger co-owned the Lloyd-George Studios with George J. Lehrer. Lloyd F. Weninger was a graduate of the School of Drama, Carnegie Institute of Technology, now known as Carnegie Mellon University. Mr. Weninger was professor of Dramatic Arts at Carnegie Tech for thirty one years, retiring in 1961. While at Carnegie Tech, Weninger designed more than five hundred stage sets. Frank Smith stated, in an article in the March 29, 1973 issue of the Sandusky Register, that Lloyd Weninger was ahead of his time. He used black light technology before anyone else. He wrote a Harlequins play in 1949, entitled “619 Portrait of the Polish Family,” based on his experiences of living with a Polish family. During the summer months, and after his retirement, he resided in Sandusky. For several holiday seasons Mr. Weninger played Santa Claus at the Hill’s Department Store in Sandusky. After contracting pneumonia, Lloyd Weninger died on December 23, 1971. He was buried at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

The Lloyd Weninger Award for Stage Design is awarded to a Junior or Senior at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama.

Lloyd-George Studios

In the 1927 City Directory the “Lloyd-George Studios” advertised studio props and scenery as well as production of pageants, plays, minstrels and reviews with amateurs. The proprietors of the business were Sandusky High School graduates Lloyd F. Weninger and George J. Lehrer. The Lloyd-George Studios continued in business until the late 1930’s, though it was managed by Mr. Lehrer alone for many years.

Lloyd F. Weninger (pictured above) was an artist and musician. He wrote a song entitled “Victory” for Sandusky High School in 1914, and he illustrated the booklet “Our City Sandusky” for the centennial celebration of the city of Sandusky. He went on to graduate from Carnegie Tech, where he taught for 31 years.

George J. Lehrer was a nationally known actor and director. He performed in Broadway, Vaudeville, and Hollywood productions but is best known for his one man show in which he portrayed Abraham Lincoln. The front page of the February 11, 1961 Sandusky Register has a feature article about George Lehrer’s Lincoln performances.

The Lehrer family has a long history of community involvement in Sandusky and Erie County. George J. Lehrer’s grandfather, Rev. J. G. Lehrer was an early pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, and his father, George T. Lehrer ran a local drugstore and was elected mayor of Sandusky in 1910, later serving as city manager.

Here is a view of the Lehrer Drug Store in 1904, at 1211 Washington Street.

Visit the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library to learn more about the early residents and businesses of Sandusky and Erie County.