Onondaga Central
Imagine going to high school in 1939. If you were a graduate of the Class of 1939 and graduated at 18, you would be turning 100 years old this year! One Onondaga Central alumni and graduate of the Class of 1939, Frances Pegula, is turning 100 years old. In the high school library, there are yearbooks dating back decades, telling the stories of past grades and classes. I was asked by the OCSEF to find information about Frances in these yearbooks for her 100th birthday celebration. This inspired me to explore and dig deeper into what was life like here at OCS in 1939.
The Class of 1939 had 27 graduating Seniors compared to the Class of 2021 that has 77 seniors. In the 1939 yearbook, there was only one group photo of the entire class and no individual photos like our current yearbook. In 1939, Onondaga had the following athletics: soccer, varsity basketball, junior varsity basketball, baseball, girl's volleyball first-team and second-team, archery, and cheerleading. At the beginning of the yearbook, there is a Foreward by the Board of Education that explains that the N.Y. State Legislature cut education by 10%, but Onondaga Central was able to avoid increasing taxes and cutting services due to increased enrollment leading to a greater proportion of aid. The end of the Foreward also encourages parents to come in and observe classes. The next section is the faculty, which consisted of only 19 members, including elementary school teachers, as Wheeler was not yet a school. After this section, there is a part of the yearbook highlighting certain departments such as Homemaking and Agriculture. The Homemaking Department stated its goal was to help girls learn the skills to be mothers or homemakers such as cooking, cleaning, sewing, and parenting. The Agriculture Department stated its goal was to help boys learn the skills necessary to operate a farm. Under the heading "Extra-Curricular Activities, 1938-1939" several informally organized clubs listed including Chess Club and Library Club which focused on learning how to run a library. Onondaga Central had chapters of national organizations such as Future Farmers of America and Boy Scouts of America mentioned. The Dramatics Club is also talked about, which would now be known as Drama Club at OCS. The next section with extra-curricular activities has group photos with all the members. The first extra-curricular highlighted was the school newspaper "Central Speaks." The staff was composed of 27 students and published a newspaper every first and third Wednesday. They covered district-wide events and school activities. The only other organization to have a photo was titled Musical Organizations. The musical organization mentioned in the description below the photo was Grade Chorus, which had 60 members. The music department had five divisions, including an orchestra, and was described as rapidly growing in the first line of the description. The Girl's Glee Club and Boy's Glee Club were also described. After clubs, the next section is the Alumni Register. This portion of the yearbook was dedicated to highlighting where students of past graduating classes are. This included several students attending Cornell University. There were also some students listed attending Syracuse University and one attending St. Lawrence University. Other students were working, stay-at-home mothers, or attending secretarial school. The next section is Athletics. The only team with a photo is cheerleading or as labeled in the yearbook spirit characteristic of Onondaga Central Athletic Teams. There are six female students in the photo. The rest of the teams are listed with all the members. The heading underneath the photo states that Onondaga's girls’ teams have had particularly outstanding seasons. The next and second to last page is the school calendar for the upcoming 1939-1940 school year. The first day of school for the 1939-1940 school year was September 5. Their first day off was Columbus Day, October 12. Then, instead of Veteran's Day in November, OCS students had Armistice Day off on November 11. Congress replaced Armistice Day with Veteran's Day in 1954. Instead of President's Day on February 22nd, they had Washington's Birthday, only had one vacation day as opposed to the week vacation that we get now. Ironically, the graduation for the Class of 1940 was held on June 25th, the same day as graduation this year for the Class of 2021. This class was one of the last to graduate before the start of WWII. Maybe someone in 2103 will look back at an Onondaga Central yearbook to explore what our life was like and write a school newspaper article!
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