May Day festivities, Annie Wright Seminary. Younger girls dressed in white dresses with sashes at their waists and dark ballet shoes perform a traditional Maypole dance to the delight of May Queen Becky Broughton and her court. The dancing girls are members of the school's third class. The dancers will twist the pole's streamers in an attractive pattern by going over and under the others' streamers. This largely European holiday celebrates the coming of summer. (TNT 5/20/1956, pg. D-1)

Annie Wright Seminary (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Private schools--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma--1950-1960;

May Day festivities, Annie Wright Seminary. One of the biggest social activities at Annie Wright was that annual rite of spring, May Day. A May Day queen would be crowned in the midst of performances and activities for parents and students. The queen was traditionally a senior and her maid of honor a junior. These girls appear to be middle school age students, dressed in matching polka dot skirts. They will possibly be performing for the festivities, using the umbrellas. (TNT 5/20/1956, pg. D-1)

Annie Wright Seminary (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Private schools--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Lincoln High School reserve track team picture for the yearbook "The Lincolnian." Pictured are bottom row, left to right, Loren Donahue, Don Smith, John Kouklis, William Wilbur. Top row, left to right, Melvin Johnson, Duane DeForest, Dave Jackman, George Pettitt, Dick Elliott, Jim E. Jones. The athletes were called over from a practice to pose for this April, 1956, photograph, on the old cinder track. During his first year as varsity track coach, Jim Walsh, former New Jersey State College athlete, headed up a team consisting mostly of sophomores and juniors. With the assistance of field coach Chuck Gilmur, Walsh tried to bring his team up to speed. Unfortunately, out of 7 track meets, the team won 1 and lost 6. (The 1956 Lincolnian) (Additional information provided by a reader)

Lincoln High School (Tacoma); Track athletics--Tacoma--1950-1960; Donahue, Loren; Smith, Don; Kouklis, John; Wilbur, William; Johnson, Melvin; DeForest, Duane; Jackman, Dave; Pettitt, George; Elliott, Dick; Jones, Jim E.;

Pacific Lutheran College's May Festival. Eight formally attired couples perform a circle dance. The student orchestra looks on, as does the grandstand seating as the couples, some with hands on hips, put their best foot forward in the dance. The program for May Festival included a demonstration of folk art, such as dancing, from the countries of Lithuania, Sweden, Russia, German, Spain and the U.S. The entertainment also included music played by the band with vocal accompaniment. (The 1956 yearbook "Saga")

Pacific Lutheran College (Parkland)--1950-1960; Festivals--Parkland--1950-1960; Universities & colleges--Parkland--1950-1960; Folk dancing--Parkland--1950-1960;

Dupont School pictures; school boys. Dupont is located between Ft. Lewis and the Nisqually reach in Pierce County and was in the early days inhabited by settlers and employees of the Hudson's Bay Trading Post. It was named for E. I. du Pont de Nemours Company, a manufacturing leader in explosives which opened a powder plant in DuPont in 1906. However, by the 1950's, most of the student body came from Ft. Lewis families. The boys are dressed in slacks or jeans with dress shirts or t-shirts, however, almost all of them are wearing undershirts.

School children--Dupont; Dupont School (Dupont); Boys--Dupont--1950-1960;

The Gault Junior High "Nonettes" and their accompanist, dressed in strapless evening gowns with chiffon or net stoles, gather around a piano to practice for the Gault PTA Talent Parade, which was held on November 20, 1953. The talent show gave all the music groups at Gault an opportunity to display their talents. The concert was followed by carnival activities throughout the school: a white elephant grab bag and candy, punch, plant, fancywork and food booths. The "Nonettes" were in no particular order: Sarah Gislason, Barbara Smith, Carole Kestner, Jane Ciro, Pat Bekemans, Fay Sampson, Roberta Robinson, Virginia Lindstrom and Margaret Vimont; they were accompanied on the piano by Julia Beadell. (Photo ordered by the Gault School Carnival Committee.) (TNT 11/19/1953, pg. C-7)

Public schools--Tacoma; School children--Tacoma--1950-1960; Gault Junior High School (Tacoma); Evening gowns--Tacoma--1950-1960; Choirs (Music); Music festivals--Tacoma;

Annie Wright Seminary. Students and teacher in chemistry lab. Upper level students prepare to cook up an experiment with the assistance of their teacher Miss McKay. Miss McKay was the Annie Wright instructor of science and mathematics. (The Shield, 1954 issue)

Annie Wright Seminary (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Private schools--Tacoma;

Sherman Elementary School construction for Robert B. Price, architect. Sherman was originally built in 1891 at N. 38th & M St. and named for William Tecumseh Sherman, a Civil War Union Army general. It was overcrowded as soon as it opened. In January of 1953, plans were revealed for a new $500,000 one story structure. The old school was demolished to make room for playgrounds. The new Sherman had 20 classrooms, a lunchroom, auditorium, library and two outside play courts. Skylights, plastic sky domes and natural brick lightened the halls and classrooms. The school was dedicated in November of 1954. This school was demolished in 1998 to make way for Sherman #3. ("For the Record" by Winnifred Olsen)

Public schools--Tacoma--1950-1960; Sherman School (Tacoma);

ca. 1954. The 47 piece Pacific Lutheran College Band, attired in their black and gold uniforms and photographed with their instruments in the Band Room of the Music/Chapel Building. The band was under the direction of Dr. Robert Larson. The band played at all football games as well as performing a number of concerts throughout the year. They played the last concert of the three day Omnibus of Arts, the student cultural festival, with the PLC chorus on the Parkland campus. (1954 PLC yearbook "The Saga," TNT 2/21/1954, pg. D-7- see yearbook for names)

Universities & colleges--Parkland; Pacific Lutheran College (Parkland)--1950-1960; Marching bands; Bands--Parkland--1950-1960;

ca. 1956. Housemother Freda Rouze shows the "sign out" book to Nancy Iverson at Pacific Lutheran College's newest dorm, West Hall. Another coed, Katherine Almgren, checks her mail at the dorm mailboxes. West hall was completed in the fall of 1956 and housed 151 freshman and sophomore women. It had much the same plan as the college's North Hall, and offered a main lounge, kitchen for student use, study lounges on every floor and a self service laundry. (1957 "Saga" & TNT 10/19/1956, pg. B-2)

Pacific Lutheran College (Parkland)--Buildings; Pacific Lutheran College (Parkland)--1950-1960; Universities & colleges--Parkland; Rouze, Freda; Iverson, Nancy; Almgren, Katherine;

Under the direction of Gordon O. Gilbertson, the Pacific Lutheran College Concert Band during the 1956-57 school year performed many concerts, both at school and at neighboring locations, as well as providing added spirit to basketball and football games. The band is pictured here in the Music & Chapel building on January 17, 1957. Photograph ordered by Pacific Lutheran College.

Bands--Parkland--1950-1960; Pacific Lutheran College (Parkland)--1950-1960;

Dads visited their daughters' classrooms during Dads' Day at Annie Wright Seminary on May 18, 1957. They were able to observe their children at work and at play. These girls are possibly in the Lower School. Photograph ordered by Annie Wright Seminary.

Annie Wright Seminary (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Private schools--Tacoma;

It appears that this father, although swinging mightily, is going to avoid contact with the ball during the 1957 Dads' Day baseball game at Annie Wright Seminary. The catcher has his arms extended to catch the ball. Other fathers await their turn at bat. Annie Wright annually held a Dads' Day in the spring where fathers and daughters bonded in various campus activities. Photograph ordered by Annie Wright Seminary.

Annie Wright Seminary (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Private schools--Tacoma; Baseball--Tacoma--1950-1960; Baseball players--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Lincoln High School had a large and thriving band in the 1950's. Members, pictured performing in the school auditorium in a January, 1953, photograph, were impressively dressed in dark uniforms with gold shoulder braid. Under the direction of Robert Dezell, who also directed the school orchestra, the Lincoln band performed for each basketball and football game. They, like the school orchestra, traveled to junior high schools in the area to promote Lincoln's fine musicians. The band was honored to represent the City of Tacoma and Lincoln High School in the annual Wenatchee Apple Blossom Festival where they marched in the parade and participated in the band jamboree. Photograph was taken on behalf of the Lincolnian yearbook; copy ordered by Al Swift. (1953 Lincolnian, p. 86)

Bands--Tacoma--1950-1960; Youth bands--Tacoma--1950-1960; Band uniforms--Tacoma; Lincoln High School (Tacoma);

Annie Wright Seminary senior Erin Lombard was chosen the 1953 Queen of May. She has evidently been crowned as she is already wearing her tiara. She is flanked by two beaming kindergarteners in white who were possibly herald and crown bearers. May Day festivities were well attended by alumnae, students and friends. Activities were held both on the seminary lawns and within the school buildings.

Annie Wright Seminary (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Private schools--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma--1950-1960; Lombard, Erin;

Annie Wright Seminary had a large Lower School in the 1950's. Most students would attend school functions such as the annual May Day festival and probably perform in some capacity. Here a group of nineteen little girls smile happily, and in some cases shyly, for the camera. They may have been dressed to participate in a program of modern dance which was presented before the Queen and her court.

Annie Wright Seminary (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Private schools--Tacoma; Group portraits; School children--Tacoma--1950-1960; Festivals--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Construction of DeLong School. DeLong was planned and named in 1949 after Arctic explorer George Washington DeLong. The school opened in February of 1954 and students from the overcrowded Franklin and Jefferson schools moved into the new glass and brick school. The school accommodated about 60 children from Jefferson and 100 from Franklin. Parents protested that some of these students would have to walk over one mile through brush, bushes, a swamp and a completely undeveloped area without the benefit and safety of sidewalks.The school opened despite the lack of promised streets and sidewalks in the undeveloped area. The school was enlarged in 1959. Photo ordered by St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. ("For the Record," by Winnifred Olsen, TNT 8/27/1953, pg. B-2 & TNT 8/28/1953, pg. 1)

DeLong Elementary School (Tacoma); Public schools--Tacoma--1950-1960; Building construction--Tacoma--1950-1960; Progress photographs--1950-1960;

Trusses at new Horace Mann School. Ordered by Timber Structures Inc. This building was erected in 1953 on the grounds of the old school. The original school had been built in 1901 and added on to in 1905 and 1909 for a total of 16 classrooms. The new school bordered on So. 52nd, 54th, J and K Streets. A continuous suspended fiberglass skylight provided natural light in the halls. The building had 21 classrooms, a library, health room, lunchroom and kitchen, special services room, a large all purpose room and auditorium. It was a one story structure with partial basement designed by Jensen & Mills, architects. ("For the Record," by Winnifred L. Olsen & TNT 7/26/1953, pg. C-12)

Horace Mann School (Tacoma); Public schools--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Progress photographs of DeLong School, for DFPA. DeLong, unlike the other new schools built at this time, featured a unique sloping roof of aluminum coated mineral build up with an aluminum continuous skylight that provided natural light to the school. Additional lighting was fluorescent. Warter Constructions served as general contractor. The school was at the center of controversy, since some students would be transferred from their closest school Jefferson to DeLong. The walk to DeLong would be over one mile through rough undeveloped terrain where students would walk in the streets because there were no sidewalks on So. 12th. (TNT 8-9-1953, pg. C-12. TNT 8/27/1953, pg. B-2 & TNT 8/28/1953, pg. 1)

DeLong Elementary School (Tacoma); Public schools--Tacoma--1950-1960; Building construction--Tacoma--1950-1960; Progress photographs--1950-1960;

View of elaborate, newly completed $4,000,000 science complex located at the University of Puget Sound. Taking over two years to construct, the complex, named after 26-year-president R. Franklin Thompson, would be dedicated on April 21, 1968. Its Tutor-Gothic style of architecture neatly fit in with the remainder of the campus located in the city's north end. The 74-foot diameter water fountain, located in the Harry Brown Family Quadrangle, could be illuminated at night. President Thompson had led the school into an era of major expansion which included the construction of four dorms, the president's brick home, library, music building, student center, eight men's housing, two women's dorms, Baker (football) Stadium, Kilworth Chapel and McIntyre Hall. Photograph ordered by the News Tribune. (TNT 4-14-68, B-12)

University of Puget Sound (Tacoma)--1960-1970; Fountains--Tacoma;

A smiling Kai Wonderly poses on the lawn of Annie Wright Seminary, 827 Tacoma Ave. No., as she waits to be introduced to the many parents and students during the school's 1968 May Day festival. Her long white train is being carefully tended by two young girls, members of the school's lower division. Kai, a senior at Annie Wright, is holding a ribboned bouquet of daisies. Photograph ordered by Annie Wright Seminary. (TNT 5-26-68, D10, 11)

Annie Wright Seminary (Tacoma)--1960-1970; Private schools--Tacoma; May Day; Wonderly, Kai; Festivals--Tacoma--1960-1970; Students--Tacoma--1960-1970; School children--Tacoma--1960-1970;

Progress photographs- Hunt Junior High School. Noted architect Robert Billsbrough Price designed the ultra-modern Henry F. Hunt Junior High School (now Middle School) which had been described as "one of the most imaginative new schools in the nation." Contractors Standard Construction Co. kept costs well in hand, with the school one of the least expensive per square foot. Workers are shown in this June 30, 1957, progress photograph, laying the arched panels covering the roof of the gymnasium. The school was dedicated on October 29, 1958. Trygve Blix was Hunt's first principal; formerly Baker Junior High's principal, he and his staff of 27 teachers were in charge of the nearly 700 students who attended Hunt from the Fircrest and West Tacoma neighborhoods. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association. (Olsen: For the Record, p. 157)

Henry F. Hunt Junior High School (Tacoma); Public schools--Tacoma--1950-1960; Progress photographs; Building construction--Tacoma--1950-1960;

The timeless beauty of Tudor Gothic-style architecture is reflected in the ivy-covered columns of Annie Wright Seminary. The school was designed by the architectural firm of Sutton, Whitney & Dugan and built in 1924 by J.E. Bonnell, contractor. In 1957 Annie Wright grew to include the construction of new classrooms and a music room. It was primarily a girls' school and attracted students from as far away as Hawaii. Photograph ordered by Annie Wright Seminary.

Private schools--Tacoma; Vines--Tacoma; Annie Wright Seminary (Tacoma)--Buildings;

ca. 1957. Clover Park High School's Class of 1957 is appropriately capped and gowned prior to graduation ceremonies held in the school's gymnasium. Rows of empty chairs face them, to be filled with hundreds of family and friends. Graduation ceremonies were held on June 6, 1957, with 284 blue-and-white clad seniors receiving diplomas. Bonnie Jean Chavis, Nancy Hannaford, and Edwin Hall made speeches regarding the senior class motto, "Men and Ideas." The class presented their gift of $500 to the school for use in the purchase of a stage curtain. Photograph ordered by the Seattle P-I. (TNT 6-7-57, p. 8)

Clover Park High School (Lakewood); Public schools--Lakewood; Graduation ceremonies--Lakewood;

Idlewild Elementary School was located in Lakewood at 10806 Idlewild Rd. S.W. , a part of the Clover Park School District. James E. Rediske was listed as principal in the 1958 Tacoma Suburban Directory. The school's buildings were clustered together; they all seemed to be of modern style and one-story in nature. The largest building with a steep roof shown in this March 4, 1958, photograph appeared to be the auditorium. Idlewild followed the new trend in wood framing and glue-lam beams for school construction. 70,000 feet of fir plywood was used for roof decking. Donald Burr was the architect for the project; Strom Construction was the contractor. Photograph ordered by Penman Neil, Inc. (TNT 2-9-58, A-19)

Idlewild Elementary School (Lakewood); Public schools--Lakewood;

The Concert Chorus at Pacific Lutheran College posed for the camera seated in an open fan shape in the Music-Chapel on April 9, 1958. The men all sported tuxedoes while the women were primarily dressed in evening gowns. According to the student yearbook, the SAGA, the popularity of the group was increasing rapidly in the Seattle-Tacoma area. The chorus performed several times on Fort Lewis, at various churches, and at chapel exercises on campus. They were honored to be the first choral group to sing at the new Central Lutheran Church in Tacoma. The Concert Chorus, under the direction of R. Byard Fritts, concluded its year by recording music for the sound track of a technicolor movie to be released by the United Good Neighbors. (1958 SAGA yearbook, p. 94)

Choirs (Music); Universities & colleges--Parkland; Pacific Lutheran College (Parkland)--1950-1960;

These little girls lounging on the grass at Annie Wright Seminary were probably part of the Lower School. They were waiting to participate in the school's annual May Day festival. It is likely that they would be performing a dance, perhaps ballet, for the enjoyment of parents and fellow students. Sepia photograph ordered by Annie Wright Seminary.

Private schools--Tacoma; School children--Tacoma--1950-1960; Annie Wright Seminary (Tacoma)--1950-1960;

Placed on the City, State and National Registry of historic buildings, the French chateau styled Stadium High School opened as a school in 1906. Intended originally for use as a hotel, and damaged by fire, the building was saved and remodeled to be used as a high school. View of Stadium High School; the unusual spires, turrets and towers would have been a challenge for roofers to maintain and replace. Nevertheless, $850,000 was spent in the summer of 1958 for renovations to the school. A new roof, rewelded and repainted fire escapes, replacement windows and sashes and a 50 foot steel beam lowered across the top of the gym to make the basketball court regulation sized and turned around were just some of the projects. Photograph ordered by Chase Brass & Copper Co., Waterbury, Conn. (TNT 7-20-58, B-11) TPL-8668

Stadium High School (Tacoma); Public schools--Tacoma--1950-1960;

This side view of Stadium High School was taken on a sunny spring day in 1958 from the corner of N. 2nd and "E" Sts. Fire escapes are attached to the outside of the buildings so that students could exit in case of emergencies. These fire escapes would be removed, rewelded and painted during the $850,000 renovation project at the school during summer, 1958. Hipped and pitched roofs, spirals, and dormers blend in with the French chateau architecture but would have been difficult to repair and maintain. Besides a new roof, 500 windows and sashes were replaced during renovations. Photograph ordered by the Chase Brass & Copper Co., Waterbury, Conn. (TNT 7-20-58, B-11)

Stadium High School (Tacoma); Public schools--Tacoma--1950-1960;

The finished interior of the new Henry F.Hunt Junior High cafetorium at 6501 South 10th Street was photographed on June 23, 1958. The school opened in September of 1958, and the dedication was held on October 29th. The innovative dome-shaped building combined the cafeteria and the school auditorium. The curved stage blends with the building's curved glue-lam beams. The cafetorium had 20 bays with the dome covering a 144 foot span. The dome was formed by the use of 7" by 26" glue-lam beams; the purlins between the beams were covered with a half-inch fir plywood sheathing. There were many skylights to help with the natural lighting. The feeling of spaciousness was further accentuated by the lack of supporting columns within the building. Because of the extensive use of wood, the school district was able to save quite a bit of money in construction; costs ran 15 cents per square foot. (TNT 2-9-58, A-19, 20)

Henry F. Hunt Junior High School (Tacoma); Public schools--Tacoma--1950-1960; Building construction--Tacoma--1950-1960;