Hoodlums in 1939

The Army and Navy Academy, originally located in Pacific Beach, moved to Carlsbad in 1937. Today, it continues to be a part of our community, with a most excellent and picturesque location on the northwest end of town. This 1939 article tells the story of some hooliganism that occurred on the campus by local teens. The way the situation is handled by the staff and community, via the Carlsbad Journal, demonstrates the sensibility of their time and place. FYI, in 1939, there was no Carlsbad High School. Carlsbad teens attended Oceanside-Carlsbad High School in Oceanside, now Oceanside High School.

The Journal is in receipt of a letter from Major John Davis, president of the San Diego Army and Navy academy, reporting that Mrs. Virginia Atkinson, their dramatics coach and their dramatics team, were continuously annoyed at the theatre last week by hoodlums.

The dramatics team was rehearsing for the State tournament held this week in Pasadena where the Carlsbad entry from the Military academy won second place and in which, there were eleven entries.

During the evening while rehearsals were in progress these hoodlums would pound on the theatre doors and throw rocks and other missiles at the building for no other apparent purpose than to annoy and disturb those who were at their work.

When Mrs. Atkinson went to the door and invited the boys inside they responded with language and epithets that are imprintable.

Some of the hoodlums were recognized and at least some of them are high school students at Oceanside, and one of them a senior.

President Davis in his letter to The Journal said that it is not the desire of the academy to make unnecessary trouble for the boys or their parents, that the school not only desires to avoid such steps, but wants still more to become a home institution, a part of the community life in Carlsbad, and he asks what can be done to avoid experiences of this kind in the future.

The splendid thing for these boys to do, if they read this report, would be to go to Maj. Davis or Mrs. Atkinson and apologize and promise not to repeat their acts of rowdyism.

Putting it mildly, it is unfortunate that a community like Carlsbad should have young men as residents whose idea of fun is to indulge in acts of vandalism, and worse still, should consider it smart to use vile language in the presence of a lady. Mrs. Atkinson will be able to forgive and forget, but the boys themselves, and high school students at that, will eventually suffer severe and unpleasant consequences for engaging in their idea of sport.

There is just one way that these boys will ever amount to anything. It won't help them any to be arrested and punished by law, but if they persist in such rowdyism that is what will happen to them. If they want to feel good again their only course is to report to the Academy that they are sorry.

That would be the first step toward becoming young gentlemen.

Adventures in yearbook research: Oceanside-Carlsbad Union High School, 1909-1950

After I completed my column for the Carlsbad Patch on the Carlsbad History Room yearbook collection: http://carlsbad.patch.com/articles/for-the-love-of-yearbooks, my curiosity about the state of girls’ sports was so piqued that I headed over to Oceanside High School to look at their complete collection of yearbooks for the former Oceanside-Carlsbad Union High School. Aside from girls’ sports, what I found in the earlier yearbooks was interesting enough to warrant a second write-up. 

The Oceanside-Carlsbad Union High School opened in 1906 with just twenty students in two grades, 9th and 10th. The first yearbook for the high school was published 1909. It gave a short history of the students’ activities and the school itself from 1906-1909. The yearbook was called The Nautilus and the cover included an inspirational saying: “Build thee more stately mansions, oh my soul." It seems that the student body had consisted mainly of girls from its opening until this first publication. Five girls made up the first graduating class: Sibyl Spencer, Ramona Rieke, Marguerite Brannen, Eunice Everett, and Edith Cotteral. They were active girls and serious scholars. During the 1906 and 1908-1909 school year, their basket ball [sic] team played against other schools: Santa Ana, Orange, Escondido, and Fallbrook. By 1909, they also had a new tennis court. 

Despite what our preconceived notions might be of the education available to girls in the early 20th century, there were no home economics classes until 1919. They did have a school library, which opened in 1907 and a student council. The student council consisted of the usual officers, as well as a “Mistress-at-arms”! Similar to our experience today, the incoming 1908-1909 freshman class was the largest: seven students, including two boys. Five girls made up the sophomore class. The junior class consisted of one boy and one girl. I hope they got along!

The “Athletics” section in the first yearbook was contradictory, as were many aspects of progressive behavior in women in the past. Just as Elizabeth Blackwell who was the first female to graduate from medical school would not walk in her college’s graduation because it wasn’t “ladylike,” so these active and intelligent girls apologize: “The feminine element of the OCUHS is predominant, so if the discussion of girls’ basketball fills the space devoted to athletics in general, we hope our readers will not be disappointed.” I have tried to surmise who that apology was meant for: the three boys at the school, parents, or perhaps the general public? Regardless, the rest of the section contained their scores for the season, descriptions of the players, a general discussion of the benefits of athletics, and gratitude to those who supported the team. 

They won four out of seven games, and the county championship. Each player was entertainingly described, e.g. "Sibyl Spencer-Small, quick, sly center" and "Enice Everett-A nifty guard with a swift arm." Ramona Rieke, who wrote the Athletics’ section, wrote a very inspirational and uplifting description of the game and its benefits (NBA/WNBA PR, take note!): “…basketball is one of the very best tests of the activity and alertness of the brain…. The real heart of its popularity is that the game is a most insistent shaper of character. Endurance, energy and patience are the secrets of successful playing. Good control of temper and the absence of selfishness and personal antagonism are necessary for a real player. But best of all is that beautiful friendliness, companionship and concentration of many minds on one thing in common, causing respect and love for one another, which is all so firmly established by team work.” 

By 1912, the yearbook had been re-titled, Green & White. Due to the fact that there were hardly any photos in these early yearbooks, there was a lot of space for information about their coursework, examples of student writing, etc. In the 1912 yearbook, a student wrote about how the tenth graders studied the papers of Sir Roger de Coverly, each taking a character name to “make them more interesting.” Based on other essays in the yearbook, it is evident that Joseph Addison was revered. (Joseph Addison wrote the play, "Cato," a favorite of many of our Founding Fathers.) Another student wrote an essay about the history of African-Americans. The sophomore class motto was “That which we think we understand best, we find ourselves most ignorant of.” Clearly, the human condition has not changed. This year also saw a new school built for about $16,000, after a $15,000 bond measure passed. The curriculum was still very general. This is understandable since there were only six graduating seniors in 1913. The ninth graders' course load consisted of: Latin, Algebra, General Science, and English. In the senior write-ups of 1913, it was noted that Mary Machado and Ruth Bryan were three-year graduates, with the well-earned congratulations on their achievement. 

In one of these early yearbooks, the foreword suggests that teens consider attending high school for its excellent social aspects, but admonishes them not to even consider it if they aren’t willing to improve themselves through the challenging academics offered at the school. In an essay by Sedric Brown entitled “Ranches of California,” he suspects that the land would soon be in the hands of the “incoming tourist population.” He felt that the government should preserve the ranches, just as they do the Missions. He was right on, the "tourists" have settled en masse, aided by developers.

The years of WWI are reflected in the pages of the yearbooks with former students serving in the military, and there were many! There were several seniors who served and then returned to finish high school, as noted in the senior write-ups. At a time when it wasn’t a requirement, coming back to complete their high school education speaks highly of those young men. By 1925, Home Economics was relabeled Domestic Science. In 1927, it had become Domestic Art. The boys were not to be left out of advancing their own knowledge of domestic activities- the 1931 yearbook had a photo of the inaugural Boys’ Cookery Class. Another unusual class that only appeared to last a year was an Advanced Physiology Class for girls, apparently to learn about hygiene! 

The 1928 yearbook showed a photo of the three buses the school now had at their disposal. Prior to this, my understanding was that most students took the train and/or walked. By 1931, the number of buses had increased to six and by 1932, seven. It was noted in the yearbook that some students had a round-trip of sixty miles. For those who participated in extracurricular activities, there were late buses that left the school at 5 p.m. Among the extracurricular offerings, the Stamp Club, Badminton Club, Homemaking Club, and Future Secretaries were new options in the 1950 yearbook. Senior superlatives made their debut in the 1945 yearbook. 

Watching the evolution of school culture and teen-aged students through their high school yearbooks in a “time-lapse” fashion affords us a unique “big picture” view, as with the changes in Home Economics classes and cheerleading. The similarities and differences between high school students of today and those one hundred years ago, demonstrate that while teen-agers haven’t changed as much as we might think, the world we grow up in affects our sensibility. And our sensibility creates the world for the next generation.