USA > California > San Diego County > San Diego > City of San Diego and San Diego County : the birthplace of California, Volume I > Part 34
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The entire management of the welfare work of the western de- partment of the Knights of Columbus was under the supervision of A. G. Bagley of San Francisco, and local Knights are loud in their praise of the generosity he always displayed in providing funds to carry on the work in the local area. Athletic supplies, creature comforts, picture machines and other needs were promptly supplied to the many huts of this base from the San Francisco warehouse, and director Bagley frequently called to see that all needs were taken care of and that an adequate and competent personnel was devoting its entire efforts to the men of the service. Thousands of men in peace time callings gratefully remember the work of the local Knights during and after the war and while they were in the many local encampments. Testimonials by the score are a matter of record in the local council, testifying to the good work of its members.
The "Everybody Welcome, Everything Free" sign adorned every hut and club here as elsewhere and in no instance was any service man or woman allowed to pay for service, entertainments or supplies. Ten million dollars was the contribution of the national organization to the war fund, and San Diego council is on record as having contributed more than its quota to this vast sum. Thirty millions more were alloted to the national organization through the general drives made all over the country and here again local members came forward and donated their share to these drives in addition to the previous contributions made to their own organization.
The local work was continued after the signing of the armistice and while the men were being discharged from the service in this country and those returning from overseas were concentrated in the local ports awaiting like disposition by the government's military or- ganization.
The importance of San Diego as a naval and military base was called to the attention of the supreme directors by director A. G. Bag- ley of the western department after the discharge of the men from the service, with the result that a service club was opened here in Oc-
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tober, 1919, and the same work that characterized the war activity was continued for over a year after the war had closed. In connec- tion with this work, an employment bureau was conducted and hun- dreds of men were placed in positions after their discharge from the service. Members of San Diego Council aided materially in this post-war work and many positions were offered by local Knights who were employers in addition to the generous support given by many others who were not members of the order nor of the same creed as its adherents. This welfare work was discontinued here as in all other places throughout the country in the fall of 1920, much to the regret of the local service men who saw this work of the Knights of Columbus close at this base where it had rendered such fine service.
This regret was shared by the several commanders of military operations in San Diego, and letters of appreciation which also ex- pressed sorrow on account of the decision of the supreme board to close activities were received at the local quarters from Rear Admiral Roger Welles, Brig .- Gen. J. H. Pendleton and others in command in the posts in and about San Diego.
The local work of the Knights of Columbus, however, was not to be abandoned and with the inauguration of the educational pro- gram, San Diego was chosen as one of the cities where a school for ex-service men would be opened and this work was begun in the fall of 1920, and in the same quarters that had been the scene of the many war activities of the order.
Alterations were made on the building, and ten large school rooms prepared for the students that were invited to register for the free courses that were offered. The response was flattering and again testified to the favor in which the Knights of Columbus were held by the former service men and women.
During 1920, more than 800 took advantage of the opportunity afforded to secure practical short courses in the many subjects that were taught, and at the end of the school year 79 certificates were awarded to pupils that had finished one or more courses in the school. The teaching staff was composed of instructors mostly selected from the local high school, and these at all times displayed unusual interest in the work of the many industrious and ambitious ex-service men and women who were eager to take advantage of the educational pro- gram as offered by the Knights of Columbus. Many letters of appre- ciation came from these students at the end of the school year express- ing satisfaction at results, which in many cases enabled them to secure better positions, with increase in salary, due to the unflagging interest of the Knights of Columbus in the welfare of the ex-service men and women.
The supreme directors of the order decided in 1921. that with the money remaining in their hands, work in behalf of the disabled war veterans would be undertaken in all the Public Health Service hos- pitals of the country and that Camp Kearny would have a secretary where relief work would be conducted for the benefit of the patients.
A hut was opened at that camp in charge of Eugene Galligan, and similar work to that carried on during the war has been operated for the benefit of the sick and disabled veterans. Entertainment is fur- nished, reading matter distributed and personal service rendered to the
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men in the wards and in addition, compensation and insurance matters are handled by the local secretary, through the Washington office which is maintained for this service by the Knights of Columbus for the free use of all ex-service men. Nor were the former fighting men in other institutions about this city forgotten, as their wants have been looked after and supplied by the local secretaries.
At the national convention of the Knights of Columbus held at San Francisco in 1921, it was announced that upwards of $5,000,000, of war funds still remain in the treasury and this sum is to be applied to the future work in the hospitals and schools. San Diego will be a beneficiary of this decision and the work carried on during the past will be continued during the next year, it is announced.
The free night school for ex-service men and women opened in the fall of 1921, at 846 Fifth Street, with a large registration. Practically the entire teaching staff employed in the past was engaged for the year. The course of studies embraced : typewriting, business English, bookkeeping, arithmetic, commercial art, salesmanship, archi- tectural drawing, radio, Spanish and navigation.
The national organization, it has been announced will continue to spend its war funds on the ex-service men until the entire sum is used for the purpose for which it was given and when such funds are ex- hausted, a complete account of the stewardship will be rendered to the American public, which imposed such implicit confidence in the organization.
James Meehan, former overseas secretary, who has had charge of the local work for the past eighteen months, has continued the work of the local school and also looked after the interests of the ex-service men in the hospitals of San Diego.
YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
Although many residents of the city conversant with the work of the Young Women's Christian Association in other cities had for some time felt the need of such organization in San Diego, it was not until the summer of 1907, that the initial steps were taken to form a Young Women's Christian Association in this city. Its advocates felt that this organization was best adapted to meet the needs of the young girls of all classes in the city, employed or unemployed and a public meeting was arranged by one of the merchants of the city who was eager to have his girl employees share the benefits of the associa- tion. At this meeting a committee was appointed with G. Aubrey Davidson as chairman to take the necessary steps and make the preli- minary arrangements. This committee met the next day and fre- quently thereafter at the office of one of its members, Dr. Charlotte Baker, to select a board of directors, perfect plans for incorpora- tion and report on a possible location.
A board of directors consisting of 33 well known women of the city was chosen, and the Young Women's Christian Association was informally organized in July. Lack of space does not permit the inclusion here of the names of the women who worked on the organ- ization plan ; but interest in that plan was wide-spread. It was expected that the directors would move slowly at first, but so great was the demand for immediate action that they at once organized classes for
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gymnasium work and Spanish, which seemed most in demand. Oni February 18, 1908, the Young Women's Christian Association was formally organized and the proper steps were taken for incorporation and temporary officers elected. On March 17, 1908, incorporation having been perfected, the first quarterly meeting was held in the First Presbyterian Church and the following officers were elected: Mrs. G. Aubrey Davidson, president ; Mrs. Charles N. Clark, vice president ; Miss Pauline Gartzmann, recording secretary; Mrs. H. P. Newman, corresponding secretary ; Mrs. A. E. Frost, treasurer.
After careful consideration of many offers the house formerly occupied by the Cuyamaca Club at the northwest corner of Seventh Street and Broadway, was secured, and the young people were so eager for a home that they moved in before the house was really ready for occupancy ; but everyone worked with a will, and on Easter Sunday, April 19, 1908, the house, which meanwhile had been moved north to the east side of Seventh Street, was dedicated with an in- spiring service, and the Young Women's Christian Association began a work which they never intend to close, and which has grown to be one of the most vital organizations for the young girls of the commun- ity. A house secretary was engaged and a force of volunteer workers enlisted, and in the early summer the association opened the first cafe- teria in the city. This at once became very popular with the young . business women, while the adjoining lunch room was largely patro- nized by business men and shoppers.
The first general secretary was elected in the fall of 1908, and the association forged ahead so rapidly that it outgrew its first home in less than a year, and a lease was obtained of the second and third floors of the building being erected by the Thum Brothers on the Y. W. C. A.'s former site at Broadway at Seventh street, and on July 30, the new quarters were dedicated. This was the home of the association for twelve years, and here were maintained a rooming department, rest and reading rooms, a cafeteria and the executive offices of the various departments.
The growth continued to be remarkable, and plans were discussed for a permanent home. In March, 1910, the lot at the northwest corner of Eleventh and C streets was purchased for that purpose, but it was thought best to defer the campaign for a building until a more favorable time. In July, 1921, the association was again obliged to change its location, this time to temporary quarters at Sixth and C streets until the erection of the new central building made possible by the generous legacy of $100,000, bequeathed to the association for that purpose by the late Captain B. M. Frees.
During the two years of the Panama-California Exposition the Young Women's Christian Association maintained an attractive lunch room and rest room adjoining on the balcony of the Foreign and Domestic Industries Building. It is estimated that more than 250.000 visitors were entertained in these rooms during the Exposition period.
Another service quietly rendered by the association with gratify- ing results during the Exposition was the maintaining of a lunch room and rest room exclusively for girls employed on the grounds. This was in the Pan-Pacific Building and was in charge of a secretary. who, by daily contact with groups of girl employees, came to know
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more than 400 of them personally and to be a real friend and trusted counselor to the many who brought their problems to her for solution.
In 1917, the association, assisted by the War Work Council of the National Board, erected the Recreation Center on its lot at Eleventh and C streets. This consists of a fine gymnasium, swimming pool and club rooms, and here are centered the recreational and social activities of hundreds of girls of the "teen" age, both school girls and those employed. This center was maintained during the war by the National War Work Council. In connection with the Recreation Center the association has a boat house and barge and at Mission Beach a cottage for vacation days and week-end parties of girls.
During the war the local association co-operated in every way possible with the National Board in its extensive program of war work in San Diego and vicinity. This included the Hostess House at Camp Kearny, so successfully conducted for the soldiers and their women visitors : the rest rooms and tea-room in the California Building, for the sailor boys and their friends, and the Recreation Center which was opened once a week for a "Popularity Party" for the service men, with the girls as hostesses.
The San Diego Young Women's Christian Association has grown to such large proportions that mention can be made only of the various departments, each one in charge of a secretary specially adapted to her work :
1. A rooming department for permanent girls and transients.
2. A cafeteria that serves 12,000 meals a month.
3. Travelers' aid work in charge of two secretaries who care for the needs of about 400 travelers of various nationalities each month. This department alone would require much space to do it full justice.
4. Free employment bureau that finds positions for approxi- mately 250 women and girls each month.
5. Girls' work department with two secretaries in charge of the student clubs, girl reserves and employed girls' clubs.
6. Gymnasium and swimming classes.
The association never forgets the four-fold nature of the girl and aims to develop the mental, physical, social and spiritual sides, making for an all-round symmetrically developed womanhood.
Space will not permit mention of the many splendid women who have given freely of their time and strength to the association either as members of the board of directors or as committee members. The association owes much of its success to their hearty co-operation with the young women of the secretarial staff whose lives are devoted to the needs of girls and to the upbuilding of Christian womanhood. The following women have served as president of the board of directors:
1908-9. Mrs. G. Aubery Davidson ;
1910-11. Dr. Charlotte Baker, now president emeritus ;
1911-19, Mrs. Philip Morse ;
1919-21, Mrs. Carl Alex. Johnson ;
1921, Mrs. Ernest Cleverdon.
The general secretaries of the Young Women's Christian Associa- tion who, as the title implies, have general charge of all departments and act as executive of the board of directors, have been as follows:
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1908-Miss Anna Rice.
1909-Miss Helen King.
1911-Miss Ellen V. Cobb.
1915-Miss Alice M. Brookman.
1919-Mrs. Elizabeth Burrows.
1921-Miss Margaret O'Connell.
Ubach Council, No. 638, Young Men's Institute, was organized in 1910, holding its first meeting May 8 of that year in St. Joseph's Hall. Stephen McAuliffe was its first president.
Heffernan Institute, No. 76, Young Ladies' Institute, was organ- ized November 12, 1916, Miss Loretta Provost being the first president.
CHAPTER XXII.
CITY AND COUNTY SCHOOLS
Until some time after the American flag was raised in San Diego the opportunities for education in that town were very limited. Some effort was made under Mexican rule to provide teachers, but it was hard to obtain them or keep them. Soon after the first city govern- ment was organized, a Miss Dillon was engaged and rooms were engaged for her pupils, but apparently school was kept very irregularly. In July, 1854, however, the authorities took action to receive the benefits of the state school funds and organized a school system. Miss Fanny Stevens was engaged as teacher, and thereafter school was maintained regularly in the community. A year later the school mar- shal reported that there were 117 children of school age in the county. Among some of the early teachers were Joshua Sloane, W. H. Leigh- ton, James Nichols, Mary B. Tibbetts, Victor P. Magee, Miss Mary C. Walker and Miss Augusta J. Barrett, who in 1867 married Captain Mathew Sherman, for whom the Sherman School is named. Only elementary subjects, of course, were provided in early days.
The first school in the new San Diego was held in the old govern- ment barracks, still standing, in 1868, and Mrs. H. H. Daugherty was the teacher. In the same year, as the result of A. E. Horton's gen- erosity, a school was opened in rented rooms at Sixth and B streets. Two years later on that famous school site at Sixth and B streets, there was built a school, and three teachers were provided. They were J. S. Spencer, the principal; Miss Lithgow, the intermediate teacher, and Miss McCoy, who had the primary classes. At that time, the records show, there were 243 pupils in the new town and 512 in the Old Town district. In 1871 another school, the Sherman School, was opened in Sherman's addition. Steady, continuous growth has been the record of the city school system since that time.
Joseph Russ, of the Russ Lumber Company in 1881, gave the city the lumber to build a school on the site of the present high school, and the structure was completed in 1882. In honor of the donor this was named the Russ School. In 1888 the high school took it. The steadily increasing number of pupils, however, made the structure inadequate, and in 1906 and 1907 plans were made for a new building, the nucleus of the large high school plant of the present day.
The cornerstone of the new high school was laid January 10, 1907. The main building of sixty rooms was erected at a cost of about $200,000. Three more buildings were added to the school in 1912 and 1913.
The B Street School of the present day-no longer, however, used as a school-was built in 1889. The later-day Sherman School was
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built in the same year. The old Logan Heights School came soon after that. In 1908, in addition to those schools just named, the city list included the old University Heights School, the Lowell, the Frank- lin, the La Jolla, Old Town, Roseville, Pacific Beach and Sorrento.
The present list of city schools includes twenty-three distinct and separate plants, comprising thirty-five permanent and fifty-six tem- porary buildings in which more than 16,000 pupils receive instruction from 544 teachers. The total cost of operating these city schools in 1920 was $1,204,628, of which more than $556,000 was spent on the high school alone. The physical plant of the school system in 1921 represents an investment estimated to be close to $4.000.000, not including the cost of the land. The high school in 1921, occupied four permanent buildings, and, to relieve the crowded conditions of the city schools, two new junior high schools were being built. One will be in the Logan Heights district and its estimated cost is $335,000 ; the other will be built at Upas Street and Park Boule- vard and will cost $330,000. The latter school will occupy a site recently granted by vote of the city from the expanse of Balboa Park.
An illustration of the manner in which education has been broad- ened in the San Diego schools in recent years may be had from the list of courses now open at the high school. They are mapped out on fifteen different lines, ranging from classical to vocational.
The growth of the high school has been remarkably steady. In the school year of 1908-09 the enrollment was only 769. For the year 1912-13 it was 1,518. For the year 1920-21 it was 2,298. The number of teachers at the high school in 1914 was seventy ; the number is now ninety-five.
Recent principals of the high school are as follows:
Duncan Mackinnon, whose term ended in June, 1906, when he was made city superintendent of schools;
Edward L. Hardy, who served from September, 1906, to June, 1910, when he became head of the San Diego Normal School, now the State Teachers' College :
Arthur L. T. Gould, who was principal from September, 1910, to August, 1918;
H. O. Wise, principal from September, 1918, to June. 1921 ;
Thomas A. Russell, who became principal in September, 1921. and was still serving as this was written.
The free night school was opened January 31. 1916, with four- teen courses provided for students. Classes have been held at the high school ever since. and each year there has been a large attendance. In the 1920-21 school year there were 4.350 pupils enrolled in this school, and there were sixty teachers on the staff. The school has given courses in mechanical arts, drawing, applied art. mathematics, English, modern languages, science, citizenship, commercial subjects, home nursing and dietetics. The school has been particularly success- ful in educating foreign born citizens and residents, and the American- ization work has been extended to neighborhood classes.
The first recall election ever held in San Diego County and the only one so far held in that county came in December. 1918, as the result of a program carried out by a majority of the members of the city board of education. The three members recalled were Laura M.
(18)
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Johns, Mary E. Lancaster and John Urquhart. They and Leva G. Jones, president of the board at that time, in the spring of 1918, voted against the retention as superintendent of Duncan Mackinnon, who had held the place since July 1, 1906. They followed this by engaging Guy V. Whaley of Vallejo to become superintendent and releasing some prominent members of the city teaching staffs, while other mem- bers resigned. About twenty teachers of the high school staff were discharged, and that led in June to a "strike" of the high school stu- dents, nearly all of the 1,800 pupils of the institution remaining out of school for several days and holding a large parade of protest against the board's position. This protest led at last to a recall campaign and a recall primary and election. At the primary, held November 19, Lena Crouse, Anna M. W. Connell and S. M. Bingham were nomi- nated to oppose the three members whose recall was sought. Dr. Jones, president of the board, had resigned meanwhile. The recall election was held December 3, and the vote was strong for the recall.
Superintendent Whaley resigned on June 11, 1919, and on June 25, Henry C. Johnson, formerly of Ogden, Utah, was appointed in his place. He is the incumbent.
It seems only reasonable and fair to add that the dispute which ended in the recall originated from difference of opinion as to the administration of Duncan Mackinnon as city superintendent and that the result was regarded largely as a vindication of his position. Mr. MacKinnon was superintendent during one of the periods of the city schools' greatest growth. On leaving the educational field, he became president of the United States National Bank, a place which he still retains.
The State Normal School of San Diego, which in 1921 became a state teachers' college as part of a remodeled state plan of education, was established in 1897 by legislative enactment "an act establishing a State Normal School in San Diego County, California, and making an appropriation of $50,000 therefor." This measure was approved by the governor on March 13, 1897, and the first meeting of the trustees was held June 3 of that year. The following trustees at- tended :
W. R. Guy, Victor E. Shaw and J. L. Dryden, all of San Diego ; Thomas Toland of Ventura and John G. North of Riverside. The board elected Guy, who later became Superior judge, president, and Dryden's secretary.
The board on the next day selected the school's present site, known as the "College Campus" site, offered by the College Hill Land Association. Several other sites were considered.
While the new building was under construction, school was held in the Hill Block, at the northwest corner of Sixth and F streets. Samuel T. Black, superintendent of public instruction of the state, had been elected president of the school, on September 14, 1898, and he nominated the following faculty, which was appointed :
"Mr. Jesse D. Burkes, registrar and head of the department of mathematics ; Miss Emma F. Wav, preceptress ; Miss Alice Edwards Pratt, head of the department of English ; Mr. David P. Barrows, head of the department of history; Mr. Arthur W. Greeley, teacher
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