Emmerich Manual Training High School
(Indianapolis, Ind.)
time capsule collection, 1896-1920

Processed by
Pamela Tranfield
25 October 2002

Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269

www.indianahistory.org

COLLECTION INFORMATION

VOLUME OF COLLECTION:	13 folders: 8 folders containing 23 black-and-white photographs, 8 x 10 inches, 21 x 26 centimeters or smaller; 5 folders manuscripts, printed material, and ephemera
COLLECTION DATES:	1896-1920
PROVENANCE:	Amy M. Scott, Whiteland, Indiana, June 2000
RESTRICTIONS:	None
COPYRIGHT:	Held by Indiana Historical Society
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS:	Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society.
ALTERNATE FORMATS:	None
RELATED HOLDINGS:	Harry E. Wood Collection (P 0380)
ACCESSION NUMBER:	2000.0889
NOTES:

Manual training classes were first offered in Indianapolis in 1883 as a summer school class at the Indianapolis High School. Summer schools in manual training continued to be taught at this school until 1888, after which mechanical drawing and wood working classes were offered to students at School no. 1 (later Shortridge High School) during the regular school year. The popularity of these classes, and the concurrent wave of interest by public officials towards manual training education led to the construction of the Industrial Training School at 525 South Meridian Street in Indianapolis. Dedication ceremonies took place on 31 May 1895.

The school was renamed Manual Training School in 1899, and Charles E. Emmerich Manual Training High School in 1916. Charles E. Emmerich was the first principal of the Industrial Training High School.

On 7 June 1920 Bert H. Gadd, chairman of the Indianapolis Board of School Commissioners, laid the cornerstone for a wood frame addition to the high school. The addition would be called the “South Building.” The new wing would include an auditorium with a stage and orchestra pit, a cafeteria, and a new gymnasium. A portion of the South Building collapsed while under construction in November 1920. The addition opened in spring 1922.

Charles E. Emmerich Manual Training High School relocated to 2405 Madison Avenue in 1953. The facility on Meridian Street was renamed the Harry E. Wood Vocational Training School and operated until 1978. Indianapolis Christian Schools, Inc., purchased the building that year. The Brougher Insurance Group acquired the building in 1984. The South Building was razed in 1986.

Sources:

Material in the collection

Stahly, Ted. “Manual High School.” In The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, edited by David J. Bodenhamer and Robert G. Barrows, pp. 959-60. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1994. General Collection F534.I55 E4 1994

Bridge, John, telephone conversation with Pamela Tranfield (Visual Collections Archivist), 22 March 2001

“Cornerstones Laid for Two School Buildings,” Indianapolis News, 7 June 1920, p.3, col. 1

Griffin, Carolyn. Emmerich Manual High School, 1895-1969. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Public Schools, 1969. General Collection: LD7501.I4645G7 1969.

R. L. Polk & Co.’s Indianapolis City Directory, 1917, 1920. Indianapolis: R. L. Polk & Co., 1917. General Collection: F534.I55 A18

R. L. Polk & Co.’s Indianapolis City Directory 1920. Indianapolis: R. L. Polk & Co., 1917. General Collection: F534.I55 A18

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The material in this collection was placed in the cornerstone of the Charles E. Emmerich Manual Training High School, South Building, at Madison and Meridian streets in Indianapolis on 7 June 1920. Representatives from the Brougher Insurance Group removed the contents in 1986, as the building was to be razed. The collection contains twenty-three black-and-white photographs (1916-20), correspondence from students to James Whitcomb Riley (1913), a school history (circa 1920), a school annual titled Mind and Hand (May 1896), stencils (circa 1920), and clippings (1920).

The material is arranged in two series. Series 1, Photographs, includes portraits of Emmerich Manual Training High School principals E. H. Kemper McCord (by Bretzman of Indianapolis, circa 1916), and M. H. Stuart (by Thompson of Indianapolis, circa 1910). Other portraits include group photographs of the 1916 state champion track-and-field team and individual portraits of three members of the 1920 state champion track-and field-team. Crowd scenes show students massing at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis and in front of Emmerich Manual Training High School in celebration of a victory in the 1920 sectional basketball finals. Interior photographs of Emmerich Manual Training High School consist of views of the library, and students performing Booth Tarkington’s play Beauty and the Jacobin.

The name “Emery” is written in ink on the back of the track team and crowd scene photographs (folders 2 and 3). Grace Emery, a public school teacher in Indianapolis during this period, may have made these photographs. Harry Holden, a student residing at 2265 Kenwood Avenue, made the photographs of the 1920 track team that are stored in folder 4. Marion Krick’s name appears on the back of two photographs of crowd scenes in folder 4. The photographs in folder 6 include the initials W. D.

Series 2, Manuscripts, Printed Materials, and Ephemera includes eight letters written by Manual Training High School students to James Whitcomb Riley in 1913. The students express their appreciation for Riley’s poetry and discuss their favorite works. Two letters are written in “Hoosier” dialect. Other manuscript material consists of a history of the school written by former teacher Beatrice S. Foy circa 1920. Printed material consists of a copy of the Industrial Training School annual Mind and Hand (May 1896), a school reading list for the academic year 1919-1920, and clippings. The clippings concern the history of the school, and plans for laying the cornerstone.

Ephemera consists of eighteen hand-cut paper stencils. The stencils are composed of upper and lower case letters of the alphabet, numbers, and an image of a black cat. The processor assumed that the stencils originally conveyed a message, and imposed a logical arrangement on the material. The stencils, as arranged by the processor, created the message “Hop Back Cat 25 to 95.” The message alludes to the school’s twenty-fifth anniversary, celebrated in 1920. The stencils were originally stored in an envelope that was annotated with the name "Donald Davis."

Series 1: Photographs, 1918-1920

CONTENTS	CONTAINER
Principals M. H. Stuart and E. H. Kemper McCord	Folder 1
State Track Team, 1920	Folder 2
Crowds Celebrating Track Team Victory, 1918	Folder 3
Track Teams and Victory Celebrations, 1920	Folder 4
Library Interior, High School Committee, 1920	Folder 5
Edward Holloway, Teacher; Kenneth Jordan, Student, 1920	Folder 6
Student Production, Beauty and the Jacobin, 1920	Folder 7
Service Flag, Outdoor Assembly, n.d.	Folder 8

Series 2: Manuscripts, Printed Materials, and Ephemera 1896-1920

CONTENTS	CONTAINER
Copies of Letters Written to James Whitcomb Riley on His Birthday, October 7, 1920 [1913]	Manuscript Collections: Folder 1
History of the Emmerich Manual Training High School [circa 1920]	Manuscript Collections: Folder 2
Reading List, Emmerich Manual Training High School, September-June 1919-1920	Manuscript Collections: Folder 3
[Clippings, 1920]	Manuscript Collections: Folder 4
[Stencils, circa 1920]	Manuscript Collections: Folder 5

CATALOGING INFORMATION

For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:

1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://157.91.92.2

2. Click on the "Traditional Search" icon.

3. Click on the "Call Number" radio button.

4. Search for the collection by its call number, P 0384.

5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.

Collection #

P 0384

Emmerich Manual Training High School (Indianapolis, Ind.) time capsule collection, 1896-1920