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Page 2TH: MESSENGER, Athens, OhioSun.. Ajjr-9, 1972w.ip *» %John Hancock School RecalledJohn Hancock High School7 That name appearing in a Messenger editorial page flashback the other day mayhave aroused curiosity among some Athens newcomers but, toElementary pupils remained in that latter structure until 1926, when they moved into the new Rufus Putnam school on East Union Street. The training facility, converted into Musicmany residents of older vin- Hall, has since been renamedDillev,W Jbecametage. it brought recall Fact is. there are quite a few around who can claim alumni status from that school, which graduated its last class in 1924 The school, named for a Dayton schoolman not the patriot with the flourishing I eclaration of Independence signature — occupied the top floor of Kills Hall over a seven-year period starting in 1918 A spin-off from two OhioUniversity schools — preparatory and teachertraining — Hancock s enrollment averaged over 100 for the four freshman-through-senior classesKstablished by then President Alston Kills, the school had as its first principal William K. MeVav He was succeeded bv the late Frank B.%rwho subsequently the university’s registrar and admissions director.Among faculty members were Brandon T. (Butch) drover, later a university athletic coach and administrator; Greta Lash, for many years a professor of English at OU, and Mary Connett, retired Athens High School teacher.One of its alumni is Herman W. Humphrey, member of the 1919 graduating class who became well known in area teaching and school administration roles, besides serving onthe university faculty.At the time of Hancock’s emergence in the Athens educational scene, most rural high schools were designated as second or third grade, their curricula held inadequate to prepare students for college.So they wound up at the Ellis Hall facility along with high school students involved in the teacher training program, which was operated at that time in the building erected in 1912 at the corner of University Terrace and Park PlaceGordy Hall and pressed into other classroom use.But what about .John Hancock7 Hoover’s history describes him as a well known schoolman who. as a member of the university’s board of trustees, wielded considerable influence in the legislatureIt was Hancock who was credited with heading other “friends of the university” in securing OU's first appropriation from the legislature in 1881the sum of $20,000 with which to repair its three existing buildings. With astute handling of the funds, the university managed to include construction of a fourth building — a chapelHancock was later influential in obtaining an additional $5,000 with which to set up the first teacher training programWhile this appropriation was not approved until 1885, the groundwork for it was laidearlier by a youthful university president, William H Scott.Native of Chauncey, Scott served as superintendent of the Athens schools before being appointed to the top university administrative post in 1873, at the age of 33 — the only Ohio University graduate ever to serve as its president He later moved up to the presidency of Ohio StateReturning once again to the subject — John Hancock High School — its brief but colorful era came to an end when the city schools expanded into a new high school building on West State Street in 1924, solving their own overflow and making room for a hundred more students from JHHSHow coincidental that, nearly 50 years later, the city schools are now preparing to absorb the rest o! the training school students elementary thistime with phasing out of the teacher training program at Rufus Putnam$$
Newspaper Details
Athens Sunday Messenger
Athens, Ohio, US
Sun, Apr 09, 1972
Page 2
Full Page
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NA, 19 Feb 2023
Other Publications Near Athens, Ohio
Athens Messenger
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