Memphis Vocational High School : 1917




1917 is an important year in the life of the school.  It marks the year of adding the Smith-Hughes program to the Vocational curriculum.  The additional government funds provided by the Smith-Hughes Act, allows the school to increase enrollment and it quickly becomes obvious that a larger building will be needed.  The school begins to use the "Jefferson Annex" due to over-crowding.
   

 

The Vocational School appears on "penny postcards" of the time.

 
1917 March
Graduates:

Philip Mandlovitz, Laura Baker, Alfred Waddell, Hattie Rahm, Katherine Spalding, Lucille Tucker, , Georgia Hozier
   
1917 June
Graduates:




 

May Tully, Marcia G. Andrews, Laura Alverta Baker, Minnie Lee Bourne, Milton Bowers, W. Cullen Bryant, Burnice Katherine Byrd, Julia Dhuy, William Eifler Jr., Marion Olive Fipher, A. Graydon Hines, Georgia Hozier, Rose Ada Hudson, Elizabeth N. Jamison, Alma Johnson, Catherine L. Kailfield, Andrew A. Kincannon, Clara Neely Lovett, Philip Mendlevitz, Carolyn Myrick, Marguerite O’Donnell, Cammie Pace, Hattie Mai Rahm, Lester Reckenbecker, Edwin Richter, Esther Sanford Rinner, Katherine G. Spalding, Lucille Tucker , Lula Valentine, Henry P. Wade, Alfred Moore Waddell, Myrtle Withers
   
   


This rare photo appears in the Board of Education 1906-18 Yearly Progress Books   >  It's a letter from the Superintendent Andrew A. Kincannon, who became President of Memphis State in 1918.

   
 

 


Below are newspaper articles verifying the information.  Click on the small fragments to see the full size.
 
   

Below:  A 1917 article about the association with "Smith-Hughes".  When the Smith-Hughes curriculum became part of the school at 317 Poplar, the building quickly became too small, leading to the new Tech building at 1266 Poplar.

Below:  A 1917 article describes the June graduation program.