1910 Girl's High School Yearbook including a Young African American Girl, Brooklyn, New York

Historic Girl's High School "The Triennial" yearbook from 1910. The all girl's highschool was founded in 1885 in Brooklyn, New York. Bound in original olive cloth covered board and gilt text. Measures 10.25" x 8.25". 200 pages. The Girl's Highschool was one of the first secondary public schools in New York City. The intention of it's founding, and according to an 1895 article by the New York Times, was "the ambition of every Brooklyn girl... to enter the Girls High School where she may enjoy the advantages of an advanced education and be prepared for college." The girls were offered courses in Latin, Greek, German, French, botany, zoology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, physiology, psychology, algebra, geometry, calculus; ancient, medieval and modern history; economics, and classes in the literary masterpieces. The pages include many photos of the girls' graduating classes, poetry, statements, and social clubs, such as the Debating Society in which they state "...is one of the oldest societies in the school, and the oldest debating society." One of their key debates of the year was "That the right of suffrage should be granted to women." Amongst the various drama clubs is the Glee Club, in which we see a young African American girl, only until 1920 did school segregation become illegal in New York leading us to speculate whether this young girl was a special exception. Today, more than half of the admittance of the school are of African American heritage. Other social clubs include The Scratchers, a handicraft club in which they include a photo of the girls' work showing various textiles and brass objects, The Shakespeare Society, which includes a satirical five act play inspired by Shakespeare called "Macbess", amongst many other organizations. There is a couple handwritten inscriptions in marker circling and naming particular members, one being what we assume was the owner of this yearbook "Ethel Winnie" in which her name is written at the front. The inscriptions are in marker pen which is a mid-20th century invention, implying they were later made by a close relative. There is minor sunning to the edges of the pages and a small tear to bottom of the cover, and wear to bottom of the spine, otherwise photos and text are crisp and clear. Overall very good condition. (Inventory #: 18508)