Girls’ High School Reading PA Vintage 1900s by Souvenir Postcard Co. Unposted for Sale

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Girls’ High School Reading PA Vintage 1900s by Souvenir Postcard Co. Unposted For Sale

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Girls’ High School Reading PA Vintage 1900s by Souvenir Postcard Co. Unposted:
$12.99

5608 - Girls’ High School, Reading, PA

Academy Building at Fourth and Court Streets became Reading’s first high school.

“Reading Girls’ High School and Architect Alexander Forbes Smith

On November 2, 1852, the City Union High School on Fourth and Court streets in Reading, Pennsylvania, opened its doors to boys only. Thirty-five students were enrolled under the direction of Principal William H. Batt, who was paid a salary of $800 a year. The first commencement exercises were held in the High School Hall on July 3, 1856. The first graduating class consisted of four boys, with the late Judge William Strong, the only Reading man who ever sat on the U.S. Supreme Court bench, delivering the commencement address.

In September 1857, thirty-eight girls began attending classes in an upper room of the boys’ Academy building. The boys and girls were kept separate for two years until coeducation began in August of 1859. In 1860, for the first time in high school history, there were both male and female graduates- nine boys and four girls. Although the radical idea of coeducation was accepted early in the city of Reading, racial segregation continued until 1876, when the academy building opened its doors to students of all races. William Lee Terry, an African American, was valedictorian of the class of 1884. He attended Lehigh University until his untimely death in April 1885, at the age of nineteen.

When the high school enrollment had reached the figure of 325 in 1881, board members decided to abolish coeducation in the high schools. In the fall of 1881, the boys were transferred to temporary quarters on the third floor of the Bard and Reber Building, on the Southeast corner of Eighth and Penn streets, while a new Boys’ High School was being constructed on the Southeast corner of Eighth and Washington Streets.

The Girls’ High School continued in the old Academy building. Miss Elizabeth Stahle became principal. The enrollment of girls kept growing and, in 1887, some pupils were sent to classes in an auditorium on South 5th street while an addition of 70 feet was built along Court street.

By 1894, the enrollment had outgrown the addition. The Reading School Board decided the academy must be razed to make way for a new three-story stone building. Construction of a new Girls’ High School began in 1895. While the new building was under construction, the pupils were sent to the Washington and Rose school building. The building was completed in 1896 at a cost of $108,367.20.

The new Girls’ High School was formally opened on March 26, 1896. The massive stone structure at the northeast corner of Fourth and Court streets was occupied for the first time on April 6, 1896, by the pupils of the Girls’ High School. “ goreadingberks.com

This vintage postcard from the early 1900s features a view of Girls' High School in Reading, Pennsylvania. The postcard, published by Souvenir Postcard Co. The card is made of cardboard and paper, with an undivided back.

The postcard is a single unit, unposted, and measures standard size (5.5 x 3.5 in). It is a topographical postcard with a theme of architecture, studentica, and bustling sidewalks. The postcard is a great addition to any collection and a perfect piece of history.