Sumter High School: Class of 1920

The Truth... What is it?

Sumter High School, Early Years (Class of 1920)

Dave Pettigrew, SHS class of 1971, has developed an outstanding website in which yearbooks are being scanned onto his free website (HERE..click on a yearbook image) with many class photos, lists of graduates, and an outstanding graphics and text page of the school's history (HERE).

On this page you are now viewing, the memorial #s are memorials on the free Find a Grave (separate but owned by the subscription genealogy website, Ancestry.com).

I want to directly link to some old, online newspaper sources (Sumter's The Watchman & Southron via Library of Congress' Chronicling America, which detail some history and the senior class graduates.

S. C. petition of Legislature, May 1888, HERE.
Commisioner J. T. Green's 1890 letter about the schools, HERE.
Sumter public school system opens 2 Sept 1889, young John B. Duffie, superintendent.
First year (9 months) ends (students: 310 whites & 294 blacks), HERE (Watchman & Southron issue of 4 June 1890, vol. IX #43, page [image] 3, 2nd column from viewer's left near page top).

Links to classes 1889-1912, HERE. W & S of 1910 has 1891-1910 lists HERE and W & S of 1912 lists 1891-1911 HERE.

***(1889-1913, only 10 grades; 1914-1944, only 11 grades)***

***(Student names: before maybe 1915, names by which people were baptized were frequently & without legal process, changed before, say, age 12. Grade school nicknames often changed as the person became older (HERE). In cases of those with 1 or 2 middle names, either or both of those might be deleted as they became older or married. Old printed source material was printed by a more tedious process than today & typos were not uncommon. Females are especially hard to track down from names on graduate lists; so, the birth year range of a graduation group becomes helpful.)***

Sumter HS Class of 1920 annual is noted in W & S, 29 May 1920, p. 5, column 3...mid-page, "City School Notes", HERE: 300 yearbook (annual) copies were produced & each sold at just over half the cost for a price per annual copy of $2.50.

***Nothing found yet about commencement
[ __graduates], HERE):
(the name they apparently "went by" in italics)

Boys ():

, (born 190), FaG mem. # .
, (born 190), Fag mem. # .
, (born 190), FaG mem # .

Girls ():

, (born 19), FaG mem. # .
, (born 19), FaG mem. # .
, (born 19), FaG mem. # .
, (born 19), FaG mem. # .
Elizabeth McKagen, (born 19), (missed graduation due to acute appendicitis & got diploma at 1921 exercises), FaG mem. # .
, (born 19), FaG mem. # .
, (born 19), FaG mem. # .
, (born 19), FaG mem. # .
, (born 19), FaG mem. # .