If Oneonta area residents had a New Year's resolution in 1917 to better themselves in terms of education and life skills, they had an opportunity to keep such a resolution early that year.
The Oneonta Star of Wednesday, Jan. 31, 1917, reported how, "For some time there has been talk of establishing a night school in the city for the benefit of men and women, and boys and girls who are employed during the daytime but who feel the need of and are desiring of obtaining more education than they now have."
Oneontans were indeed hard at work during the daytime in that decade, as just under 40 percent of the city's population was employed by the Delaware & Hudson Railroad.
A committee of the Oneonta Chamber of Commerce had been appointed for the establishment of a night school and had met during the month with Oneonta's School Board of Education to see if the city's schools could be the sites of instruction.
Professor Arthur M. Curtis, chairman of the Chamber committee, said they had established a list of 100 local people interested in entering a night school. Curtis was a mathematics and penmanship instructor at what was then called the Oneonta Normal School. Curtis had been on the faculty since 1895 and was active in other volunteer activities in the community.
The school board was apparently convinced with the idea, as on Friday, Feb. 9, Dr. George J. Dann, superintendent of schools, announced that the night school would begin on Monday, Feb. 19, at Oneonta High School, then on Academy Street where the Academy Arms Apartments are today.
Initially, instruction began at 7:15 p.m. and concluded at 9:30 p.m., generally in 40-minute intervals, held on Mondays and Wednesdays.
According to the Feb. 10 Star, "Courses will be provided in cooking, sewing, arithmetic, mechanical drawing, spelling and physical training, which will supply the instruction most in demand, it is believed. Any person 16 years of age or those between 14 and 16 years of age who hold work certificates are eligible. Students of the day school are not eligible and cannot be registered."
Despite a display ad for the night school seen on Feb. 13, appealing to "Men of Oneonta," girls and women could enroll. According to the ad, a registration fee of 50 cents was due at the beginning of the term and another 50 cents in the middle of the term. Those remaining for the entire course could then have a dollar refunded.
Classes began on schedule, and the Feb. 20 Star reported on the first evening at the high school.
"While it is yet too early to prophesy the real value of Oneonta's night school, if the opening session can be judged as any criterion, the amount of good that it is to accomplish in the city will go on and on in ever widening circles till the influence will be felt for generations yet unborn. This may seem like an extravagant statement, yet when a full hundred young men and women give up their evenings usually devoted to pleasure to learn those things which will make them better able to battle with the complex problems of life, the influence is bound to be far reaching."
The Oneonta Evening School, as it was eventually called, was called a success in a report submitted to Superintendent Dann, and then reported by the Star on May 1.
"The total enrollment was 72 men, 27 women. The pupils registered … were clerks, laborers, housewives, bookkeepers, shorthand writers, typists, mechanics, contractors, etc." There were 85 students who were regular attendees for the entire term. "Through the efforts of the D.A.R. we were able to establish a calls for foreigners exclusively."
The next sessions of Oneonta Evening School began on Wednesday, Oct. 10, of that year.
On Monday: Oneonta's Charter revision attempts prior to the successful 2011 effort were struggles in the community.
City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or email him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/ marksimonson.
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