Sapulpa Showcase (September 2019)

Artifact of the month:

Booker T. Washington School, 1948, yearbook. The yearbook may be missing its cover, but it does not take away the history held within.

The 1940s brought great change to the administration. Schools were divided into 3 classes, depending on size of enrollment ('Class A' enrollment of 125 or over; 'Class B' enrollment of 50 or over; and 'Class C' c enrollment less than 50). All classes take the same tests. A quote from the yearbook: "In competition with thirty of the leading schools of the state, the students of Booker T. have twice shown that they are the best in the state. The schools competing are first divided into classes according to high school enrollment...All classes take the same tests.In all of the contests since the beginning of this state-wide interscholastic meet, Booker T. has won first place in 'B' division, and in 1946 and 1947 this school won the grand sweepstake trophy that is given for the highest total score with size of school."

The pages from Booker T. Washington 1948 yearbook:
Progress
When the present administration took charge of this school in fall of 1940, conditions were quite different in every respect from what they are today. the greatest improvement has been in scholastic attainment. Numerous changes have been made in the faculty, including some resignations, but all additions have been made with experience and preparation as a criterion and with better instruction the specific aim.

Until 1940, Booker T. had not shown favorably in sports, and at that time there was not one cup or trophy to testify as to our ability in that filed. Today the school possesses twelve trophies. During the past eight years, the boys have been state champions twice and runners-up twice in football. For a period of five years, the team did not lose a single game at Holmes Park. Basketball has been offered for the last four years. During this time, the boys have won the District trophy twice, and they were runners-up for the State trophy.

In 1940 this school had enrollment of 495 pupils with a faculty of eighteen teachers and only twelve classrooms; the library consisted of a few old books and periodicals in the rear of the English room which made their availability quite inadequate. Some classes were taught in rented houses, some in churches, and two or three classes were held daily at the same time in the auditorium. The Board of Education alleviated this crowded condition immediately by converting the auditorium into four modern classrooms. A new gymnasium and auditorium, which serves for athletics, chapel and the physical education classes, was built. The library is now situated in a large well-lighted room, and it contains over 5000 volumes. The monthly turnover of books had jumped in eight years from [less than] 100 to over 1300 volumes a month. Some students have read over 50 books in one year.

The school building is not entirely modern, but for the last seven years work and planning has been done in  that direction. Only about 100 feet of sewer tile remains to be laid before installation of modern fixtures can be made.

The Booker T. Washington school is highly industrialized. The following courses are offered: Two years of typing including shorthand, two years of household service, four years of vocational agriculture, three years of home economics and vocational home economics, three years of industrial arts, and a course in maintenance mechanics for veterans. In addition to these courses, the curriculum offers all of the subjects required for meeting state regulations and for preparing students for college entrance.

In the annual Interscholastic Meet, sponsored by the Langston University Alumni Association, the students of Sapulpa have made an enviable record. During the five years of the Meet, the students from Booker T. have taken first place in every contest in the "B" division, and in 1946 and 1947 they won the sweepstake trophy which is won without regard to the size of the school.

The aims and objectives include plans for complete modernization of the building and of all the departments, continued instructional improvement, and better recreational facilities.

Principal D. Adolph Williams, B.A., M.A.
"We are engaged in the task of building personalities, and it is our sincere desire to be able to understand the design and to be in a position to interpret the progress we are making. Among other things, personality is a quality of the innermost being of an individual which carries him upright and honorably through life in an ever changing world.

"We must cause to be developed in our students certain concepts of health, which will enable them to live most and serve best. Have them look upon their bodies as houses in which the personality dwells. This house may be run-down, untidy and unpainted, or it may be neat and beautiful to behold, depending upon the individual personality that dwells therein. Children must be made to understand that much of the condition of the house depends upon the occupant, and that although the narcissus cannot be a rose, yet the narcissus can be beautiful.

1. Teach children to live rich and significant lives.
2. Help them to build colorful and harmonious personalities.
3. Enable children to enjoy to the utmost the glory of being happy.
4. Interpret education for children in terms of beauty, service and efficiency.
5. Teach them to be prepared to do better the tings they are most likely to do."

Signed, D. Adolph Williams