This weeks Sepia Saturday photo is a of some children outside of a school.
Perfect time to dig out my School Photos and showcase them here.
Found the first one in a shop in Ventura, Ca
Thankfully it had a note that said “Villanova School” on the price tag. I wrote it down when they took the tag. From internet research and a city nearby where I found this photo there is a Villanova Preperatory School in Ojai, California. I am not sure if this is the exact one, photos of the school that I can see online are at a distance and do not match what I see in this photo. The curved doors and windows, love the metal work on those doors! Anyone have a guess for what year this could have been taken? So if its at the school it would be around a side not shown in other photos of this place. This looks more like a Staff photo then that of students unless the amount of students that attended were very small at the time.
I also wonder if this was taken at a hotel? It looks more like a fancy hotel and staff.
Heres what I have found on the Villanova School website…
Villanova was established in October 1924 at the request of Bishop John Cantwell who invited the Augustinians to California from Villanova, Pennsylvania to open schools and parishes in the early 1920ās. Villanova Preparatory School educates the leaders of tomorrow and is truly a microcosm of global citizenry comprising students from ten different countries.
NOTE ADDED: There are other Villanova Schools, Colleges, University, Monastery, etc, so if anyone recognizes this building please let me know! Ive searched through photos on sites of various places with the name but still no match.
I also have this one, I have strained and tilted this photo in different shades of light, Ive used a loop up close and at a distance, Ive saved it in photoshop as a negative hoping the words would be more visible, and Ive scanned it and zoomed in to try and see, sigh, no luck, this is where I wish I had a handy CSI kit to show me what the faint pencil writing on it says. If anyone else has any suggestions please chime in, there is faint writing in pencil cursive style but I just cannot make out the name, it does says School as the second word, but the first word is so hard to read, it could start with a P, C or E, but still the whole word is difficult to read. I wish there was a solution I could pour onto pencil lead that would only darken to make it surface better. Since the backdrop its written on is gray, flat and grainy its so hard to decipher.
This photo reads on the little blackboards on the ground “Feb. 9, 1907, Mallory School, Walter Womble Teacher”
Found this on the net…
“Mallory Schoolhouse was built in the fall of 1872. One acre of land was purchased from James R. and Mary Freeman for the sum of twenty dollars. The Deed was recorded September 12, 1872. Mallory School District was in the southeast corner of Ray County, Missouri.
The first records were sent to the County School Superintendent in 1907. The first eighth grade graduates on record were DeWitt and Leland McQueen who graduated in 1908.
In the year 1938-1939, the enrollment was 35. In 1945, the enrollment was so small it was decided to close the school and send the children by bus to the Hardin School. ”
http://www.hardin-central.org/about/history/mallory-school.html
Interesting to see the first records were sent in 1907, the same year as this photograph. I have tried looking up the teacher Walter Womble, I can find a few of them in Missouri but didnt find any listed in the census as a school teacher, if anyone else can find anything on him chime in. Since the info on the website gives you the name of the 2 students graduating on record in 1907, there is some info in census records of a “Leland McQueen”, who just may be pictured in this photo. He is 17 in 1910, so this could be about right, he would be about 15 in the photo. Now if we only knew which one was him!
1910 census, Crooked River, Ray, Missouri
William McQueen 71 b VA f VA m VA
Bernecia McQueen 51 s/b Pernicia b MO f OH m MO
James McQueen 32
Maynie McQueen 21
Dewitt McQueen 19
Leland McQueen 17
Helen McQueen 13
John McQueen 10
There is also some history in Hastings, New York of a Mallory Schoolhouse, that has been transformed into a residence and there are photos of online and contained in a book on Hastings.
I like this photo, how the two men are standing on the side of the building as if to be out of sight, almost like a villain hiding dressed in his cowboy hat, but they are still in the shot, and the 2 in the school house window. Is that Mr. Wombles on the right? And what is he holding? Makes me think of a bell or something but Im not sure.
Hope you have enjoyed this week’s school photos. š
savethephotos 
I couldn’t really tell what the name is on the second photo, but here are two wild guesses: Allard and Gilbert.
The first school looks modern and posh; the earlier ollder photos show how times have changed.
That definitely looks like a bell to me. My first thought was why are those two skulking round the side of the school? I think they were meant to be out of shot, but nobody told the photographer. Great photos.
It is definitely a bell! My sister has an antique one that she used to ring on Christmas morning. My brother in law lives in Ojai and I have never seen the Villanova school out there, but that doesn’t mean anything. I could have been looking at the other side of the road. š
The first photo must be a hotel. It doesn’t look like something you would see in Ventura. Perhaps Pasadena? or north in San Francisco area? It is exquisite and the staff are dressed to the nines! On the second photo, can you determine if it is a stone building or is it perhaps a sod construction? There were many sod houses in the prairie. I think the two men on the side of the school house in the last picture are friends of the photographer or dads having a smoke while the kids were busy. Great picture.
What a great post and a near perfect example of how the internet has made collecting old images such a pleasurable pass-time. Armed with the contemporary vision of an old image and the range of information now available on the net : time travel has almost become a reality.
yes that first photo is surprisingly way different than what I’d believe a school would be…great photos each and every one…and bell does seem to be the answer…but then…two men on the side of a building…smoking? tobacco?…as I think more about the first photo, perhaps it also could be quite the elegant and grand private school of sorts…with their kitchen staff…it would be fun to know for sure!
The first one looks very prestigious, whether a school or a hotel. Very interesting pictures.
The first photo reminds me of the atheneum at cal tech in Pasadena.
I wish the teacher in the second photo could have spared us all the intrigue by using the blackboard with the schools name. Yes, I vote for the bell. And those two scary men in the third photo – yikes.
Nancy
Ladies of the grove
Nancy thank you for giving an idea of a similar structure, I panned through a lot of photos on the net for the Athenaeum, nothing with any windows or doors that look like this in the shots but yes similar looking, I have also looked at Ojai and Ventura hotels, to see if there are any old buildings, this seems like such a great spot to photograph that it would turn up elsewhere, but I am unsure if the label on this photo was correct, or if perhaps the Prep school had traveled and were staying at this hotel, the only young people look to be in the very front, but not sure if any would be students. Hopefully someone will eventually come along and recognize the architecture shown here. Such a pretty place! Hopes its still in exsistance.
I think the building in the first photo reflects a Spanish influence, one of wealth. But one does wonder if it’s a hotel or school, for me because of the woman in the maid’s clothes and the man who looks like a chef or baker.
Picasa has an auto contrast button that sometimes will make the contrast strong enough to read faint writing. Maybe it will help (or maybe not).
Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos.
I love your post! All three photos raise such interesting questions. I want to know so much more! I have no suggestions for you, but I wish you luck in finding out the name of the second school. Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful post and you have inspired me to go to the archives and see if I can find some group photos taken at the schools where various aunts taught. Perhaps I will be able to find their photographs!
What amazing photos. I love the two guys hanging out on the side of the building. Too funny.
I too find the contrast in wealth between the first and second photos striking. I have a grade school class photograph similar to the second photograph (the one with the unreadable penciled writing) in my family photographs; I’ve been able to date that one to a New England mill city in 1910. The dress of the kids in this photograph looks much more rural though – similar to some I’ve seen come out of farming areas. I love that third photo – with the man on the side of the building. That photograph would make a great prompt for a creative writing site. Thanks for sharing!
My grandmother went to a one room country school in the 1910s and only finished 6th grade. We are fortunate to have a photo of her at age 12, but I wish we could discover class photos as nice as these. Well done!
The first picture looks a bit posh for a school! Looks to me as if the picture came from the twenties as well, although I’m no expert.
The school photos are great. Especially the last one…..
when I look at the writing, it looks to me like orchard and scheffield, or something like that. maybe i’ve been looking at my screen for too long…
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HUGZ