Antedating of "Junior High School"

[Baker, John]

My methodology was simply to look at a source (Access Newspaper Archive)
to see if earlier examples of "junior high school" were available, in
contexts where it seemed likely that a standalone junior high school was
being discussed.  Schools are a traditional concern of newspapers, and
it seemed likely that, if junior high schools predated the cited
examples, they would be discussed.  I had not fully considered the
possibility that these "junior high schools" might be a different beast,
and even now it seems likely to me that some sort of continuity of use
was involved.  It also seemed likely to me that more obvious sources
would already have been canvassed.
 
Some of these assumptions may require reexamination, including the
supposition that obvious sources, such as Google Books, would already
have been checked.  From Historical Sketches of Public Schools in
Cities, Villages and Townships of the State of Ohio (1876), apparently
prepared by the Ohio State Centennial Educational Committee, on page 15
of the separately enumerated section addressing Toledo:  
 
<<The senior high school, the senior grammar school, and one district
school, have male principals.  The junior high school, two junior
grammar schools, one intermediate and eleven district schools, have lady
principals.  Of the whole 126 teachers, fifteen are gentlemen; ten being
Germans.>>
 
Exactly what is meant by "junior high school," in these and other early
examples, is hard to say, but I am skeptical that a junior high school
was really such a new thing when Columbus first authorized one in 1909.
 
 
John Baker
 
 
 

________________________________

From: American Dialect Society on behalf of ronbutters at AOL.COM
Sent: Mon 1/11/2010 9:56 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Junior High School"



Wouldn't a better place to look be education books and journals of the
1900s? I'd think that there would have been a good deal of theoretical
discussion before a political body took action.

Just curious about the methodology here
------Original Message------
From: Baker, John
Sender: ADS-L
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Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Antedating of "Junior High School"
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Most of the newspaper examples are too brief to be sure what is
intended, though it is usually clear that there is a Junior High School
involved.  According to
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2691, the first junior
high school was authorized in Columbus, Ohio in 1909, which would seem
to support Doug's point.  I don't know how reliable that source may be.

However, I note that the newspaper examples all seem to be from Ohio
(although Doug's 1904 Google Books example is from New York State).  At
a minimum, that seems to suggest that "junior high school" was an
established term in Ohio in 1909, even if there were aspects of the
Columbus approach that were novel.


John Baker


________________________________

From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Douglas G. Wilson
Sent: Sun 1/10/2010 11:02 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Junior High School"



Baker, John wrote:
> Various antedatings of this are available via Access Newspaper
Archive, ....
--

Some of these are ambiguous, and I think mos, t or all of the pre-1900
examples refer to something different from what is now called "junior
high school". Some refer to a part of high school, sometimes years 9-10
of 12 (with "senior" for years 11-12),_maybe_ sometimes year 11 of 12
(like "junior class/year" now). Some early instances of "junior high
school"_may_ mean "limited school extending only through grade 10" or
something like that.

At G-books, there is a 1904 example which explicitly refers to years
7-8, similar to the modern sense (although here not obviously involving
a separate school building or administration):

http://tinyurl.com/ycu4e9w

Some of the earlier examples_may_ have the same sense, but I haven't
seen one I'm sure of.

-- Doug Wilson

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