I attended Denby for the 9th grade in the 1953-1954 school year.
I just looked it up on the internet. The enrollment is 1,559 students.
In 1953 the school had 4,600 students and we went to school in shifts.
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I attended Denby for the 9th grade in the 1953-1954 school year.
I just looked it up on the internet. The enrollment is 1,559 students.
In 1953 the school had 4,600 students and we went to school in shifts.
Wow, that is an amazing amount of kids going to that school back then. I can't imagine how active and viable the surrounding neighborhoods must have been compared to now!
Hermod, Denby, like so many schools in Detroit post world war II, had a huge influx of baby boomers. Although I didn't attened Denby HS, I did take drivers training [[what eastsider didn't) and typing and worked there as a life guard via the Detroit Parks and Rec. Here's a few pics via Wayne State's Virtual City:Quote:
Originally Posted by Hermod
http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...5;viewid=74345
http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...2;viewid=19102
http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...viewid=57833_1
Not baby boomers, Kelly.Quote:
Originally Posted by kellyroad
In 1953-1954, the 9th graders were born in 1939
In 1953-1954, the 10th graders were born in 1938
In 1953-1954, the 11th graders were born in 1937
In 1953-1954, the 12th graders were born in 1936
We were the "depression babies" and there weren't that many of us. The real "baby boom" began in 1946. The 4,600 in Denby were from the "empty years".
Believe it or not, in 1953 the racial composition of Denby was:
White 100%
Black 0%
Native American 0%
Asian/Pacific Islander 0%
The closest Denby came to "diversity" was a half dozen or so Lebanese.
Considering it was one of the bigger schools in one of America's top 5 largest cities, the numbers don't seem all that amazing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eastside
I think Cass had more than that.
Check out the Denby thread that we had on here...went on for ages. My whole family on both sides went there. I heard the number topped 5K in the late 50s early 60s when classes were held in the hallways.
My mother graduated from Denby in the mid-50's.
"In 1953-1954, the 12th graders were born in 1936"
Hey, that's me! Yep, Depression Baby is what I was. Am. Whatever.
You're absolutely right Hermod. Considering that the real population explosion on the far east side didn't occur until the 50s/60s your Denby's 1953 enrollment stat really underlines the vitality Denby had in that region during the 40s and early 50s. Of course in the later 50s and 60s other DPS schools [[Finney, Osborn) and many of the Catholic Schools on the far east side shared in that population explosion. Do you happen to have the enrollment stats of Denby during the 30s or 40s?Quote:
Originally Posted by Hermod
4600 is an amazing stat!
There were eleven class periods. As a freshman, I went to school in the later class period [[7-11). I think that I went to school from 12:40PM to 4:45PM. Seniors got the early classes and could start at 8:00AM and finish at 12:15. Sophomores and juniors were in the middle and went six periods because they had a lunch break.Quote:
Originally Posted by kellyroad
I think the school was designed for about 2400 based on the size of the six "assembly rooms".
There was a lot of construction going on tin the area bounded by Kelly-Morang-Harper-Whittier during the late forties and early fifties. Most of the single family lots were filled in. By 1961, they had begun building apartment buildings along Whittier.
I searched for it, but all I got was a "Where did you go to HS?" thread.Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick
I think the Denby thread was on the old forum. Try that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hermod
:D
Those were great times for Detroit. Plenty of job opportunities, safe movement throughout most parts of the city, and lots of things to do without getting in trouble.
We had split sessions, [[I graduated in January of '53) and didn't spend too much time in school, although as I remember it, the Freshman and Sophomore classes were most of the day, but by Senior year, we were in and out in short order.
The size and scope of Denby became apparent to me while I was waiting in line to register at MSNC [[now Eastern Michigan) in 1954, and several guys from small towns were commenting on the "size" of the campus, and the "number" of students in the registration lines. They were amazed when I told them my High School was bigger than the college we were registering for.
Senior
When you were going to school, you could get a student bus card in September good until the following September. You could go anywhere in the city for ten cents. Get on a bus, get a transfer, have your transfer doubled. Three buses for a dime. Another dime to go back home.Quote:
Originally Posted by Senior
Yes, I have never seen it anywhere else for me, my kids or grandkids. Depending on your birthday, you began a grade in September or January. As a result, there was always a grade 9B and a grade 9A. The good part of it was that if a kid flunked, they would only be set back half a year. The downside for college kids was that a lot of colleges didn't accept the January graduates till September.Quote:
Originally Posted by Senior
I went to Cass Tech which did not have a driver’s training facility so since I lived in the Six Mile and Davison area, Cass sent me to Denby. I took my training there in the summer of 1965 and rode the Six Mile bus all the way to Kelly. Every car was a 4 door Plymouth Valiant accept for oneBarracuda fastback with bucket seats and an automatic on the floor. Everybody tried to get that car. There was one straight-away where you could get going to about 30 if the instructor wasn’t looking. I got my drivers permit, “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones was playing on the radio, starting senior year in the fall, the summer of 1965 was a happy time. A piece of trivia, does anyone remember that 6 Mile was once called Jerome Ave.?
No, I remember the Six Mile bus route began at Whittier and Harper, went west on Whittier to Kelly, north on Kelly to Seymour, west on Seymour to Gratiot, then Seymour changed to McNicholls west of Gratiot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cass1966
How did/do those numbers compare with other schools in the area?Quote:
Originally Posted by Hermod
Wasn't that before Osborn was built? When they built that it probably eased the congestion at Denby. Also, when Regina, Notre Dame and Lutheran East went in a mile or so up the road a lot more local kids went to parochial schools.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeM
Listing them in the order I used to pass by them while taking my regular walks and jogs up Kelly in the 80's, I still can't get over Lutheran East, Regina, and Notre Dame being gone, let alone a time before which they were ever there! [[Or is Lutheran East still there....?)
I think LE and Regina are now charter schools. ND is empty, at least it was last time I drove through.
During the 50's Pershing was well over 3000 students, Southeastern, Eastern, Northern and Northeastern were over or close to 2000 students when my mother attended Eastern C/O '59. Miller was still being used as a High School until 1957. Osborn was opened in 1962 to offset overcrowding as Denby and Pershing. dQuote:
Originally Posted by MikeM
Cass was consistently in the low-mid 4000's until the early 80's.
Most of the High Schools in the outer-ring of the East and West side had overcrowding issues due to families moving to these areas in droves, and lack of school construction throughout the war years.
Redford, Mumford, Cooley and Cody were well over 3500 students Mackenzie was pushing close to 5000 in the early to mid-50's all of these schools were running on shifts at one time or another. Chadsey, Southwestern, and Western remained right around or just under 2000. Cody topped out at around 4400 in the mid-70's.
Racial Composition in the early 50's from a few Book I have on the shelf and some research at the Detroit Public Library
Cass 82% White 18% Black
Denby 100% White
Pershing 79% White 21% Black
Eastern 59% White 41% Black
Southeastern 72% White 28% Black
Northern 89% Black 11% White
Northeastern 93% Black 7% White
Miller 99% Black [[Was a Junior High School from 1934 to 1957 to keep Eastern from integrating)
Central 69% Black 31% White [[Demographics continued to shift as the Jewish population moved towards the Wyoming McNichols area and went to Mumford)
Chadsey 60% White 40% Black [[Consistently remained the most racially diverse High School in the city)
Cody 100% White
Cooley 100% White
Mackenzie 97% White 3% Black
Mumford 97% White 3% Black
Northwestern 92% Black 8% White
Redford 100% White
Southwestern 55% Black 45% White
Western 89% White 11% Black
Thank you scribe. When did Finney become a high school?
Around 1957 if I am correct, it was an Elementary School prior to that.Ford was opened in 1957 as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeM
Here's a 1943 Denby Navigator
No, the school at Marlborough and Waveney that became Finney was Andrew Jackson Intermediate School. I went there 1951 to 1953.Quote:
Originally Posted by scribe114
I think that Chester Arthur Elementary changed from a K-8 elementary school to a Jr High School so that Jackson could become a high school..
Quote:
Originally Posted by scribe114
Miller was a high school that was virtually 100% black from 1934-1957. It was then changed to a jr high school.
FIFY.
Finney was an elementary school at it's current location from the late1920s until it became a high school.
Are there any pics in that Navigator of the outside of the school that shows what the surrounding neighborhood and Kelly Road looked like back then?Quote:
Originally Posted by zitro
This picture of Finney from the Virtual Motor City is from 1957, so you are probably correct.Quote:
Originally Posted by scribe114
http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...-57927%5D57927
Quote:
Originally Posted by KENSINGTONY
When I Google Mapped the old Jackson Intermediate.location on Marlborough and Waveney, the Google said that it was Finney High School. The building certainly has the Jackson footprint.
Edit to add: Flickr says that Jackson Intermediate became McNair Middle School even though Google says it is Finney.
Edit to add again. The error is in the map. If you google Mcnair, it shows you the right location, but the map calls it Finney High.
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Mc...ient=firefox-a
Wow. I would have never guessed that was Finney. I guess in all my travels to Canon Memorial Rec center on Cadieux [[they had a woodworking class via Parks and Rec) I failled to notice the building next door. I always thought Finney was the more modern looking building.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeM
That [[Jackson/McNair) is now Finney. Finney is slated for demolition.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hermod
http://www.detroit.k12.mi.us/schools/school/530
This picture from 1929 was probably taken when the school first opened:Quote:
Originally Posted by kellyroad
http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...-75483%5D75483
You can still see that part of the building on the Guilford side of the school.
What was wrong with Andrew Jackson's name? He was a good Democrat.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeM
Jeez, Denby is by far the most discussed school on DYes. I really wonder why.
Lots of active threads about the northeast part of the city. It was a great place to live back in the day and even now is one of the more viable parts of the city.Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick
The neighborhoods in the NE are pretty solid for the most part. Maybe due to the close proximity to shopping and burrbs?
My father went to Denby just before that. I believe he's class of 1941 [[he was there with Wally Cox, who some older TV viewers may remember). At the time he was there most of the land north of the school was still undeveloped.Quote:
Originally Posted by kellyroad
In fact, when the school was constructed in 1930 it was built to get in front of the growth of the city, which was promptly stalled out by the depression, and the school was underutilized for about a decade. A lot of the streets surrounding Denby that were built out in what is now the northeast side were fitted with sidewalks and fire hydrants but sat mostly empty and overgrown until WWII spurred a housing boom.
Finney was expanded several times once it became a high school, to the point where that older building was largely hidden. The 1970s wing, with its odd stilt structure, is what you saw first from Warren or coming up Cadieux. This use of Finney was at first really intended to be just a temporary measure to reduce 9th grade overcrowding in other east side schools in the late '50s, but grade after grade was slowly added until the school was physically expanded in the mid-60s and became a full-fledged high school. The first graduating class was, I believe, around 1965.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeM
Jackson is in an entirely different place and remained a junior high school [[intermediate school) until pretty recently. My father and later several of my cousins went there. Jackson had a huge district, and some kids coming out of there went to Finney [[or Denby in my father's time) and others to Southeastern depending on if they lived north or south of Mack.
As I recall, when I went there in 51-53, the elementary schools that "fed" Jackson were Clark, Hosmer, Wayne, and Arthur.Quote:
Originally Posted by EastsideAl
Jackson then "fed" into Denby and Southeastern.
We were "bussed" to Jackson on chartered DSR buses. The parents at Arthur and Wayne hated the process and having their little darlings having to associate with the "street toughs" from Hosmer.
"Hosmer" might be spelled differently, I don't think I ever saw it written down. I just heard the name from my classmates as in, "Yes, I went to Hosmer".
There's not a lot KR, but here are a few. I would imagine the guys and gals laughing it up is at the famous Denby Sweet Shop and possibly the couple at the ticket window could have been at the Civic Theatre. Love the old leather helmets on the Tars. Also a view of some out buildings that must have been used for the overflow of students.Quote:
Originally Posted by kellyroad
Thanks Z. I'm wondering if the stadium pic is that of U of D. By the size of the stands and the surrounding homes I don't think it's Denby.Quote:
Originally Posted by zitro
Any of the older Tars have a guess where that stadium might be?
The baseball pictures have the one and a half story bungalows that were typical of the Denby area. The football picture houses don't look like the area.Quote:
Originally Posted by kellyroad
Denby had a string of "portables" for extra classrooms when I was there in 53-54.
Could be Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck. A lot of east side schools [[and Wayne St.) played games there. It definitely isn't U of D.
Here is an interesting picture of Denby as originally constructed from Wayne's Virtual Motor City site
http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...y=1;view=image
Looks like it's out in the country.
Typo, good looking out Hermod,Quote:
Originally Posted by Hermod
Miller opened as an Intermediate School in 1919 my grandmother was in the Miller H.S.January 1939 class. She and her brothers and sisters attended Russell which was made a K-8 School when Miller was converted. She also attended Duffield briefly.
I was talking to some old-timers who had graduated from Mumford as well as Central and Denby and they all mentioned that the kids from Denby were always the coolest on the DPS becuase they always wore the "hippest" clothes and drove the coolest cars compared to the other schools. They said that it was known as a "bad-ass" school...whatever that means lol.
When I went to Denby [[53-54) the area around Denby was heavily German with a dash of Scandinavian, Bohemian, Slovak, and Polish. Most worked for the auto companies and were fairly high up on the blue collar pay scale. There were very few noticeably poor kids there. I don't remember Denby being especially "cool" but the kids could probably afford it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick
The football pics are definitely "45/46 when Denby won the city championship under coach Abe Eliowitz, an MSU star. My oldest brother went thru Denby's first four years, graduating in "38. The Sweet Shop on the corner was run by a sweet no-nonsense Greek couple. Friday Dances alternated with the Catholic school next to the Civic. Anyone know who Edwin Denby was?
Secretary of the Navy, hence the name Denby Tars and the fight song "Anchors away, Denby, Anchors away....."Quote:
Originally Posted by BillRush
Denby was a UofM football player. He served as a congressman from the 1st Congressional District for a number of years. he was SecNav under Harding and Coolidge. He died in 1929 and they named the school after him.
The Catholic School next to the Civic was Guardian Angels and was [[as I recall) a grades 1 to 8 school. The Catholic high school for girls was Dominican High School [[plus a large convent which must have served a lot of the RC schools in the area). Dominican was on the south side of Whittier near McKinney and had a very nice looking campus. The Catholic high school boys in the area took a bus to go somewhere to school [[name escapes me, maybe De la Salle).Quote:
Originally Posted by BillRush
If anybody's interested, there's a brief biography of Edwin Denby [[from his AP obituary) in this blog post:
http://belleislehome.blogspot.com/20...denby-and.html
He was a pretty interesting guy, involved in the Teapot Dome oil scandal, and heavily involved in the Detroit Masons at the time the Masonic Temple was built, among other things.
The football players are from the city championship era 45-46 under coach Abe Eliowitz-MSU star and later coach at Cooley.My oldest brother was in the first class to go all four years 34-38.
ggcanfield-Thanks for the bio of Denby. Surprisinghly there was no effort to educate the students re Denby during the four years I was there. Perhaps the war interfered. I was pleasantly surprised toearn of his Detroit connections.
I didn't see the other responses until my second note.
Abe Eliowitz [[Canadian Football HOF) was the Baseball coach at Cooley for quite a few years Milt Pappas played for him and won the Metropolitan League Championship in 56 and 57 Milt's younger brother Perry pitched for Cooley and was drafted by the Yankees. I think Denby beat Western the previous year. Abe's son Sam Eliowitz who was a stud QB at Western around the same time, was my Athletic Director at Chadsey.Quote:
Originally Posted by BillRush
The High Schools in the city were named by either location, [[Northwestern, Southwestern, Western, Northern, Eastern, Northeastern, Southestern, )Quote:
Originally Posted by BillRush
Or after prominent members of the Detroit Bd. of Education, Educators, Superintendents and Board Members and local citizens.
Frank Cody [[Was Superintendent of DPS)
Charles E. Chadsey [[Was Superintendent of DPS)
Samuel Mumford [[Board Member: Mumford was slated for construction in 1938 but was halted until 1949 due to moratorium on building due to WWII)
Laura F. Osborn [[Board Member)
David L. Mackenzie [[Principal of the old Central H.S. and Dean of old WSU Main Bldg)
Jared W.Finney
Henry Ford
Edwin Denby [[Pershing H.S. it's sister school, was opened at the same time in an identical building)
Thomas Cooley [[Head of the Michigan Supreme Court)
Central High School [[my father was class of 1931 and my mother was class of 1932)Quote:
Originally Posted by scribe114
Wilbur Wright Aero Mechanics
Cass Tech
Commercial
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hermod
De La Salle was on Conner & Glenfield across a street from the airport. Austin opened around 1951 on Warren near Mack. I think some Guardian Angels people attended Servite [[Warren near Dickerson) as well. They did not attend St. David since that was a parish school only. Additionally, the options of several places such as the old St.Joe's [[open until 1964) and St.Anthony's on Field off of Gratiot existed.
We lived a bit east of Guardian Angels, so most of my Catholic neighbors went to St Matthews through 8th grade.. The girls then went to Dominican. De la Salle sounds about right for the boys, taking the Six Mile bus to Gratiot, then the Gratiot streetcar to the airport.Quote:
Originally Posted by IrishSpartan
Who was Jared Finney.?I went there grade 5-8 and don't have a clue. How about Von Steuben?[[ my Kdg -4)
Baron Von Steuiben from the Revolutionary war?
I went to Anthony Wayne Elementary [[K-6) and we sure were taught all about "Mad Anthony Wayne" and his exploits. He led the nighttime assault against the Brits at Stony Point. He also stomped the crap out of the pesky injuns at Fallen Timbers and made the midwest safe for white people forever more.Quote:
Originally Posted by BillRush
I then went to Andrew Jackson Intermediate School [[7-8). We were taught that Andrew [[Old Hickory) Jackson was a "god" probably because our principal [[Mr. Mack Monroe) was a major player in Detroit Democratic politics. Old Andy did a number on the pesky injuns too [[several times) but back in the pre-PC days, that was a "good" thing. I guess PC was the reason they changed the name from Andrew Jackson to McNair [[Jackson also was a slaveholder).
I graduated in June '64 [[they also had a class Jan. '64) with a class of 550. We were the beginning of the baby boomers.
You're right I had driver's education at Denby in 1964 when I was a student at Southeastern High.Quote:
Originally Posted by kellyroad
Finney topped out population wise at about 2,200 students.
1965 sounds about right for the first graduating class at Finney. Their football team was the Tartan's... their yearbook The Cairngorm [[a mountain range in Scotland).
The early 1960s expansion that built the courtyard area and Cafetorium was the first addition. At that time Cannon Rec Center auditorium and Gymnasium were used by Finney until the later 1970s when the north addition added more schoolrooms, an auditorium and gymnasium... as well as a dumb looking new English wing on stilts.
For being one of the newest schools in Detroit... the teardown of Finney probably has more to do with shoddy construction techniques in the 60s and 70s than anything else. Most of the older schools [[Denby, et al) were built much more solidly.
Gistok...I thought Finney's athletic teams were nicknamed the Highlanders.
Fellow Denby grads, it seems that there is a dispute over the meaning of the school's nickname "Tars." At first thought it had something to do with sealant that sailors applied to wooden hulls. More recently, I'm told that "tar" is short for "tarpaulin," a sheet of canvas that acts as a sail on a ship.
Also, I recently saw a tee shirt that said Orlando Tars. When I searched it, I couldn't find a high school in Fla with that nickname, but I did come up with a college in Orlando that goes by Tars [[school name slips me).
So, what is a "tar"?
I believe it's a term for sailor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Tar
As noted above, Edwin Denby was Secretary of the Navy at one time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Publican
The old time sailors would waterproof their hats with a coating of tar [[also used in caulking the ship) and were therefore called "tars" after their hats.
Originally Denby was grades 10-12. Detroit schools operated on a 6-3-3 system.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eastburn
Each grade had an assembly room for the boys and one for the girls. The assembly rooms were headed by counselors. The boys assembly rooms were House of Midshipmen [[10), House of Commodores [[11), and House of Admirals [[12). The girls assembly rooms were House of Marion Denby [[10), House of Yosemite [[11), and House of Mayflower [[12). After they added the 9th grade, their "houses" were C-1 and C-2 with no assembly rooms. When we had 4,500 at the school, there was no way that the grades could fit into their assembly rooms, so they were just large classrooms, but they still had the doors decorated with the original names and the counselor's offices were still adjoining the rooms.
Someone mentioned that Cass Tech had more?
I believe that Cass was also about 4,500 in its heyday.
Edwin was planted at Elmwood, along with a memorial stone for his son who was lost at sea. An interesting marker IMHO.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eastburn
I understand they are spending big bucks renovating Denby, including the auditorium. I'd love to see before and after photos of the renovations.
In the 60's, Assemblies were held in the auditorium, and we had study halls which were probably the rooms you had assembly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hermod
In the 60's, we were still using those portable.