Another Hidden Treat in the Collections

One of the secret pleasures of working with historical documents is finding a secret treasure hidden inside. (Better than Cracker Jacks.)

To research a question about German comedies, we went through our collection of theater programs, which are mostly from around 1880 to 1920. The building shown above (which had many names in its history, including the Sandusky Theater, Sandusky Opera House, the Himmelein Theater, and The Grand) was the prime venue for performances in Sandusky at that time. The Archives Research Center has a number of programs from that theater. Unfortunately, we didn't find an answer for the question we had, but we found a rather fascinating piece of history hidden in plain sight within a program for a performance of The Prince Chap at the Grand in 1904.

Here is the page listing the cast. Movie buffs -- do you recognize any names?

click on the image for a larger view

The "Earl of Huntington" was played by Cecil DeMille, better known through much of the twentieth century as Cecil B. DeMille, the famous motion picture producer and director, probably best known for The Ten Commandments, among his many movies.

Who knows who else might be hiding in the Sandusky Library's collections!

1898 Sandusky High School Graduates

Pictured above are all the female graduates from the Sandusky High School class of 1898, except Winifred Chapman, who was not present when the photograph was taken. Most likely the male graduates’ picture was taken as well, but to date we only have a picture of the women. Below is a photograph of several faculty members from the academic year 1897-1898. The only teacher that has positively been identified is E.L. Moseley, who is the man in the center. (His name was listed incorrectly in the program as E.J. Moseley.)

The commencement program provides a list of all the graduates and faculty members.

An article which appeared on the front page of the June 24, 1898 issue of the Sandusky Register covered the commencement exercises in detail. It read in part:

Amidst the glow and shimmer of electric lights that made the wide stage of the Nielsen Opera House a most beautiful picture, twenty-nine young men and women, of the very flower of Sandusky youth, sat last night in full view of an audience that filled the entire lower floor of the theater and were scattered throughout the balcony, who for personal interest or city pride regarded them with the liveliest interest. They sang together with rare sweetness. Twelve of their number presented essays and orations sparkling with bright, keen thought, and at the close of the evening exercise the class of ‘98 of the Sandusky High School was graduated and the commencement has passed into history of the city schools.

Edward Altstaetter gave an oration entitled “The Sun of Spain is Setting,” which referred to the conflict between Spain and the U.S. that was ongoing in 1898.  The commencement program gave a list of all the student presentations that were given during the ceremony.

Visit the Sandusky Library to see historic graduation programs, yearbooks from several area schools, and to learn more about the rich history of Sandusky and Erie County.