Promoting Community Connections in Racine

by McKenzie Weaver, graduate student UW-Milwaukee SOIS

Over the summer, I’ve been working with the Racine Public Library’s local history librarian, Rebecca Leannah, to digitize their yearbook collection.  Yearbooks from the local high schools, Racine High School, Washington Park High School, and William Horlick High School, are some of the most requested items from the local history room by curious patrons.  They provide a unique perspective of student life and the community for the time period.  

As the oldest and first high school in Wisconsin, Racine High School, opened in December of 1853 and closed its doors in 1929 when the community decided its location was best for the new courthouse and built a larger school, Washington Park High School, to serve the growing population of Racine.  The first RHS yearbook was published in 1909.  These early yearbooks are a history buff’s dream.  They contain unique characteristic charts for each of the graduating seniors and advertisements for the local business sponsors for the yearbook’s publication. 

Local high school yearbooks are frequently requested by library patrons and are a regular drain on the local history librarian’s time. Digitizing this collection and clearly communicating its existence should relieve some of the burden. It also provides ideal opportunities for outreach to patrons, local organizations, and area schools. The demographics, historical norms, and coverage of important events are key curricular tie-ins and connectors to current high school students.

Not only can students learn about the unique courses such as “Wartime Living” and daily calisthenics to prepare for active duty in the armed forces but a general patron could use the senior class descriptions to search for an ancestor or plan a 1920s themed murder mystery party with descriptors based on each senior including a nickname, idol, and profession.  Area organizations celebrating significant anniversaries may also benefit from the images in the yearbook as opportunities for marketing and their own outreach projects.

Enjoy a few images from this collection in the slideshow below.

Old yearbooks offer a window into the life of a community, its people, traditions, and changing styles. They capture the personalities, achievements, and everyday moments that shaped youth culture. Digitizing these books preserves them for future generations and makes it easy for anyone to explore the past, whether researching family history, studying social changes, or celebrating community and school history.

For more information about this or other local history collections held by the Racine Public Library, visit Genealogy and Local History on the Racine Public Library website.

McKenzie Weaver is a graduate student intern working with the Racine Public Library as part of the Recollection Wisconsin Digitization Initiative. For more information about this program, visit our website or contact vicki [at] wils.org.