The Syracuse City School District has been in business since 1848.
May 8 marks 175 years since the district became officially incorporated. Superintendent Anthony Davis says the district will hold a special reception Monday, and he's tasked each school's principal to find an item to display representing their school’s history.
Did you know that this year is the 175th anniversary of the SCSD?
— Syracuse City School (@SyracuseSchools) April 25, 2023
On Monday, 5/8 – the District’s official day of inception – join us to celebrate! 🥳 See below for details.
If you plan to join us, please let us know by emailing RSVP@scsd.us. We hope to see you there! pic.twitter.com/mdNqMhOeg3
Davis says Monday’s celebration is just the start to what he sees as a year-long recognition of the district’s rich history.
“We're going to have some different artifacts from different schools to highlight their history, to get the ball rolling,” Davis said. “That'll be the opening event. We'll be doing different things throughout the year to celebrate the 175th.”
Longtime Social Studies teacher Don Little was the impetus to mark the occasion. He’s been with the district for 29 years and serves as the go-to for district facts.
“I've become more and more fascinated with local history,” said Little from his classroom at Nottingham High School. “I think that there's good connectors there for kids. Because a lot of what happens in the United States also happens in Syracuse.”
To put 175 years into context, Little elaborates on what else happened at this time. There were only 28 other states in the union — Wisconsin joins the U.S. three weeks after Syracuse first opens for business. The Erie Canal was 23 years old, the women’s suffrage movement was just beginning and 3.2 million were enslaved.
“Business is booming along the canal. Syracuse, Buffalo, Rochester, Utica, Albany and New York City are huge winners in this economic transformation,” said Little about the region back in 1848. “Two and a half months after we open, the Seneca Falls Convention will happen, promoting women's rights. And the last 17 years of slavery occur after the city school district opens. So, there's some dark things as well. But places like Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo were progressive.”
The date May 8, 1848 is noted in a 45-year account of the city school system written by Edward Smith, known as the city’s most prominent educator. In his 347-page book, “A History of the Schools of Syracuse from Its Early Settlement to January 1, 1893,”the date appears on page 46, where you can read Smith was among the first appointed teachers, earning a salary of $35.
If you’re wondering though, why May 8? Little agrees. It sounds like an odd choice to start the school year, especially when compared to today’s calendar.
“It probably was a good time because planting would have been done. Right? So, you know that they have months before the harvest,” Little said. “So kids could go to school at that point. And it's three 13-week terms. That's what their school year was like.”
Little looks forward to honoring the district’s 175th year, and for the chance to share what he calls “nifty little bits of history.” He knows, too, exactly what artifacts he’ll be showcasing.
“We went with this the dedication playbill,” said Little as he pulls the 1953 program for the dedication of William Nottingham High School out of a file cabinet tucked away in the back of his classroom. In its drawer too are old yearbooks — from various decades and in various colors — as well as a framed photo of William Nottingham, the school’s namesake and formerly a prominent Syracuse attorney, serving on the Syracuse University Board of Trustees and on the New York State Board of Regents.
And for fun, Little decided, too, to showcase a vintage, bright orange and blue megaphone, signed by Jennifer Fairchild, Class of ’63.
“This is a bygone image,” he said about the cheerleader megaphone. “I would say you don't see these that often anymore. But if you see any period movie from the ’50s, ’60s into the ’70s, I think it's abundantly clear what it is.”
Principals from other schools, too, have been asked to see what possible treasures they can find, ones that may have been locked away for decades in their school’s basement.
Recently, Nottingham Principal Andrew Nolan and Little poked around in Nottingham’s basement. As the pair walk the long hallway to the door leading to the basement, Nolan mentions a room at his former school filled with artifacts. Prior to this year, Nolan served as principal at Porter Elementary. Little notes Porter’s history dates back to the 1860s, telling Nolan it was the first school in the district to offer Kindergarten.
Nolan remembers that in Porter’s basement there was a closet where a longtime custodian maintained the history of the school, collecting items from its past dating back to the late 1800s.
“When he passed away, I helped preserve the items,” Nolan said. “Many were given to the current principal, but a number of the most delicate photos I kept in a binder.”
Nolan says he thinks he’ll bring that to show off on Monday evening.
Down in Nottingham’s basement, Little enters an old janitor’s closet and finds a shelf overflowing with trophies. Pulling down a large, gold one, coated in a thick layer of dust, he learns the school won the countywide chess championship in 1993.
“I think when people get a chance to reflect and think about their past … it’s a reminder that we’re all a product of a long time,” Little concludes. “This next year is going to be an exciting one to celebrate.”
A special reception from 5 to 8 p.m. will be held Monday, May 8, at Salt City Market and feature artifacts from basements across the district. Superintendent Davis says it will be a kickoff event to what he envisions as a year-long recognition of the school district’s history.
