J.H.S. History

PRESENTING: THE HISTORY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH
THE EARLY DAYS

Reprinted by Leona Curry

I am proud to present the History of Thomas Jefferson High which was written years ago by a former student. His name was Carlos McDonald.

Carlos McDonald’s history received honorable mention when it was first published in the Junior Historian Pamphlet. Mr. McDonald served as student body president at Jefferson and was very active member of the Science, the Dramatic, the Spanish and the Junior Historian Club.

Carlos graduated from Jefferson High School in May 1953 and was one of the ten top students in his class. As a student at Jefferson, he participated in the drama club and was student body president in his senior year. He was honored twice as Outstanding Ex, in 1962 and again in 1975. He received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Texas Western College (UTEP); a Masters in both Electrical Engineering and Physics from Texas Western College (UTEP); and a PhD in Physics from New Mexico State University. During his own academic years he received two National Science Foundation Fellowships in Space Physics. While pursuing his doctorate in physics, he was a Project Scientist and Supervisor at UTEP’s Schallenger Research Laboratories in Upper Atmospherics Physics from New Mexico State University.

The history of Thomas Jefferson High School in El Paso, Texas started before World War II when citizens in the vicinity of Burleson Elementary School began to talk about the need for a high school. Little was done until after the war.

In 1946, as in most cities in the United States the schools in El Paso were overcrowded. Bowie High School, El Paso High School and Austin High School located in the south, west and north part of the city respectively, especially presented a problem. These schools took care not only of students in their own district, but also of the students in the eastern section of the city which had no high school. This resulted in an acute lack of space and facilities in the schools. To remedy this situation, a new high school was definitely needed. A committee from the Burleson Parent Teacher Association went to the school board to discuss a new high school for the east section of the city.

Many other meetings and petitions led to the school board’s decision to construct a new junior or senior high school. The principle reason for this decision was that the students living in the eastern section had to go a long distance to attend the other high schools and they had to transfer from bus to bus several times.

Site for the new school would be on the grounds of Burleson Elementary School, 4700 Alameda Avenue, and surrounding property, which amounts to seven and one-half acres. Plans for the addition to Burleson School included an east wing with sixteen classrooms, a cafeteria, a library, a gymnasium, restrooms, and closets. The architects were Frazier and Benner. Frazier died before the addition was completed, but Benner finished the plans. Construction was awarded to J. E. Morgan and Sons and was started in March 1948. Cost of the wing was approximately $300,000. This first addition brought the total number of classrooms at Burleson to thirty-seven.

J.M. Whitaker was appointed principal of both Burleson Elementary School and Burleson High School in September 1948. Mr. Whitaker’s background as Assistant principal of both Austin and El Paso high School gave him the secondary experience. Mr. Whitaker opened the first new school to be constructed in El Paso after World War I (Roosevelt). The elementary tenure came from being Principal of both Zavala and Roosevelt Schools. The principal of the new secondary school needed both elementary and secondary experience because the site chosen for this campus was to be on an existing elementary school, Burleson. This elementary was to be converted over a period of time into a secondary plant. Progress was slow due to the El Paso District’s policy that all construction had to be done on a cash basis.

At this time the school board had decided that the new school would be a high school but thought that it would not enroll more than five hundred students. Boundaries for the school were to be Piedras, Oro, Tularosa, and Radford Streets, the railroad tracks and the city limits. It was to be opened in January 1949, but because of scarcity of materials, the opening was postponed until September.

During this time the new high school was referred to as Burleson High School. The Burleson Parent Teacher Association believed that someday there would be a new Burleson Elementary School and the group did not want to lose this name for a grade school. The members decided to give Burleson High School another name. In 1948 Mr. Whitaker and the Parent Teacher Association decided on Thomas Jefferson High School as the name for the new school. A petition to change the name was sent to the school board and was accepted.

Due to the fact that a football season and a band were planned the first semester, Mr. Whitaker and the Parent Teacher Association chose the colors of the school, silver and scarlet and the school mascot in order that the football and band uniforms could be ordered. Many people suggested a myriad of things for mascot. The winning selection was submitted by Mr. Lawrence McConaughy, athletic director the El Paso Schools. The winner was the silver fox. Silver was chosen as the school color very quickly because of the fox.

Roy Wilson, appointed director of the band composed the music of the official school and fight songs. His wife, who had been writing poems for self expression for years, wrote the words for “O Jefferson” and the Jefferson Fight Song. Mr. Wilson previously taught band in New Mexico and Arizona. He started a beginning band at Burleson and at Zavala (the closest feeder school). This was in anticipation of having a nucleus for the band at the new high school. The band won several honors in inter-school competition and in the Sun Carnival parades.

On Sunday, September 4, 1949, the dedication of Thomas Jefferson High School was held in the gymnasium. Jefferson newly organized band furnished the music for the program.

Platform guests included Superintendent of Schools, A. M. Hughey, members of the school board, city officials, Parent Teacher Association members, the architect, and the contractors. The school was dedicated, of course, to Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States of America, one of the first proponents of a general school system in this country, was as you know a member of the committee which drafted the Declaration of Independence.

Two days later, on September 6, the school opened its doors to students. Six hundred and fifty were registered and seven hundred and fifty for the grade school. During the first two years, Burleson Elementary and Jefferson High School shared facilities. Mr. Whitaker, during this time, was principal of both schools. In September 1951, Burleson moved to its new building south of Paisano Drive, leaving the Alameda Avenue building for the new high school. This location was Highway 80. In those early days this highway carried a lot of heavy traffic which was dangerous for the school community.

Departments, when the school opened, included science, Commercial (Business), English, Spanish, mechanical drawing, home economics, physical education, art, band, mathematics, journalism, agriculture, social studies, manual training, and distributive education. In the first semester of school these clubs were organized: the Silver Hostess Club (a service organization), Junior Historians, Y-Teens, Junior Nurses Aid Corps, Pan American, Future Homemakers of American, and Dramatics. Clubs organized in 1950 and 1951 were: the National Honor Society, which later was named the J.M. Whitaker Chapter, the “J” Club, composed of students who had lettered in sports; and the Officers Club, composed of members of the ROTC. In 1952 still other clubs were established. These included: the Science, Radio, and Junior Lular clubs.

The student government, consisted of the council and student body officers, was organized in 1949 and operated in a democratic manned. Its basis, the constitution was written by Mrs. Laetitia Williamson, who headed student government. This constitution was later rewritten to adjust itself to the growing school.

Elections were held every semester in January and in May for student body officers and council members. The council was composed of a representative from every home room and from each classification

The different organizations not only prepared students to make better citizens, but they also do many services for the school. They installed coke machines, candy machines and a juke box.

Jefferson High School has had its school paper and annual since the school opened. The first edition of the school newspaper came out on October 17, 1949. The paper was named the Branding Iron, a name chosen by a contest. Because of its close association with the Southwest and that the branding iron had to be hot, just like the news, it won overall support from the first staff. Faculty sponsor for the first paper was Miss Beatrice Lotz. The Branding Iron is published by the Journalism Department.

El Capitan, the school’s yearbook, was first sponsored by C. P. Hartmann, social studies teacher. Editor-in-chief for the first annual was Ignacio Maldonado, and the yearbook was dedicated to Thomas Jefferson. Nestled in the Guadalupe Mountains, east of El Paso, the El Capitan stands above all else as the highest peak in Texas. While other campus seek to reach new heights and claim to have peaked, they can never reach the level of the El Capitan. And, therefore, it was only fitting that after a trip to the mountain range on October 2, 1949, the journalism staff voted to name its annual after a peak that has stood the test of time.

Many traditional activities were started in the first year; the selection of a football queen, and a basketball sweetheart, a senior prom, a junior prom, the annual ball and its beauty, the selection of an ROTC queen, and other activities have become customs. Assemblies commemorating days of significance and pep assemblies were established, sponsors by departments and clubs.

Soon after the school opened, it was realized that the facilities were inadequate; consequently, plans for new additions began. The first addition was the west wing for the main building, consisting of eleven classrooms, an auditorium, a nurse’s office, a chemistry laboratory and living quarters for the custodian. The architect was William G. Wuehrmann. Construction started in the spring of 1950 and the wing was ready in September. Cost of this addition was $150,000.

At the same time that the west addition was being constructed a separate addition behind the school was underway. It contained several classrooms, a band room, and a football dressing room with lockers and showers. This building was also ready in September 1950. The band moved into its new quarter from the gymnasium stage. Football, agriculture, chorus and strings departments were also moved to this addition. The following semester rooms were added for the ROTC and the mechanical drawing and manual training departments. Over-all cost of this addition was $90,000. The architect was William G. Wuehrmann.

Construction of the new cafeteria started January 1952 because the old cafeteria in the main building was too small to accommodate all the students in a lunch period. The new cafeteria seated four hundred students, and in addition to a big modern kitchen, it had a club room, a shower room with lockers and a restroom. The architect was William G. Wuehrmann. The cost was $95,000 and it was ready in the fall of 1952. The old cafeteria was converted in to two classrooms, and the library was extended to include a room adjacent to it.

Jefferson has always participated in major and minor sports. Two weeks before the school opened, the football team was practicing. It played its first game in September 1949 with Anthony, New Mexico and won by a score of 7 to 0. Jefferson played its first game of basketball in November and won 30 to 29.

In its first year Jefferson did not participate in the District 2A (now 4A) football but took part in baseball, basketball, and track. The B basketball team won the first championship for Jefferson in that year, and Jefferson won second place in its first district competition in baseball. Intramural sports were also organized by the physical education department. Body building sports and exercises were offered to both boys and girls. Modern dancing, volleyball, basketball, and baseball were usually played by the girls, wrestling, boxing, football, gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, and soccer were played by the boys. Intramural tournaments were held yearly for the majority of these sports and the physical education department had an annual demonstration of its activities.

In the fall of 1950 the first “J” sweater were awarded. That year Jefferson took the district championship in baseball, basketball, and golf. In 1951-52 Jefferson won the city championship in basketball and the district in golf, in addition to winning the
ROTC rifle competition.

The first graduation exercise of Jefferson was held in May 1950, when twenty one seniors received their diplomas. The enrollment at that time was only six hundred and fifty. In 1953 almost one hundred seniors received their diplomas, the largest class that had ever graduated. Those graduates are “pure” Jeffersonian, having entered Jefferson as freshmen. Enrollment of the school increased to one thousand and seven hundred. Within the next few years the school is expected to have over two thousand students and to have larger graduating classes.

Many of the graduates of Jefferson attended Texas Western and other colleges. Its graduates have won scholarship and other awards by their high merits in studies, in school service, and in citizenship. Several of the students won awards in historical writing and essays contests and in other fields of scholastic achievement.

Four years later, Thomas Jefferson High School is the second largest high school in El Paso. It has made high achievements in every field. Jefferson was then operating as well as other schools which have been established forty or fifty years.

Other accomplishments over the years: Built the largest gym in El Paso and named it the HR Moye Gym. Bought all the homes on Raynolds street side for parking. Made the “Old Nortena Grocery Store,” an Art Center. Bought the “Old Pilot Home” and used all the rooms for classrooms. Bought the Drug Store and homes on the west side of the campus. Had 3,240 students in the early 70’s. Maxine Silva Magnet School built on the east parking lot.

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