Evening star., 1936-03-29
BY JESSIE FAINT EVANS.

ID JESSIE r fAIN
~ APRIL /, 2 and 8 the plays
to be the thing at Eastern
Y High School.
~ This years Spring play, en-
titled "The Poor Nut" is under the
direction of Miss Pauline Knee of
the schools faculty, with Mrs. Cath
arine Rippard again cooperating with
the costuming, as she has so capably
done for the past eight years.
Original posters, the handiWork OF
students in the schools art depart
ment, are everywhere about its cor
ridors, with their challenge that you
see In person "The Poor Nut" story
of college life. One of the most
striking capitalizes the fact that "the
poor nut" in the play wears glasses,
and cleverly depicts him with the
two o's in poor" Stimulating his op-
tical aids.
Productions Famous.
Eastern's yearly dramatic produc-
tions have justly become famous In
the life of the school and of its
community. This is not because its
faculty of l06 teachers, its student
body of 5000 pupils, with Principal
Charles Hart and the parents, relatives
and friends of those who are vitally
interested, annually meet together to
witness a Spring play. Rather, it is
because this event has identified itself
as medium of self-expression, which
represents the outpouring of many
minds, the labors of willing hands and
feet united in service for a common
ideal-their school. This has made
of Easterns yearly Spring festival
an educational project of great i'm
portance and far-reaching signifi-
cance.
In 1890 the Eastern High School
had its beginning as the Capitol Hill
School, on the third and fourth floors
of the Peabody School, which faces
Stanton Square. Established by Con-
gress to provide the advantages of a
high school for the increasing num-
Der who we're demanding them from
this section of the city, it proceeded
to draw attention to itself in the
very first year of its existence under
Principal C. M. Lacy Sites by car
rying of first prize in the competitive
drill
Given New Home.
Within two years, so rapid was the
growth of this new high school that
Congress housed 1t in what was then
considered the last word in high school
equipment. The site chosen was one
within the square on Pennsylvania
avenue between Seventh and Eighth
streets southeast, which was already
partly occupied by two graded schools,
the Wallach and the Towers. Thus
was justified the vision of Mayor
Wallach, for whom the Wallach
School was named, when, shortly after
the Civil War, he boldly said in re-
gard to the sites selection for school
purposes, We'll take the whole square
and grow up to 1t in time"
In its new location the school was
designated as the Eastern High School.
Continuing its luSty growth apace,
the Eastern High School had so COM
pletely outgroWn its quarters that
in the Spring of 1926 it found itself
proudly marching to its present loca-
ton and what seemed sufficiently
commodious accommoda tions for many
years to come. Yet today, such is its
burden of student traffic, with its en-
rollment of 5000 pupils, that it is
necessary to run the school in two
shifts, morning and afternoon.
From the very beginning OF its
school life its pupils seemed to gravi-
tate toward honors. Five years in
succession George Washington Uni
versity's coveted competitive Kendall
scholarship was won by Eastern High
School graduates. A larger per-
centage of its graduates were ad-
mitted to the city's training school
for teachers than was the case with
other high schools when admission
was made upon the basis of COM
petitive examina ton.
Socrates Maupin and Henry Dodson
of Eastern gave their lives with valor
for their country in the Spanish
American War. Henry Leonard's S
heroism during the Boxer Rebellion
in China is a cherished memory. De-
batting societies in many colleges and
universities throughout the United
States won victories over rival teams
with debaters trained under the stu
dent leadership of James Berry, Edgar
Barnes, Dickinson Hoover, Ray Hell.
ton and the late William w. Bride.
AS long ago as 1897 dramatics -four
ished under the direction of Mrs. E. r.
Walton and Miss May Dean. Wallace
Worsley and Laura Eichelberger. two
members of an early cast of The Ri
vals," won professional fame for them
selves on the American and English
stage.
Rhetoricals Inspire Ease.
Many a graduate owes his or her
present platform ease to the Friday
afternoon rhetoricals which were a
feature of its assemblies at old East
ern. now used as the Hine Junior
High School. Here, under the tutelage
OF the beloved English teacher, Miss
Ida Daily, one learned the unforget-
table maxim: Ideas speak for them
selves with suitable preparation.
Words are but empty things at best
and pitiable useless when they con-
stitute ones only dependence" Upon
such an occasion I remember as if it
were yesterday the deaths I nearly
died trying to deliver few remarks
concerning John Marshall. apropos of
the famous jurist's natal day.
Easterp's alumni affectionately re-