Above - Clothing exhibit for parents' day - 1914.

Below - School shop and sewing class - 1911.

Both in the original Hopedale High School.

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    Twenty-five years ago - August 1992 - President Bush urges the United Nations to approve a military
    intervention in Bosnia and Hercegovina.

    Canada, Mexico, and the United States announce that a deal has been reached on the North American Free
    Trade Agreement; the deal will be formally signed on December 17, 1992.

    Events at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, are sparked by a Federal Marshal surveillance team, resulting in the death of a
    Marshal, Sam Weaver and his dog and the next day the wounding of Randy Weaver, the death of his wife Vicki
    and the wounding of Kevin Harris.

    Hurricane Andrew hits south Florida and dissipates over the Tennessee valley when it merges with a storm
    system; 23 are killed.

    Fifty years ago - August 1967 - Vietnam War – Operation Cochise: United States Marines begin a new
    operation in the Que Son Valley.

    American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell is assassinated in Arlington, Virginia.

    The final episode of The Fugitive airs on ABC. The broadcast attracts 78 million viewers, one of the largest
    audiences for a single episode in U.S. television history.

    Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

    News items above are from Wikipedia. Hopedale news from 25 and 50 years ago (Milford Daily News) and
    100 years ago ( Milford Gazette) can be seen below this text box.

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                                                                Wood Shop and Home Economics

    My memory of wood shop in school goes back to the 1950s. At that time, when we were in eighth grade, which
    was at the Dutcher Street School, half of the class would report to the high school one day a week, and the
    other half would go there on another day. The boys would have wood shop and the girls would have home ec.
    As I recall, we'd all have those classes through our first two years of high school, and some would continue with
    them through the senior year. Boys would also take mechanical drawing in the freshman year. As I type these
    words I'm benefited by my half-year high school typing class with Miss Fanning, and I'm doing it on a
    computer that's sitting on a table I made in the school shop in 1956. The report below is from 1922, in the days
    of the original Hopedale High School on Hopedale Street.

    The course in Domestic Science should be a course in Home Keeping and should be required of every girl
    whatever her station in life or plans for the future may be.

    The course in cooking ought to be such as to teach how to select and prepare the most healthful meals at the
    most economical cost. Economy must be practiced in most homes and should be in all. A course in cooking
    which does not emphasize the health value of foods and discourage extravagance is injurious rather than
    helpful. Our aim is to give the better instruction.

    Knowing how to sew and cook is a small part of the art of Home Keeping. To know what are healthful foods,
    how to make a menu of balanced nutriment values, and to know the economics of buying and using home
    necessities, and how to make a home attractive are all needed for home life.

    A general course in household arts is given the girls of one class in the high school, but since it has but two
    periods instead of five per week, not as much can be done as should be.

    Our seventh and eighth grades are becoming so large that the instructor of this department feels that a
    provision for more periods for the cooking classes must be made next year.

    The sophomore girls at the end of their course in planning and serving meals served a luncheon to the
    school committee which proved to be a successful and enjoyable event.

    Those who complete the course in Mechanical Drawing gain a good practical knowledge in that subject. Just
    how much benefit those who take the work for a short time receive, we are not certain.  This instruction should
    give training in observation, accuracy and imagination which will carry over to other uses. If such instruction
    cannot be gained in the short time the work is taken, it can be of little value. The advanced instruction in
    Mechanical Drawing is limited to those who desire it and will complete the work given.

    The work in Manual Training gives instruction in the use of carpenter's tools and in the making and fitting of
    joints, etc. Some knowledge in reading and working from drawn plans is gained. In these lines our boys are
    receiving good training and are enjoying the work. Carroll H. Drown, Superintendent of Schools, 1922

                                                                    Ezine Menu                            HOME  
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    The original Hopedale High School, where
    the article on this page took place.

Hopedale News - August 1992

Hopedale News - August 1967

Hopedale News - August 1917

Click here to see the walking tour.

    Above - First school shop project, done in eighth grade.

    Right - Cranberry scoop magazine rack done a year or
    two later.