Latest news with #NicholasKemper
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Just Askin': Is there a debate over Cincinnati's oldest high school? (Of course there is.)
The Enquirer's Just Askin' series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, not even Google. The Enquirer recently caused controversy. A previous Just Askin' answered, "What is the oldest high school in Cincinnati?" Of course, in the Queen City, where high school pride is rampant, the story about high schools caught people's attention. It also raised some eyebrows. The story crowned St. Xavier High School the oldest in Cincinnati. St. Xavier beat Woodward High School, now known as Woodward Career Technical High School, by seven days. But, Woodward isn't having it. Question: Is there a debate over the oldest high school in Cincinnati? Answer: Of course there is. It's Cincinnati. We bleed high school pride. Here's the situation: The Enquirer had reached out to St. Xavier and Cincinnati Public Schools, the district Woodward is in, to inquire which school is the oldest before the original story ran. Only St. Xavier replied. The story reported both schools opened in 1831. St. Xavier opened on Oct. 17 and Woodward opened on Oct. 24, according to St. Xavier's Director of Archives, Nicholas Kemper. Cincinnati Public Schools, also known as CPS, got wind of this − and disagreed. CPS spokesperson Joe Wessels reached out to correct the "awful rumor" and "put St. X in its proper (second) place," he teased. He pointed to a photo of a school house on the website of the Ohio History Connection, formerly known as the Ohio Historical Society. The photo caption reads "Opened October 4, 1831. Woodward College (High School) First Building." If Woodward opened on October 4, then, sure enough, it's the first high school in Cincinnati. But St. Xavier wasn't going to give up without a fight. Kemper pointed to the record's date of origin, which is between 1935 and 1943. The record was created as part of the Federal Writers' Project, a New Deal program, and therefore created more than 100 years after 1831, he said. He adds we don't know who the individual is that created this record and where they got the date before typing it on the image. "An even better source," Kember says, is a book published in 1884 by the Old Woodward Club, which Kemper believes is a bunch of former students. In "Old Woodward: A Memorial Relating to Woodward High School, 1831-1836, And Woodward College, 1836-1851, in the City of Cincinnati," there are three different instances that mention the October 24 date. Kemper said, unlike the photo with the caption, we know who wrote the book, why it was written and exactly when it was written. "Additionally, the number of details provided in the book are nothing short of astounding," he said. He later added, "It's hard for me to imagine they somehow messed up the opening date for the institution." Kemper is open to the idea Woodward opened on October 4, but only if there are more historical sources to back it up. The Enquirer reached out to Wessels and is awaiting a response. But for now, the debate lives on. Do you have a question for Just Askin'? Send it to us at localnews@ This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The oldest high school in Cincinnati may be up for debate
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Just Askin': What's the oldest high school in Cincinnati?
The Enquirer's Just Askin' series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, not even Google. If you've lived in Cincinnati for any time at all, you surely must have noticed the city's fascination with where you went to high school. It's a top-five get-to-know-you question. A 2012 "Cincinnati Magazine" article says our fascination is due in part to the "social shorthand" one's alma mater provides. Many people who grew up in Cincinnati stay here or come back after college. This means when we talk to other home-grown Cincinnatians, we know the high schools they're referring to and the traits, or, er, stereotypes associated with them. Each area high school is known for its particular geography, academic or sports reputation, quirks and traditions. However, only one school can claim that it's been around the longest. Question: What is the oldest high school in Cincinnati? Answer: St. Xavier High School. Barely. The all-boys Catholic high school in Finneytown was founded in 1831 and is the oldest high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, according to a job description posted online by the school more than a decade ago. An article published in The Enquirer in 2006 also says St. X is the oldest school in the area. However, it's a very close call. Another Cincinnati high school opened only seven days after St. Xavier, said Nicholas Kemper, St. Xavier's Director of Archives. Bond Hill's Woodward Career Technical High School, then called Woodward Free Grammar School, opened on Oct. 24, 1831. St. Xavier, then called the Athenaeum, opened a week prior on Oct. 17, 1831. Even though St. Xavier has Woodward beat for the "oldest high school in Cincinnati" title, Woodward has other honors to boast. Woodward is one of the first public schools in the country, according to the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library. Woodward is also the first high school west of the Allegheny Mountains, which extend from Pennsylvania to Virginia. Both St. Xavier and Woodward have changed drastically since they were founded. The Athenaeum was located on Sycamore Street downtown. The school was renamed St. Xavier College early on and served boys ages 12 through 20. At one point, it was a boarding school. In 1919, the older students split off and Xavier University was created in Avondale. The high school stayed downtown for another 50 years, until moving to Finneytown in 1960. Woodward Free Grammar School opened on Franklin Street in Bond Hill, according to the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library. In the 1850s, the school joined the Cincinnati Public School System and was renamed Cincinnati Woodward High School. In the early 2000s, Woodward had two campuses: the Woodward Career Technical High School and the Woodward Traditional High School. Today, only the technical high school remains. Do you have a question for Just Askin'? Send it to us at localnews@ This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Just Askin': What's the oldest high school in Cincinnati?
