A Brief History of
John Adams High School
South Bend, Indiana

This article was compiled and written by Ann Slattery Germano of the John Adams English Department as the introduction of Bringing Back the Memories, a wonderful 96-page book published in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the school (1940-1990). This article is published here with her permission, for which we give thanks. The book has memories of most classes plus other features. A few copies remain. Please see ordering information at the end of the article. The dates in the story and list of principals were figured as of 1990.

Introduction

Aside from sentiment, what might be the point of writing about the past of John Adams, I wondered as I contemplated the task of commemorating the 50th anniversary of John Adams High School in a booklet. As I worked on this project, the answer came slowly but surely out of my own reason for valuing public high school teaching and from the many people who wrote their memoirs of their high school years and those whom my students and I interviewed.

The reason we should pause and reflect at these important points in the history of the school is that the public high school is a microcosm of society - it includes everyone of every race and religion with every possible neurosis, outlook, and opinion. It includes potential parents, office clerks, factory workers, professionals, artists, criminals and every other imaginable identity, and it is within this melting pot they all come together to learn how to get along to produce the abstraction called a school.

High school is also the place where young people are introduced to LIFE. It is their fall from innocence and the first time they begin to understand the interaction between the dark forces of self destruction and the pain of self construction as they and their friends deal with their first adult choices about alcohol, drugs, sex, love, cars, jobs, grades, study habits, higher education, their reactions to evaluation from strangers who do not care about them and to strangers who care more about them than those who love them, and of course ultimately making choices about who they will become and discovering what their own voice means in a world they are constantly creating.

For all these reasons high school memories command a certain poignance and tension that nothing else ever quite attains. High schools in our society reflect the adult world in all its painful imperfections, as well as in all its glory, as these comments from the many members of the John Adams community reveal. We have made a sincere effort to pay John Adams the tribute of not glossing over its tragedies, comedies, weaknesses, and problems to emphasize only its triumphs, strengths and achievements because if we did, we would be telling our alumni and our young people, "What you experienced was invalid because it did not fit the pretty picture."

My students have taught me to value the eccentric because it helps us to value what is buried within each of us that we deem too strange to be accepted by the world. Therefore I have tried to bring you a picture of the eccentricities of John Adams High School, the uniqueness, the experience of being a member of this community, whether it be for one year or for fifty.

The Neighborhood

Many people in the neighborhood might be surprised to know that the original site of John Adams was an apple orchard. Under the leadership of Galen Sargent, first principal of the school, the school opened late on September 30, 1940, partly because it wasn't quite finished but mainly because all the South Bend schools opened late because of a polio epidemic. Russell Rothermel, principal from 1951-67, but a part of the Adams picture since its beginning, first as a math teacher and then later as assistant principal, explains also the origin of the tower, the heart of the building. He tells the story that one of the architects from Maurer and Maurer who designed Adams, had admired a railroad station in Helsinki, Finland, that had a tower and included this in the plan for Adams. The decision to name the school after the second president came about because Lawrence Harwood, a member of the school board, was a student of the original John Adams' history. Harwood noted that in historical accounts Jefferson and John Adams were rivals and later friends, so it was agreed it would be appropriate for the new school, close to Jefferson School and soon to become one of its feeder schools, to be named John Adams. Since it was a patriotic era because of the fervor that surrounded World War II, and since the railroad station had carvings of eagles on it, the decision was to make the school emblem and eagle and the school colors, red and blue.

The school was built as part of a program sponsored by the Federal Works Agency, Public Works Administration, under the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The school has had only four principals, Mr. Sargent, Mr. Rothermel, Virgil Landry, 1967-72, and William Przybysz, 1972 to present. Two of the principals, Rothermel and Przybysz, account for 34 years, which set an indelible print on the school as each had his own unique administrative style, which reflected the era from which each came. Similar to Mr. Rothermel, Mr. Przybysz was a part of the Adams scene for many years before his administration as a teacher and assistant principal.

Students from Adams came from Nuner and Jefferson, which had kindergarten to ninth grades. Since the school was near completion, Grade 10 was taught at the two junior high schools so the juniors could enter the new high school and become its first graduating class in 1942 at 152 strong. Students in the transition years had the option of graduating from Central.

Interested people in the Adams community felt that it might be a good idea for the school to buy the property between the school and the railroad tracks, which at the time was heavily wooded, marshy and a hang out for the street people of the era, who in summer found a mice, cool spot to spend their time. Lynn Dibble Metzger, 1942, tells the story that a notably short-sighted school administrator commented, "We have all the property we could possibly use," a statement which could now be considered ironic, considering one of the major issues of the 80's and early 90's has been parking problems and the irritation of people in the neighborhood toward student drivers, who block driveways, litter tree lawns and squeal tires.

Two places have been constants in the map of the neighborhood around Adams, the G & H diner across the street, which students whimsically called the Gag and Heave, and the Twyckenham Bridge, which has been an object of student graffiti since the 1950's. Bonnie Doon's was a favorite hang out and place to take dates throughout the history of John Adams.

The sidewalks around the perimeter of the school were laid before school, while others were laid during the time of the first addition, but one school legend maintains that Mr. Sargent declared, "Let the kids wear a path, and then we'll lay the cement," which is why the sidewalks form triangles on the front lawn to this day.

John Adams Auditorium

The John Adams auditorium immediately became, in effect, the South Bend Civic Auditorium as various orchestras, theater events, professional and high school sports events, road shows, musicals, etc., used the new facility until approximately 1956. Mr. Rothermel commented that he had to be in school almost every night of the week for various events. Later, Mishawaka and Washington High Schools built auditoriums, while the Palace Theater was transformed into the Morris Auditorium, all of which took the pressure off the Adams auditorium.

Betty Germano, a retired teacher from Mishawaka, active in area music circles, commented that Adams was "the focus of the musical community, a cultural center for the whole area, for many years, which shaped many of our young musicians," a statement proved by the memory of local musicians, who still remember the famous musicians and wonderful music they heard in the Adams auditorium, such as the unique voice of Lottie Lehman, the music of Yussi Bjorle, Ezio Pinza, the opera, "Carmen," the Fred Waring Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, and many others.

Rocco Germano recalled the competition between Jerry Lewis and him over first chair, violin, in the days of the ISTA District Orchestra, which interestingly enough may have influenced both men in their many career achievements in the musical field. Both became the orchestra director at John Adams in different periods in the history of the school. The ISTA District Orchestra and Chorus, comprised of area students, presented a concert at the ISTA Teacher meetings at Adams for many years, a practice which figured prominently in centering musical interest in this area.

Sports fans note that Johnny Wooden, famous UCLA basketball coach and winner of ten NCAA championships coached South Bend Central's basketball team on the Adams floor many times because the basketball tourneys were held there for many years. Oscar Robertson, nationally famous basketball star, played at Adams for his high school, Crispus Attucks. Don Schlundt, All American at Indiana University, played as a Washington-Clay high school player, when Washington-Clay won the sectional in the county tourney in the late 40's on the Adams gym floor.

The Changing Environment

In the years after the building was finished, enrollments increased so dramatically with the baby boomers after World War II that four major additions were completed during Mr. Rothermel's tenure as principal in the 1950's and 60's. The first addition was completed in 1951. The 1956 addition included the math and social studies wing and created the courtyard. The 1965 addition brought the new swimming pool, the business wing facing the new physical education gym, the English and shop areas. Mr. Rothermel noted that the new gym was added to take advantage of girls' sports and other sports expanding, which seems quite visionary for the era.

Since the sixties were an era of huge enrollments (in fact, the largest graduating class, 479, in Adams history was in 1965) alumni remember the boiler room was the site of classes and student council meetings. Study Hall was in the Little Theater, dubbed the Black Hole of Calcutta. The upper level of the cafeteria was in use, and three lunch hours existed: A, B, and C. Teachers remember how some of their colleagues had to move from class to class, and few were able to stay in their rooms during their prep period as every classroom was needed.

The Blanton family was the first and only black family represented at Adams in the early 1940's, when the school opened. Russell Rothermel, recalls that Louie Blanton was also the only student at Adams, who had a car to drive, a Cadillac, and many students vied for the favor of a ride in Louie's car. Minority enrollments continued gradually to increase until they leveled off at approximately 18% in the 70's, which is still the current level. The biggest change that has occurred at Adams in terms of minority enrollments, Mr. Przybysz noted, has been the number of Oriental and Hispanic students who now enter Adams. An English as a Second Language program run by Mrs. Olga Seitz now has a variety of students at Adams, including various refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

During the seventies and eighties, the enrollment gradually began to drop. The first big change in neighborhood came about when the SBCSC created new districts, trying to redress minority imbalances. First, black students from the Perley area were redistricted into the Clay area and then returned to the Adams area. Later an infusion of students from the former Clay area, north of the traditional Adams district, kept the enrollment at an approximate 1200- 1300 throughout the 1980's into the 1990's.

Blizzards and Energy Crisis

Heavy snow storms, severely cold weather and the energy crisis affected the late 70's considerably with school closings and chilly classrooms. Possibly the most memorable weather event in Adams history was the Blizzard of 1977, as huge drifts paralyzed South Bend and closed school for two weeks. As the 76-77 Album noted, "It got to the point when coming to school more than three days in any one week seemed like an unbearable hardship." The Class of 1980, the freshman class during the blizzard, was shocked that January finals existed when they were forced to take their first January finals in their senior year because these winter exams had been canceled due to snow days in their prior school career.

The book Bringing Back the Memories can be ordered from the bookstore at John Adams for $5 plus something for shipping and handling. Call for more information.

John Adams High School
808 South Twyckenham Drive
South Bend, Indiana 46615
Telephone 219-289-288-4655

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