The Ohio legislature incorporated Cleveland, Ohio, as a city in 1836. Cleveland's city council appointed a board of managers to organize a tax-supported school system. By 1837, two schools had been constructed in each school district to accommodate 800 students in a single-sex environment. By 1842, Cleveland boasted 15 public schools for1,200 students. Despite overcrowding, inadequate facilities, and budgetary constraints, educational progress occurred, including uniform textbooks, teacher training, and a common curriculum despite class background. In 1846, Cleveland opened Central High School, the first public high school west of the Allegheny Mountains. By 1859 the Cleveland school board was an elected body. At the end of the Civil War, Cleveland's public schools educated over 9,000 students each year, and a system of primary, middle, and secondary schools was established. During the 15-year post-war period when Andrew Rickoff served as superintendent, enrollment soared to over 26,000 pupils, single-sex education was abandoned. Overcrowding remained a persistent problem, however.
The Cleveland, Ohio, School District Records, 1836-1867, consist of minutes from annual meetings and school board election results for District 1 of the Cleveland Public Schools.
This collection is valuable to researchers studying the early history of public education in the United States in general and Cleveland, Ohio and East Cleveland, Ohio, in particular. Those interested in school board elections in the nineteenth century will find this collection useful.
The collection is arranged chronologically.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 10 Cleveland, Ohio, School District Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of H. H. White, 1919.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.