Syracuse Central High School was founded in 1903 to replace the 1867 Syracuse High School facility located near the old Board of Education Building in Syracuse, New York. The new high school, designed in 1899 by Archimedes Russell to accommodate 1,500 students, was erected in 1903 at the intersection of South Warren and Adams streets, south of the business district of downtown Syracuse. The high school operated under the name Syracuse Central High School from 1903 to 1960 and later as Syracuse Central Technical High School. In 1975, the high school officially closed after the graduation of the senior class. Even though the high school has been vacant since 1975, the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1981.
The Syracuse Central High School—or “Central Tech”—collection is a recent acquisition of Onondaga County Public Library’s Department of Local History and Genealogy. The collection was gathered, compiled, and managed by Nicholas C. Nett, a 1952 SCHS alumnus. Nett created the collection to preserve the cultural heritage of the currently defunct high school. Nett expected to donate the collection when the School reopened as The Institute of Technology @ Syracuse Central. However, those plans never materialized and Nett subsequently donated the expansive collection to OCPL in 2009.
Nett did significant outreach to SCHS/Central Tech alumni to obtain their personal school memorabilia and academic records. The collection contains a diverse array of materials relating to the history of the high school and the educational and extracurricular activities of its students. Items of interest include report cards, diplomas, photographs, student publications, clippings, banquet programs, dance cards, class rings, pins/buttons, and other unique ephemera. Link to A History of Syracuse Central by Nicholas C. Nett
The collection comprises archival materials relating to the history of Syracuse Central High School and the academic and extracurricular activities of its students. Items date from 1885 to 2004, along with numerous undated materials. There are six main categories of the collection: academic records, class year materials, special events, extracurricular activities, student societies, and school-related materials. Each series is organized into narrower subseries and then arranged chronologically.
Series 1: Academic Records
This series contains documents belonging to individuals who attended and graduated from Syracuse Central or Central Tech High School. Subseries including report cards, awards, and diplomas provide valuable information for genealogists, while the curriculum materials are a valuable source of information on the history of education in Syracuse. Most of the items presented here contain the names of SCHS/Central Tech alumni. Date coverage is from 1888 to 1967.
Series 2: Class Year Materials
This category includes a variety of subseries ranging from class photographs and reunion pictures to senior memories booklets. Senior memories booklets are a collection of name cards, often with personalized notes or signatures on the back. This series also contains graduation materials like commencement exercises, as well as invitations and programs from various convocation ceremonies. The memorabilia subseries includes class rings and pins, mostly from the 1940s. Date coverage is from 1885 to 1975. However, not all class years are represented.
Series 3: Special Events
The Special Events series contains abundant dance and prom ephemera, such as dance tickets, event announcements, and clippings. These unique items span six decades of the school’s history. Also included are items from a 1945 memorial held at Lincoln Auditorium to commemorate the SCHS students who perished in World War II.
Series 4: Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular Activities includes athletics, the school newspaper, student
government, and music and drama organizations. These groups and organizations were
prolific and popular from the turn of the century until the closing of the school in
1975. However, the items in the collection only extend until the mid-1960s.
Athletics provide a wide range of items from varsity letters, play books, and game
stubs to clippings, photographs, and school fight songs. The Music and Drama
organizations provide sheet music and playbills from many different productions. The
Student Government subseries includes hallway passes, election announcements, and
student handbooks. The School Newspaper items include clippings, certificates, and
awards. OCPL holds a separate collection of the student newspaper
Series 5: Student Societies
The Student Societies series includes the Senate, along with sororities popular at SCHS through the mid-twentieth century. These organizations, especially the Lyceum and Philomathean societies, were extremely popular with students. Many of the items pertain to events held by the organizations and range from hand-written invitations to handmade rush booklets with creative themes like ski-pants and stockings. Some clubs contain unique society jewelry like rings and pins. Group portraits, included in almost all subseries, contain the names of club members and are an invaluable resource for genealogists.
Series 6: School-Related Materials
This series contains a subcategory devoted to the high school building itself; items include room numbers, postcards, and clippings. Also featured in this series is numerous school memorabilia. Items include school notebooks, pins and buttons, a tablecloth, school banners, passes, and nametags. Additionally, menus from local restaurants that students frequented are featured in this series. Miscellaneous photographs, both identified and unidentified, are included. Date coverage is from the 1900s to the 1960s. Lastly: Link to list of Lincoln Auditorium Programs, 1930 - 1976. Link to list of Yearbooks, 1909-1975. Link to Teacher Roster, 1854 – 1975, Link to a list of Syracuse Central High School Enrollment, 1903-1975
The collection is arranged into series based on broad subject categories like academic records, class year materials, special events, extracurricular activities, student societies, and school-related materials. Series are further divided into subseries, specifying particular organizations, clubs, and events. Within each subseries, items are arranged into folders by form or genre (correspondence, clippings, ephemera, etc.) and then in chronological order.
The Local History and Genealogy Department has other archival materials of Syracuse
Central High School, most notably, the school newspaper,
Patron must have a valid OCPL library card.
User must use materials in the Local History and Genealogy Department of
OCPL.
Permission must be obtained from staff for reproduction of any
materials.
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Syracuse Central High School Collection
Onondaga County Public Library
Local
History and Genealogy Department
MS-1
Gift from Nicholas C. Nett to Onondaga County Public Library