For sale is an original framed 1929 High School Class Year Book Print from the Charles E. Emmerich Manual Training High School, Indianapolis, Indiana. This black and white high school print provides an interesting insight into 1920s hair and fashion styles. It’s also odd that the school faculty included a “prophet” and a “will maker”. Picture measures 21 1/2 inches by 18 inches. This unfortunate class graduated probably struggled because they graduated just months prior to the start of the great depression.
On October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday hit Wall Street. Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors. In the aftermath of Black Tuesday, America and the rest of the industrialized world spiraled downward into the Great Depression (1929-1939), the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world. By 1933, nearly half of America’s banks had failed, and unemployment was approaching 15 million people, or 30 percent of the workforce.
On February 18, 1895, 526 students and their teachers marched from the temporary high school to their brand new building in a parade led by new principal Charles E. Emmerich. The new high school was called the Industrial Training School and its educational program was copied by many other schools throughout the country. In 1911, after Mr. Emmerich died, the school was renamed to the Charles E. Emmerich Manual Training High School. In the 1920s and 1930s, Emmerich Manual Training High School students participated in a city-wide contest to design and create model houses. The contest taught the boys about the building trades and encouraged home ownership.
