High School, Raleigh, N.C.
Our Flashback Friday postcard this week depicts a rare view of a long-lost Raleigh landmark — Raleigh High School. This was Raleigh’s first public high school, and was erected on W. Morgan St. between the city water tower and First Presbyterian Church in 1907.
Notice the stamp position — Following a popular practice of the early 20th century, the placement of the stamp represented a coded message from the sender to the recipient. In this case, sideways, head to the left, signifies “I promise not to leave you.”
Feb. 27/11
Shall mail Betterment pamphlet this week. Have also a leaflet in preparation. Our stereopticon is a gem & is very popular in the rural schools. Know of $700 that has been made within last month at small schools. Love & good wishes.
E. R.
I wonder if ‘E.R.’ was a traveling salesman of the period, writing home to his sweetheart back in Ithaca, NY. A ‘stereopticon’ was an early type of “magic lantern,” or slide projector, fitted with double lenses so that one projected image appears to dissolve into the next as it is forming, thus producing a narrative visual presentation.
This ‘Phoenix’ stereopticon was made by the McIntosh Co. of Chicago.
McINTOSH BATTERY & OPTICAL COMPANY
American lantern and slide manufacturers, founded in the 1880s by the Civil War physician Dr Lyman D. McIntosh. The company, in later years trading as the McIntosh Stereopticon Company, manufactured medical devices and a wide range of sciopticon lanterns and school lanterns. They also offered gas-making apparatus, lantern accessories and slides. (1880s-1930s)
Raleigh’s First Public High School
Even after the establishment of the Raleigh public school system in 1876, secondary education could be obtained only through private schools. Realizing the need for college prep in the 20th century, the school board established Raleigh High School in 1905. They invited the respected local educator, Hugh Morson, headmaster of the private Raleigh Male Academy, to serve as principal. (Washington School, established as a private school in 1869, was reorganized by the school system in 1916 as the public high school for African American students.)
The imposing brick building seen in this week’s postcard was built on W. Morgan St in 1907. It consisted of eight classrooms, an auditorium, administrative offices and an extensive basement. The enrollment in 1908 was 500 students.
During the influenza epidemic of 1918-19, Raleigh’s public schools were closed, and the high school building was commandeered as a quarantine sanitarium for flu victims. Following its return to educational purposes, a large seven-room annex was added in 1922 to accommodate a rapidly growing student body.
A New Horizon
By the mid ’20s the school board realized the 20-year old Raleigh High School building could no longer accommodate the city’s high school-age student population. The board contracted with South Carolina architect C. Gadsden Sayre in 1923 to design four modern public school buildings, including a new Raleigh High School and a new Washington High School. Five years later they hired architect William Henley Deitrick to design a second high school facility for white students.
Raleigh High School was later renamed in honor of its first principal, Hugh Morson, and the ‘second’ Raleigh high was named Broughton High School, after local social activist and promoter of public education, Needham Broughton.
Sadly, after more than 40 years of service, Morson High School was demolished in 1966. In this century, Broughton High has been designated a  Raleigh Historic Landmark.
This double-view, linen-finish postcard depicting Raleigh’s Morson and Broughton high schools was printed by Curt Teich of Chicago in the 1930s.
Epilogue
The Raleigh school board continued to use the old Raleigh High School building for educational purposes until it was closed permanently in 1929. For a few years thereafter, it was occupied by the Salvation Army as a dormitory. The aging building was ravaged by two fires in the early 1930s, and the remaining part was sold for $200. The NC Education Association later occupied the site until the early 1980s. Today, the site of Raleigh’s first high school is occupied by the entryway to First Presby’s parking lot.
Our Flashback Friday postcard this week was published by Raleigh stationer Edward F. Pescud. It was printed by the Albertype Co. of Brooklyn, NY.
The Albertype Co. Â 1887-1952
205 (260) Adams Street, Brooklyn, NYAdolph and Herman Witteman had worked as printers and publishers since 1867. They first started printing postcards under the Albertype trademark in 1890. Their collotype cards were printed in the United States. They went on to became a major publisher of view-cards, ultimately producing about 25,000. Their postcards were not numbered; the Albertype name appears within the stamp box on their early cards. When the divided back postcard was federally authorized, the Albertype company created a line down the back of their cards with the words Post Cards of Quality, and later with The Finest American Made View Post Cards. Many publishers printed cards though the Albertype Co. They were purchased by Art Vue Post Card Company in 1952.
“Flashback Friday†is a weekly feature of Goodnight, Raleigh! in which we showcase vintage postcards depicting our historic capital city. We hope you enjoy this week end treat!
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04/04/2014
Thank you for that history lesson! I’d never heard of Raleigh High School and I didn’t know that about a sideways stamp.
04/04/2014
My grandfather, a native of Camden Co. in NE area of NC, graduated w/ honors from UNC in 1912 with a degree in history. Couldn’t decide if he wanted to be an attorney or a teacher–taught history for 2 years at Raleigh High School while also working in his spare time as a clerk/intern/whatever at a local law firm. Back then, one could sit for the bar exam after working X number of hours under the supervision of a licensed attorney in lieu of going to law school. My grandfather went this route, passed the bar exam and practiced law in Raleigh from 1914 til the day he died in 1961…with time out to serve in US Army during WWI. Thanks for this bit about RHS; although I’d heard of it, I had no idea it was such an impressive looking structure.
05/20/2022
Someone could possibly correct me here. They may well still be in use… if at Broughton and the old school auditorium still be in the main building. The seats of the Raleigh High School Auditorium were moved to either Hugh Morson Jr High School or Needham B Broughton High School. The end seats had wrought ironwork and in that design was a capital R… I was told the R because they were salvaged from the old Raleigh High School.
I just can’t remember if at the time I was at Broughton or during the period I was at Morson. I “graduated” Morson Jr High it’s last year. Morson definitely one of the schools everyone should be blessed attending. Such a cool school… 3 years, perfect attendance. Truly liked that school. A great model for education.