The very first La Grange High School yearbook, The Wildcat, was published in 1920, when classes were still held in the old Casino Hall. It was a very nice 45-page paperback yearbook that included a brief school history and numerous high-quality photographs. For unknown reasons, the next school yearbook was not published until twenty-seven years later.
The October 18, 1946, Fayette County Record included a brief notice that the La Grange High School senior class had met in the study hall earlier that week to approve the appointment of the high school annual (or yearbook) staff: Dayne Gau, editor-in-chief; Henrietta Kana, assistant editor, and Virginia Albrecht, business manager.
Additionally, Clara Hermes was elected senior editor. The senior class also chose the annual’s name, Leopard Spots.
In May it was announced that the annuals, which would arrive soon, would cost three dollars. That price had been subsidized with a hugely successful box supper held on April 9th. Later the four drug stores in town, Meyenberg, Hermes, La Grange, and Corner Drug Stores, sold the remaining copies for $2.50.
The 1947 Leopard Spots arrived with an embossed vinyl cover and sported a layout that became familiar to high school students over the following decades. It was dedicated to the LHS football team, which had won the 1946 district championship.
The complete Annual staff included: Doris Reimers, junior assistant editor; Edward Morgan, junior class editor; Naomi Ruth Witt, sophomore editor; Glenn Roy Hausmann, freshman editor; and Virgie von Minden, artist. The annual sponsors were J. R. Jackson and Mrs. Johanna Heise.
C. A. Lemmons was the school superintendent, Owen W. Feist was the high school principal and chemistry teacher. There were eleven other high school teachers. Of those, Johanna Heise, history and German teacher; Fritz Lobpries, coach and biology teacher, A. J. Petrusek, mechanical drawing and shop teacher; Rose Marie Hoefer (later Mayer), plane geometry and algebra teacher; Rosa Meinecke, English; Mrs. Frankie Robson, home economics; and H. C. Giese, general science and history teacher, had long careers at the high school or in the community.
In a tradition that continued for many years, the forty-eight members of the senior class were pictured next to a list of their individual high school activities. Only high school students were included in this yearbook. The Favorites section included Florence Stork, the most beautiful girl; Henrietta Kana, the most popular girl; Leon Sula, the most popular boy; and Cleo Holubec, the best all-around athlete.
Six pages of school organizations, plus sports pages and some snapshots, were followed by a few blank pages for collecting autographs and notes from classmates.
The categories in the Favorites section evolved over the next few years, with Mr. and Miss Yearbook being introduced in 1957 and Mr. and Miss LHS first named in 1965. Glamour shots came and went. Local advertisers helped defray publication costs beginning in 1952.
Senior class baby photos first appeared in the 1960 Leopard Spots. Junior high students were first pictured in 1955, with elementary school students added in 1956. However, for a few years in the late 1950s and early 1960s, only class photos were published for elementary school students.
Summer supplement pages that included spring semester sports and activities were introduced in the late 1960s in order to get the yearbooks printed before school let out for the summer. Most teachers were indulgent for a day or two in May while yearbooks were passed around for autographs.
The Fayette Heritage Museum and Archives collection includes over fifty issues of Leopard Spots and the staff invites you to come in and enjoy them. Currently, there are even a few extra copies on the gift shop shelves.
However, issues from 1951, 1958, 1978, 1995-1999, and most issues after 2003 still need to be donated. FHMA also houses small collections of Bluebonnet annuals from Fayetteville, Bulldog yearbooks from Flatonia, Roundup issues from Schulenburg, as well as Sacred Heart yearbooks.
Times change and desktop publishing has allowed modern high school yearbooks to have more sophisticated layouts.
Yet the early annuals retain a certain charm and keep alive our own cherished memories of time spent in the old red brick schoolhouse on East Travis Street.
Sources
Miscellaneous issues of the Fayette County Record and the La Grange Journal Leopard Spots yearbook collection at the Fayette Heritage Museum and Archives, 855 S. Jefferson, La Grange
