Descriptive Summary
Main Avenue High School Alumni Association
Main Avenue High School Alumni Association Records
1921-1938, 1979-1999
Materials are in English.
MS 145
3.1 linear feet (about 2,300 items)
University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections
The Main Avenue High School Alumni Association was organized around 1979 to plan the 50th Anniversary reunions of the graduating classes of 1930-1932. Mary Carr-Paschal (Class of 1930) and Ben Shaver (Class of 1931) were the founders of the Main Avenue High School Alumni Association and Carr-Paschal served as one of the principal officers of the Association.
The collection includes information about the school alumni associations and people connected to the Main Avenue High School Alumni Association. Items include correspondence, news clippings, yearbooks, alumni catalogs, alumni lists and addresses, flyers, photographs, newsletters, newspapers, meeting minutes and memoranda, programs and invitations, reports, song lyrics, cheers, and original poems and essays.
Historical Note
The Main Avenue High School Alumni Association was organized around 1979 to plan the 50th Anniversary reunions of the graduating classes of 1930-1932. Main Avenue High, originally San Antonio High School, was established in 1882 to accommodate the growing number of school-age children in San Antonio, Texas. The school was rebuilt and renamed Main Avenue High (to reflect its street name) in 1917. The only other secondary school in the city at that time was Brackenridge High. Main Avenue and Brackenridge formed an intense rivalry, which later turned into friendship when both schools' alumni associations cooperated on alumni events for students from the graduating classes of 1929-1932. The alumni association of Brackenridge High was called the Mid-Thirties Alumni Association, which sometimes worked with Main Avenue on alumni events. In 1932, Main Avenue High became Fox Technical High School, the city's first vocational school; the newly opened Thomas Jefferson High School offered an academic curriculum to former Main Avenue students.
Mary Carr-Paschal (Class of 1930) and Ben Shaver (Class of 1931) were the founders of the Main Avenue High School Alumni Association and Carr-Paschal served as one of the principal officers of the Association. She was the Association's Newsletter Editor and also Alumni Historian. Carr-Paschal was primarily responsible for establishing contact with alumni and orchestrating alumni events.
Scope and Content Note
The Main Avenue High School Alumni Association Records document the efforts of two alumni to reconnect with classmates from the graduating classes of 1930, 1931 and 1932. The collection includes information about the school alumni associations and people connected to the Main Avenue High School Alumni Association. Items include correspondence, news clippings, yearbooks, alumni catalogs, alumni lists and addresses, flyers, photographs, newsletters, newspapers, meeting minutes and memoranda, programs and invitations, sign-up and reservation forms, reports, song lyrics, cheers and original poems and essays.
Noteworthy items include Main Avenue High commencement programs from 1921, 1925, 1928 and 1930, yearbooks for Main Avenue and Brackenridge, two unique newspaper publications of Main Avenue's El Huisache, a panoramic reunion photograph by local photographer E.O. Goldbeck, and extensive obituary documentation. Main Avenue High School Alumni Association correspondence includes notes and letters from alumni detailing the lives and deaths of former students, information which was later summarized in the alumni newsletters. There are also biographical materials, notes and certificates that belonged to Mary Carr Paschal.
Access Restrictions
This collection is housed at UTSA's Main Campus and must be accessed via the John Peace Library Special Collections reading room. To request access, please use the Collections Request Form.
Usage Restrictions
Permission to publish material from the Main Avenue High School Alumni Association Records must be obtained from University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections or the appropriate holder of copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Main Avenue High School Alumni Association, 1921-1999, MS 145, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.
Acquisition Information
Donated by Mary Carr-Paschal and Ben Shaver, 2003 and 2004.
Processing Information
Processed by Ancelyn Krivak and Heather Kuhn, Interns, July 2006.
Index Terms
Organizations
Main Avenue High School (San Antonio, Tex.)
Main Avenue High School (San Antonio, Tex.)--Students--Yearbooks.
Subjects
Alumni and alumnae.
High schools--Texas--20th century.
School yearbooks--Texas--San Antonio.
Locations
San Antonio (Tex.)--History--20th century.
Genres/Formats
Correspondence.
Minutes.
Newsletters.
Yearbooks.
Photographs.
Local Subjects
Clubs and Organizations
Education/Educators
San Antonio History
Detailed Description of the Collection
Ben Shaver11Correspondence, 1980Brackenridge High School12News Clippings, 1990-19911Yearbooks13La Retama, 193714La Retama, 1938George Cox15Correspondence, 1986Fox Technical High School16Catalog, Fox Tech Archives, 1983Main Avenue High School17Alumni Catalogs, 1979-19912Alumni Lists21Alumni Sheet Lists with Addresses, 1994-1996 and undated22Alumni Sheet Lists without Addresses, 1980-1983 and undated71Alumni Index Cards with Addresses, undated81Alumni Index Cards with Addresses, undated23Association Letterhead24Correspondence, 1979-198225Correspondence, 1984-199331Correspondence, 1994-1997 and undated32Event Coordination, 1980-1982, 1993-199533Flyers,199034Meeting Attendance Sheets, 1982-199935Meeting Minutes and Agendas, 1979-199436News Clippings, 1979-1996 and undated37Newsletter Drafts and Mock-ups, 1980-1991 and undated41Newsletter Drafts and Mock-ups, 1980-1997 and undated42Newsletters, 1980-198843Newsletters,1988-199844Newspapers- El Huisache, 1925-192845Obituaries, 1984-1999 and undated46Officers and Bylaws, 1982-1989 and undated4Photographs4750th Reunion Committee, 1980-198148Black and White Annual Reunion Photographs, undated51Color Reunion Photographs, undated52Color Reunion Photographs, undated53Mary Carr-Paschal and Friends, 1978-1991 and undated54Photograph Album, 198055Programs and Invitations, 1921-1933, 1985-199056Reunion Sign-Up and Reservation Forms, 1981-199357Songs, Cheers, Poems and Essays,1989-1990 and undated58Treasurer's Reports,1981-199259Yearbooks- El Sombrero, 1931Mary Carr-Paschal61Biography and Notes, 1981-1982, 1995-1996, and undated62Certificates, 1963, 198263Correspondence, 1980-199764Correspondence, 1979-1997 and undated65News Clippings, 1979-1989Mid-Thirties Alumni Association66Correspondence, 1982, 198667Newsletters,1984-1987Thomas Jefferson High School68Class of 1932 50th Reunion Alumni Catalog,
1982