sity of Cincinnati, and a Ph.D. degree from Johns
Hopkins. At a ceremony held at Fort Myer, Vir-
ginia, December 13, 1944, he was awarded the Dis-
tinguished Service Cross, posthumously.
Chaplain Alexander Goode.
The Pennsylvania Germans
THE ART OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS
The homes of the Pennsylvania Dutch were more
colorful than those of any other of the early colonists.
From Europe they brought the gay peasant decora-
tion of their ancestors. They adorned everything they
owned with fanciful birds, tulips, hearts and flowers
in vivid shades of red, green, orange, yellow and
blue. These designs appear on their pottery, their
linens, and their furniture. Especially rich were the
decorations upon the dower chest. Every girl had
one of these in which she stored her precious home-
spun linens, awaiting her wedding day.
Great colorful "hex" signs adorned the barns.
Some firmly believed that these kept witches away
from the cattle. Others no doubt applied them purely
as decorations.
Ornamentation brightened almost everything in
the kitchen. Corner cupboards had painted panels.
Wooden dough trays were decorated. Iron utensils,
cast iron stove plates and firebacks were richly orna-
mented. Tinware was gaily painted. The Pennsyl-
vania Germans loved fancy cakes and cookies and
these were cut in fancy shapes or pressed into dec-
orated molds. Even the butter molds were examples
of skillful wood carving.
This love of embellishment was also apparent in
the Fraktur penmanship of the Pennsylvania Ger-
mans which was an offshoot of the manuscript il-
lumination of medieval Europe. The Fraktur penman,
who was usually the local schoolmaster, wrote out
beautiful birth, marriage, and death certificates
which were framed and hung upon the walls.
REVIVAL OF THE PENNSYLVANIA
DUTCH ARTS
A number of people in York County, cherishing
the rich decorative heritage of the Pennsylvania
Dutch, are at work reviving the traditional arts.
Elizabeth Hoke, of Spring Grove, who has made
an extensive study of all the Pennsylvania Dutch
arts, has recently published a pamphlet giving in-
structions for painting tinware. Margaret Lewis, art
supervisor, has made York school children conscious
of Pennsylvania Dutch design. She is also responsi-
ble for the colorful murals in the Pennsylvania Dutch
Canteen. The Nurses' Aides' room in the York Hos-
pital was decorated in gay Pennsylvania Dutch style
by Mrs. Perle Brysselbout and Mr. and Mrs. Ralph
Gibbs.
Among others, Darrell Kottcamp and Ralph H.
Thomas decorate tinware, furniture and dower chests
in their shops on West Market Street. Mrs. James P.
Paul's original quilt designs based upon Pennsyl-
vania Dutch motifs have been published in full
color in the Ladies' Home Journal and Country
Gentleman and patterns for them have been distrib-
uted nationally.
YORK AS A CENTER FOR PENNSYLVANIA
DUTCH ANTIQUES
York, in the very heart of the old settled Pennsyl-
vania Dutch country, is a center for collectors of
Pennsylvania Dutch antiques. There are fifty-six li-
censed antique dealers in the city. Dealers and ama-
teurs alike are still able to pick up many interesting
items at the auction sales which are so much a part
of the community life.
A Pennsylvania Dutch dower chest.
THE YORK ANTIOUE SHOW
The York Antique Show attracts dealers, decora-
tors, and collectors from all parts of the country. It is
held twice annually; in March and again during Fair
Week at the Y. M. C. A. Auditorium. Furniture shown
includes corner cupboards, high-boys, tables, desks,
chests of drawers, clocks, chairs, settees, cobblers'
benches and stools. Among the varieties of china
displayed are Staffordshire, Gaudy Dutch, Spatter-
ware, Majolica, Lustre, and Dresden, as well as
Crown Darby, Haviland, and Limoges. Since Steigel
glassware was produced in neighboring Lancaster
County much of that is exhibited along with Jersey,
Sandwich, Bristol, and Bohemian glass and the later
pressed glass. Hooked rugs, quilts, coverlets, sam-
plers, buttons, and dolls attract the ladies. Included
The Bride's Quilt, designed by Mrs. James P. Paul, uses
traditional Pennsylvania Dutch motils.
in the hundreds of pieces of antique kitchenware are
butter prints, cookie molds, copper kettles, pewter,
teapots, and firetongs. Jewelry and music boxes are
also featured. Guns and firearms, many made by
'Them that works hard eats hearty" is a Pennsylvania Dutch
proverb still honored in York County.
Loading /or marJcel. Note the variety of produce.
the gunsmiths of early York County, are shown.
Mrs. Mabel I. Renner, an outstanding collector and
writer on antiques, is the founder and director of the
York Antique Show, which is now in its twelfth year.
PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH COOKING
"No better and good cooks can be found nowhere,"
wrote Lewis Miller, of York, a hundred years ago.
"They have plenty of raw materials to cook . . .
beef, veal, lamb, mutton, pork, fish and oysters, poul-
try, eggs, butter, cheese, milk and honey and all
kinds of vegetables and fruits."
These words are as true today as at the moment
they were written. York's hotels feature York County
farm products upon their tables, and their chefs have
adopted as their own many traditional Pennsylvania
Dutch recipes. Bear's Cafeteria is listed in guides to
good eating as one of the few places in the country
where authentic Pennsylvania Dutch cooking may
still be obtained.
Many tasty dishes were perfected by early Penn-
sylvania Dutch housewives through a blending of
good German cooking with the novel ingredients
available in the new country.
Among these are potpie, which is not pie but
squares of rich noodle dough cooked in broth of
chicken or meat; and "shoo-fly pie," which is a
crumb pie. Funeral pie actually is a pie, a combi-
nation of lemon and raisin. Cabbage is prepared as
pepper relish, cole slaw, hot slaw and sauerkraut.
Scrapple, schnitz and knepp (ham, dried apples and
dumplings), vegetables prepared "sweet and sour,"
chicken corn soup, red beet eggs, chow-chow, and
pretzels are all characteristic Pennsylvania Dutch
fare.
Certain foods are traditional at certain seasons
of the year. On Shrove Tuesday, raised doughnuts
called "fastnachts" are eaten, and Christmas is the
season for baking innumerable sandtarts, nut kisses,
gingernuts, and other fancy cookies. Fifty dozen is
considered but a niggardly number for the entertain-
ment of callers over the holidays. Oyster bakes and
sauerkraut suppers are held by social organizations
and churches during the fall and winter months.
The Pennsylvania Dutch proverb, "Them that
works hard, eats hearty," is still relied upon in York
County.
George Striebig, R. D. 2, has "stood market" at this same loca-
tion lor liity-live years.
Old bake ovens in the Ellen Fahs home.
Men, women and children patronize the market.
Mother and daughter confer over a selection ai the stand of
Mrs. H. B. Mariey.
Pussy willows and garden Sowers in season are also sold in
York's markets.
CITY MARKETS
"For supplying and accommodating the citizens
with good and wholesome provisions," reads the
charter of the Colonial market house established in
Centre (now Continental) Square in 1755. Wednes-
day and Saturday were established as market days
and thus early began the trade between the town
and country folk of York County, which has contrib-
uted toward a steady prosperity and a high stand-
ard of living.
Two market sheds, one built in 1840 and one in
1842, stood in the Square until 1887 when they were
torn down to make way for increasing traffic.
At present, York has four markets: the Farmers'
Market (1866), 380 West Market Street; City Market
(1879), 211 South Duke Street; Central Market
(1888), 35-47 North Beaver Street; and the Eastern
Market (1885), 480 East Market Street.
Each market is owned by a corporation and is in
charge of a market master who sees to the renting
of stalls and makes collections quarterly. In the good
old days, market wagons used to be in the Square
at 5 a.m., but the modern farmer arrives at about
8 o'clock and with the help of his wife and daughters
begins setting up his stall. Some families maintain
stalls in three of the city's markets. Probably half of
the stall holders are Dunkards from a community
south of York, where fine fruits and vegetables are
raised. Some sell their own products exclusively;
others also retail out-of-season products trucked in
from Baltimore. With their hair modestly covered,
their naturally lovely complexions untouched by cos-
metics, the young Dunkard girls assist their business-
like mothers. Quaint Mennonite costumes may also
be seen at market.
Business is conducted on the principle of "Good
value given for money received." Produce is kept in
prime condition by constant spraying, and the buyer
is allowed his choice. Often an extra handful, in ac-
cordance with the Biblical injunction to "Give good
measure, packed down and running over" is added.
Rich and poor, old and young, men, women and
children flock in with their market baskets. The big
crowded room is remarkably quiet as each one
concentrates on making the best selection from the
bewildering array of commodities.
On the farmers' stands there are fat chickens and
ducks, garnished with green parsley, fresh eggs,
home-baked cakes, pies and cookies, parsnips, tur-
nips, tomatoes, potatoes and onions and other fruits
and vegetables. Almost all stands show garden flow-
ers in season. In the Spring there are pussy willows
and in the Fall bunches of bittersweet. Stalls spe-
cializing in herbs offer mint, dill, sage and water
cress at a mere 5 cents per bunch. Young plants,
already started are available to gardners. Such typ-
ically Pennsylvania Dutch fare as red beets, pickled
eggs, Lebanon bologna, sauerkraut, cottage cheese,
scrapple, "puddin' " and apple butter are displayed
in abundance. Housewives offer handmade pothold-
ers, aprons, baby garments, braided rugs, and stock-
ing dolls for sale. Visitors from out-of-town delight in
such old-fashioned items as home-made bread and
doughnuts, horehound candy, cinnamon drops, buck-
wheat flour, honey in the comb, horse radish, dan-
delion greens, and home-cured meats. Potato salad,
jellies, baked beans, cooked hominy, and other pre-
pared foods appeal to the busy homemaker.
Around Easter time, the market is filled with the
peeping of baby chicks and the gay yellow of daffo-
dils. At Christmas time, it is fragrant with evergreen
and crowded with prime turkeys.
Besides the stands of the farmers, a typical market
may include the stalls of as many as seven butchers,
three delicatessens, two restaurants and three bak-
ers, as well as a grocery store, and special stalls
occupied by fish and fruit dealers and vendors of
potato chips, candy and pretzels. At all seasons of
the year the markets of York present an ever-chang-
ing panorama of plenty.
Perhaps half the holders of stalls in the markets
as they carry on trade, exchange news, and renew
old friendships, speak Pennsylvania Dutch, as well
as English.
24
EDUCATIONAL
AND CULTURAL
The York Academy in 1850. The masters were university graduates, well versed in classical
learning. A number of them achieved fame in education, science, mathematics and statesman-
ship. Among the alumni of the Academy, founded in 1787, have been some of York's most
outstanding men and women.
Educational and Cultural York
EDUCATION
The first schools in York were parochial schools
connected with various churches and since most of
the early settlers were German, these schools were
conducted in German and text-books imported from
Germany were used. Soon after 1743, the First Evan-
gelical Lutheran Church established a school taught
by Bartholomew Moul in a log building at the rear
of the church. Another log building housed the
school connected with the German Reformed Church.
The Moravian Church also conducted a school in its
church house.
The first English school was opened in 1750 by
William Matthews, a surveyor for the Penns, and
was attended by children of the Quakers and En-
glish Episcopalians.
In 1834, through the influence of Thaddeus Stevens
and others, an act of the legislature made provision
for a system of public schools for Pennsylvania. A
special levy was enacted to pay for these public
schools, but when the collector called upon citizens
for their share of the tax, he was cursed and driven
away if not actually assaulted. This was especially
true of the Germans who preferred to support their
own parochial schools rather than public schools
taught exclusively in English.
However, during the winter of 1834-35, three or
four public school were opened in York. In these
early schools the pupils sat on benches at long, slop-
ing, plank desks built around the walls. The master
cut the quills to serve as pens and "set the copy" for
writing. Spelling was taught from Webster's Blue-
Backed Spelling Book, and the victor in a spelling
match was a local hero or heroine. Arithmetic was
known as cyphering and it was every bright pupil's
ambition to be the first to work out all the sums in
the book. The reader, an English grammar, the New
Testament, and any United States history completed
the list of text-books. Schools were small, the term
lasted only three or four months, and teachers were
paid about $15 a month.
Gradually, after 1848, the parochial schools de-
clined and enrollment in the public schools increased.
In 1870, the first public high school in York was
opened in the Duke Street school building. In 1872,
a high school building was erected on Philadelphia
Street and that year the first class consisting of two
students, one boy and one girl, graduated from the
college preparatory course, the only course then of-
fered. Contrast this with the 753 students graduated
from the college preparatory, general academic,
business education and industrial education courses
of William Penn Senior High School in 1945!
YORK PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Approximately ten thousand pupils attend York's
public schools each day. v_
The program of the schools is adjusted to meet the
needs of each individual child, and the requirements
of the community. It is also designed to instil an
understanding of, and loyalty to our democratic form
of government.
Six years of elementary education, three years of
junior high school and three years of senior high
school are offered. Text-books and supplies are fur-
nished free of charge.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Five thousand elementary school pupils are en-
rolled in twenty-one elementary schools, located
within convenient walking distance of any residence
in York. A friendly, informal classroom atmosphere,
an enrichment of subject matter through projects,
art, music, dramatizations and excursions embody
the best features of modern education, while a
proper emphasis on fundamental subjects is also re-
tained. The child's ability and achievement is scien-
tifically measured through a program of standard-
ized tests. Each pupil is studied as an individual
and his case history goes with him from teacher to
Library period in Madison Elementary School.
teacher. Much attention is given to the health of the
child and physical defects are attended to through
cooperation with local health and welfare agencies.
Elementary school pupils, at an early age, assume
responsibility and leadership in safety squads and
home room organizations.
Franklin Elementary School Annex.
26
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS
York's junior high schools are designed to chal-
lenge the energy and curiosity of teen-age boys and
girls. In addition to formal studies, there are clubs
as numerous and varied as the pupils' interests,
choral groups, bands, and orchestras. Dramatic per-
formances are given each year. Athletics, both inter-
and intramural, give all an opportunity to partici-
pate. Through organized student government, pupils
practice the fundamental principles of democracy.
Hannah Penn, York's first junior high school, was
opened in 1927. In 1931, two more junior high schools
named for famous Yorkers, Edgar Fahs Smith and
Phineas Davis, were dedicated. All buildings are
well equipped and contain excellent shops, labora-
tories, special classrooms, gymnasium, auditorium,
cafeteria, library, and other features of the modern
junior high school.
Phineas Davis Junior High School. Edgar Fahs Smith is built
on exactly the same plan.
WILLIAM PENN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
The William Penn Senior High School with an en-
enrollment of 2,400 is housed in the main building
erected in 1927, the annex erected in 1940, and the
Atreus Wanner Shop Building erected in 1941, con-
stituting one of the most complete and modern high
school plants in Pennsylvania, and representing an
outlay of two million dollars for land, buildings and
equipment.
WAR PRODUCTION TRAINING AT
ATREUS WANNER
The Atreus Wanner Shop Building was erected at
the cost of $60,000, for the purpose of training work-
ers for York's war industries. The federal government
made grants totaling $168,000 for machinery to fur-
ther this program. Actual manufacturing methods
were used on standard machines, and within a pe-
riod of two years $23,000 worth of tools, meeting most
rigid specifications, were made and supplied to in-
dustry and to other vocational schools. For a time,
the shop operated on three shifts, running twenty-
four hours a day. In emergencies when small parts
could not be obtained by local industries, the Atreus
Wanner Shop turned them out and kept war produc-
tion moving.
From July 1, 1940, to January 12, 1945, 3,646 train-
ees, some of them high school students and other
adults, both men and women, were enrolled in the
Wanner Shop, and 2,424 were placed in York's in-
dustries. Such is the reputation of the school that a
number of trainees are sent there from plants, and
are paid while learning. The cooperation of the York
in urn
William Penn Senior High School.
Manufacturers' Association and the Advisory Com-
mittee, with an equal number of representatives from
labor and industry, have given this program excel-
lent support and leadership.
In the industrial education department of the sen-
ior high school, pupils spend half-time in school and
half-time in industrial plants. This cooperative indus-
trial course was launched in York in 1911. Since that
date student-apprentices have earned more than
$700,000 while attending school and 1,105 boys have
been awarded diplomas.
OTHER COURSES
Two cooperative courses are maintained in the
business education department: the cooperative
business course in which students alternately spend
one week in school and one week in offices, and
the distributive education course in which students
spend the morning in school and the afternoon in
stores.
During the school year 1943-1944, 294 students en-
rolled in the three cooperative courses, served sev-
enty-eight employers and earned $100,721.99. Much
of the success of the cooperative plan of education
in York is due to the support of advisory committees
composed of industrialists and businessmen from the
community.
William Penn Senior High School offers also a
general academic and a college preparatory course.
Graduates from the college preparatory section have
made consistently good grades in colleges and other
institutions of a collegiate grade. On the annual
College Night pupils and their parents confer with
representatives of some fifty colleges. As soon as a
student has chosen a college, a member of the high
school guidance department assists him in planning
a course of study to meet entrance requirements.
An annual Vocational Conference is held each
Spring to acquaint students with various vocations
oration, journalism, law, medicine, metal trades,
ministry, music, nursing, radio, salesmanship, secre-
tarial work, social work, teaching, F. B. I., merchant
marine, armed services, and other fields, address
groups of interested students, and answer their
and to aid them in choosing a life work while they
are still under-graduates. Outstanding leaders in
advertising, aviation, banking, beauty culture, com-
mercial art, drafting, dramatics, dress design, en-
gineering, forestry, home economics, interior dec-
questions.
Making precision cutting tools tor milling machines at the
Atreus Wanner Vocational School.
Some ol the $169,000 worfh of machinery in (he Afreus Wanner
Vocational School.
William Penn Senior High School has offered a
course in preflight aviation since 1942 and has
trained many Naval nd Army Air Forces' cadets in
ground school subjects before induction.
HEALTH PROGRAM
The York school district employs two full-time
school physicians, five school nurses, a full-time
school dentist and three dental hygienists. In addi-
tion to this, health and physical education are taught
in all twelve years of the school course.
YORK PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND THE
WAR EFFORT
Teachers and pupils of the York schools were
mobilized for the war effort immediately after Pearl
Harbor.
From December 7, 1941, to March 9, 1945, pupils
in York public schools have sold $1,650,260.85 in war
stamps and bonds, and have collected 1,168 tons of
scrap. During the school year of 1943-44, they col-
lected 925,114 tin cans. In the same year, the wood-
working shop in William Penn Senior High School
made 25,000 beautifully finished items for the lunior
Red Cross to distribute in hospitals and army camps.
The National Education Association sent one of its
editors to observe the activities in the schools and
a four-page article, illustrated with fifteen photo-
graphs, entitled "York Schools Serve in Wartime,"
appeared in the Journal of the National Education
Association for March, 1942.
Outside school hours, teachers have given their
time and energy to rationing. Red Cross, drives for
War Loan and War Fund and to first-aid courses.
TEACHING CURRENT EVENTS
Throughout the school system, one period each
week is devoted to studying the problems of peace.
Weekly news magazines suited to each age level
Girls, too, train tor industry in the Atreus Wanner Vocational
School.
form the basis for these classroom discussions. Li-
brary tables and bulletin-boards are kept up-to-date
with the latest maps, cartoons, pictures, and articles.
Visitors to the York schools have been greatly im-
pressed by the knowledge and intelligent under-
standing which York youngsters have of current
world events.
YORK COUNTY SCHOOLS
Besides York's fine city schools, there are two addi-
tional high schools in the Greater York area: the
West York and the North York High School. Mount
Rose Junior High School offers seventh, eighth, ninth
and tenth grades.
In the county as a whole, there are 274 one-room
elementary schools, 26 two-room elementary schools,
12 three-room elementary schools, 16 four-room ele-
mentary schools, and 21 high schools. Forty-seven
school buses are used for the transportation of rural
pupils.
The office of the county superintendent of schools
is conveniently located in the Schmidt Building on
Continental Square. A Teachers' Institute is held
each fall.
YORK CITY COUNCIL OF
PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATIONS
There are ten thousand pupils in the York Public
Schools and a membership of 6,600 in Parent-Teacher
organizations! Considering that some families have
several children of school age, this approaches very
nearly a 100% enrollment!
This enrollment reflects the active interest taken
by Yorkers in their schools. Organized in the fall of
1921, in the Parents' Room of the Martin Library, the
association has called upon many speakers to aid in
its study of the problems of children today.
The York City Council of Parent-Teacher Associ-
ations assisted in a survey to determine the need for
a child-care center, sponsored the fingerprinting of
all children in the city, has aided in all types of war
and welfare work, and sponsors a summer round-up,
at which children about to enter school are examined
in order that physical defects may be remedied be-
fore school begins.
The objects of the association are: "To promote
welfare of children and youth, in home, school,
church and community; to raise the standards of
home life; to secure laws for the care and protection
of children and youth; to bring into closer relation-
ship the home and the school; to secure for every
child the highest advantages in physical, mental,
social and spiritual education."