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Prairie City High School, circa 1914, in Jasper County, Iowa??

This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series "Roberts Family Photo Album, circa 1910-1920s."
#42- Is this Prairie City High School in Prairie City, Jasper County, Iowa? This image may be from about 1914.

Roberts Family (Click for Family Tree)

More pictures without names to identify them! While frustrating, it is a sort of fun puzzle, trying to fit dates and places and people together. Thankfully many of the images were together in photos albums, so that helps us to at least group some of the images together, tentatively, of course. Whether we ever determine exactly who is who in the images, we still know they are related to our family, and they are a glimpse into the life of out family, whether at work on a fam, gathering with family, or studying at school. We do ask your help if you can ID any of these people or places, or know someone who can. Please let us know in the “Comments” or “Contact Us” section of the blog! Even an ‘educated guess’ can steer us toward more research and understanding.

Here is another view of this large building:

#43- Is this Prairie City High School, Prairie City, Iowa, about 1914?

We believe this may be PCHS because this photo was found with other Roberts family treasures:

#44a- “Prairie City High School, Nov. 1914” group picture; Edith ROBERTS (later McMURRY, then LUCK) is 2nd from the right, kneeling, in second row. [Click to enlarge.]
This image looks very similar to the doorway seen in picture #43 above, and the windows look similar although it is hard to tell if there is another window behind the tree in the building picture.

And then we turned over this picture…

#44b- Reverse of Prairie City High School group photo. Written in pencil in what appears to be the writing of Edith Roberts.

This was not written in recent years- note how the extender of the ‘g’ in “High” has cracked with the board. More recent IDs on the Roberts pictures are in pen. This also looks similar to other handwriting we believe to be Edith’s in her younger years- it got much more difficult to read as she aged!

#43- Edith ROBERTS on right with unknown friend in front of building that may be Prairie City High School, circa 1914.

The following was an image in the same photo album as the large building and high school pictures:

#44- PLAY BALL!! Unknown student likely from Prairie City High School (see shirt) baseball team, circa 1914.

Could this young man be a Prairie City High School (see shirt) baseball team member, circa 1914? People back then did not wear shirts with big logos generally, unless as part of a sports team.

#45- Three young women- or two young women with a teacher? that appear to be in front of Prairie City High School about 1914.

The above image seemed similar to the larger building front steps, but then we noticed the columns. Maybe we just can’t see them on the smaller picture of the large building? Or perhaps this is another part of the building- or even somewhere completely different. Edith did attend the State University of Iowa in Iowa City (now the University of Iowa), so perhaps this is later than high school.

To throw a wrench in all this surmising, here is a photo from the same album:

#46- Edith ROBERTS, far right, standing, with a school group. “1920 P C” is on the sign.

What? How is this group from 1920, and why does it say “P C”? We know Edith graduated from Prairie City High School in 1918, so is this a group at college of students from Prairie City? Or a group at college in a club, such as a debate team? Or is this a group that came back to PCHS for a reunion in 1920? This part of the building does not have a high foundation like the above large building pictures, but it could have been taken at a part of the building that was not raised as much.

This image was under the above on the album page:

#47- Edith ROBERTS, farthest left, with school group, probably her physical education class, possibly circa 1920.

Was this taken in Prairie City when Edith was in high school, or once she got to the State University of Iowa? We have no clues, other than it being under the image that states 1920 was the year, but there is that confounding “P C” on the above sign.

We would truly appreciate any information that could help us identify some of these images. Please add a “Comment” or use our “Contact Us” page if you know anything about these bygone days. Your message will wait for approval and your email address will never be visible to others visiting the blog, only the website administrator who vows to never use it other than to reply to you.

Thanks for looking and pondering with us!

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. The numbers by the photos are for reference since we do not know many of the people in this album.
  2. “Roberts Family Photo Album” circa 1910-1925 or so. Images may have been taken in Jasper County, Iowa.
  3. “Mystery Monday: The Children of Mary Jane (Roberts) [French] Blount” https://heritageramblings.net/2016/05/16/mystery-monday-the-children-of-mary-jane-roberts-french-blount/
  4.  “Edith M. Roberts and the Prairie City High School Class of 1918” https://heritageramblings.net/2021/11/15/edith-m-roberts-and-the-prairie-city-high-school-class-of-1918/

 

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