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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

100 years ago in Spokane: North Central High School girls vote for stricter dress code

Girls at North Central High School voted overwhelmingly to restrict their dress code, the Spokane Daily Chronicle reported on May 28, 1919. The newspaper also reported that the Spokane Chamber of Commerce receveived a letter from the war department saying that World War I soldiers who still hadn’t finished high school would be home in time to start school again in September. (Spokesman-Review archives)

Girls at North Central High School voted overwhelmingly in favor of a restrictive dress code.

The topic had been well-covered by the Spokane Daily Chronicle over the previous several weeks as the topic was debated.

The final vote was 654 to 74.

The purpose, according to the Chronicle, was “to promote simplicity, modesty, good taste and inexpensive clothing.”

The girls’ adviser, Jessie Gibson, said she wasn’t surprised by the vote.

“The majority of the girls in the school have regulated their manner of dress since the matter has been discussed this spring,” she said.

From the education beat: In response to its inquiry, the Spokane Chamber of Commerce received a letter from the War Department assuring officials that World War I soldiers who still hadn’t finished high school would be home in time to start school again in September.

From the movie beat: An actress and photographer filming “The Whitman Massacre” were killed in a bus crash in Portland.

The bus was carrying actors and other people making the movie to a location on the Clackamas River where the film was scheduled to be filmed.

Actress Edna Gaynor, 17, and photographer George C. Held were killed.

Five other members of the film team were injured but were expected to survive.

The movie about the killing of missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman moved forward and was released later in the summer as “In the Land of the Setting Sun.”

From the jail beat: Lillian Davis, the 19-year-old “mystery girl” accused of stealing a diamond lavalliere and a cloak would go on trial in June for grand larceny.

Davis, who had been staying at the YWCA, was arrested in April and claimed to have rich relatives and that her father was a wealthy promoter of Juneau, Alaska, but investigators had trouble verifying her story.

Jim Kershner is on sabbatical.