100 years ago in Spokane: School district expands night classes for girls

From our archives, 100 years ago

Lewis and Clark High School’s night class schedule included – for the first time in its history – classes in salesmanship for girls.

For girls, Miss Florence Hall was planning to teach department store salesmanship. For men, John A. Houston would teach general salesmanship. In another first, physical training for girls would be offered by a Spokane Public Schools P.E. teacher.

“The class is designed to meet the needs of working girls who have scant opportunity for exercise,” the paper said.

Other classes on the schedule included shorthand, typing, home economics, woodworking, machine shop, forge-and-foundry, English, Spanish and architectural/mechanical drawing.

Classes in “history, civics, algebra, geometry and chemistry” were dropped “because of small demand.”

From the “Personal” column: The Spokesman-Review ran a daily “Personal” section in the classified ads. On this day, it included one ad from a “bachelor of neat appearance,” who wished to meet “a young widow or working girl, object matrimony.”

Another “young man with good health and good character” said he would like to “correspond with a young lady, between 17 and 21, object matrimony.”

Then there was an ad from a “widow, 28, worth $30,000, would marry.”

The most poignant ad was for “a young baby boy for adoption.”