1910s
In 1910, the new gymnasium opened, featuring modern amenities on two levels. The lower level housed a swimming pool, shower baths, dressing rooms, and bowling alleys. The upper level boasted a basketball court with an inclined running track elevated 10 feet above it.
Physical culture (now known as Physical Education) was an essential part of student life. Classes for boys were led by Augusta Hermon, while Harriet Schaeuder instructed the girls. Female students wore gymnasium suits and special shoes for their lessons.
The school’s first boys’ basketball team, coached by Oscar Stabler, the painting instructor, had a modest debut season with a 2-4 record.
In the fall of 1913, the Boy Scout Gallaudet Troop 1 was organized with 27 older boys under the leadership of teacher Elmer Read as scoutmaster. The troop introduced a Color Guard responsible for raising and lowering the flag each day. A year later, the troop was renamed Edgewood Troop 2 and became active in practical projects. They constructed log cabins on the school campus using discarded lumber and began experimenting with electricity in 1915.
The Primary Building underwent significant improvements in 1914:
- Four classrooms, additional dormitory rooms, and two locker rooms were added to both ends of the building.
- The playrooms were expanded.
- Bathrooms and lavatories were relocated from the second floor to the basement.
- Two sun parlors were added to the building’s front.
- The old wooden ramp was replaced with a concrete floor and a set of steps.
On August 8, 1914, the first meeting to establish the Alumni Association of the Western Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf (WPID) was held at Washington Hall in Pittsburgh.
The association hosted its inaugural reunion at WPID from September 1-4, 1914. Its mission was
- To renew and cultivate friendships among graduates and former students.
- To strengthen social and intellectual connections with WPID’s officers and instructors.
- To promote the alumni’s societal standing to more honorable positions.
- To preserve self-respect and improve life conditions.
- To inspire broader perspectives and aspirations.
During World War I in 1916, a food shortage prompted WPSD to transform two acres of the school’s eastern property into a community garden. This initiative helped provide food for at least 30 families in the neighborhood surrounding the school. After the war ended, the community garden was repurposed into a children’s playground in 1920.
The school faced a quarantine due to an outbreak of scarlet fever, which caused the cancellation of a highly anticipated basketball game between WPID (13-0 record) and the Ohio Institution (10-0 record). Despite the setback, WPID achieved its first undefeated basketball season in 1916, finishing with 16 wins and no losses.
In girls’ basketball, the WPID team defeated Ormsby from the Southside with a resounding score of 42-11. The rules for girls’ basketball were unique at the time: each team fielded six players per side, with two playing offensively, two defensively, and two serving as “rovers” who could play both offense and defense across the entire court.
Before the establishment of the Girl Scouts, a group of Wilkinsburg Camp Fire Girls, dressed in traditional Native American attire, visited WPID one evening. This inspired the girls at the school to establish their own Camp Fire organization in 1918.
On December 10, 1913, the first donation to the Rev. John G. Brown Memorial Tablet Fund was made by Mrs. Cecil (Maul) Teegarden, a former pupil. The fund raised $352.54, and the memorial tablet was dedicated and unveiled on September 3, 1917.
This photo was taken in either 1918 or 1919. WPID defeated the Alumni team 8-5 in the school’s first-ever soccer game, held on Thanksgiving Day in 1918. The team was coached by Oscar Stebler, and John Bond served as its captain. Soccer officially became a scholastic sport at WPID the following year.
Dr. Arthur C. Manning joined the school as its first Assistant Superintendent. He taught upper-grade classes in the academic department and brought prior experience as a supervising principal at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.
The school celebrated its fifteenth anniversary on February 15 in the chapel, an event hosted by the Alumni Association. During the second Alumni Reunion in 1918, the first necrology report was delivered—a tradition that continues to this day.
WPID’s second undefeated basketball season occurred during the 1918-1919 school year, with the team achieving a remarkable record of 16 wins and no losses. Harry Slonaker, the team captain, led WPID to an impressive cumulative record of 23-0.