Leschi Elementary School Boys Softball, June 1928, (#053-14)
| Welcome to our Picture Gallery. All the images displayed here on our web site are part of the extensive photograph collection at the Archives. In addition to the brief captions accompanying each photograph is the image number under which is picture is cataloged. We hope you enjoy this special on-line gallery of photographs highlighting historical sports images in the Seattle Public Schools. |
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Leschi Elementary School Boys Softball, June 1928, (#053-14) |
Sports activities have been an integral part of the Seattle Public Schools. In 1904, the Public Schools Athletic League was organized. It acted as a board of control, making all rules of eligibility and competition, settling all protests, furnishing all important trophies, and taking full responsibility for providing judges and other officials for all contests without any expense whatsoever to the Seattle School District. Competitive sports were organized on a club basis by schools. Modeled after the New York Public Schools Athletic League, the Seattle League offered competition in football, track, and baseball. It was administered and funded by private citizens, with one representative of the school system on its Board of Trustees. High school sports were also organized on a club basis, funded by the participants and spectator fees, with football covering the deficit created by the other sports.
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| There was no inter-school competition for girls in the early generations of the twentieth century. Women's sports emphasized healthful recreation rather than developing competitive talent. During the year 1926-1927, playground baseball, tennis, field hockey, volleyball, and basketball were the most popular sports. |
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Some educators had misgivings regarding the schools' involvement in interscholastic sports; the general public did not, however. The public wanted a strong, school-sponsored interscholastic sports program. Sports in the Seattle Public Schools were to be educative and tied to a sense of identification with a particular school. |
| East High School (later renamed
Garfield High School) Frosh Basketball Team, ca. 1920. (#014-33) |
Some information on this page was quoted from: Nelson, Bryce E. Good Schools; The Seattle Public School System, 1901-1930. University of Washington Press: Seattle, 1988.
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