Just Askin’ City’s oldest high school sparks debate

Bebe Hodges

Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY NETWORK

The Enquirer’s Just Askin’ series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, not even Google.

The Enquirer recently caused controversy.

A previous Just Askin’ answered, 'What is the oldest high school in Cincinnati?' Of course, in the Queen City, where high school pride is rampant, the story about high schools caught people’s attention. It also raised some eyebrows.

The story crowned St. Xavier High School the oldest in Cincinnati. St. Xavier beat Woodward High School, now known as Woodward Career Technical High School, by seven days.

But, Woodward isn’t having it.

Question: Is there a debate over the oldest high school in Cincinnati?

Answer: Of course there is. It’s Cincinnati. We bleed high school pride.

Here’s the situation: The Enquirer had reached out to St. Xavier and Cincinnati Public Schools, the district Woodward is in, to inquire which school is the oldest before the original story ran. Only St. Xavier replied.

The story reported both schools opened in 1831. St. Xavier opened on Oct. 17 and Woodward opened on Oct. 24, according to St. Xavier’s Director of Archives Nicholas Kemper.

Cincinnati Public Schools, also known as CPS, got wind of this − and disagreed.

CPS spokesperson Joe Wessels reached out to correct the 'awful rumor' and 'put St. X in its proper (second) place,' he teased.

He pointed to a photo of a school house on the website of the Ohio History Connection, formerly known as the Ohio Historical Society. The photo caption reads 'Opened October 4, 1831. Woodward College (High School) First Building.'

If Woodward opened on Oct. 4, then, sure enough, it’s the first high school in Cincinnati.

But St. Xavier wasn’t going to give up without a fight. Kemper pointed to the record’s date of origin, which is between 1935 and 1943. The record was created as part of the Federal Writers’ Project, a New Deal program, and therefore created more than 100 years after 1831, he said.

He adds we don’t know who the individual is that created this record and where they got the date before typing it on the image. 'An even better source,' Kemper says, is a book published in 1884 by the Old Woodward Club, which Kemper believes is a bunch of former students.

In 'Old Woodward: A Memorial Relating to Woodward High School, 1831-1836, And Woodward College, 1836-1851, in the City of Cincinnati,' there are three different instances that mention the Oct. 24 date.

Kemper said, unlike the photo with the caption, we know who wrote the book, why it was written and exactly when it was written.

'Additionally, the number of details provided in the book are nothing short of astounding,' he said. He later added, 'It’s hard for me to imagine they somehow messed up the opening date for the institution.'

Kemper is open to the idea Woodward opened on Oct. 4, but only if there are more historical sources to back it up. The Enquirer reached out to Wessels and is awaiting a response.

But for now, the debate lives on.

Do you have a question for Just Askin’? Send it to us at localnews@enquirer.com

CARRIE COCHRAN/ENQUIRER FILE

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