1911—World War II
The cornerstone of the school was laid on 21 January 1911 in a ceremony presided over by a local lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons (part of the newspaper story reported the group to be the Knights Templar).[7] The 22 member class of 1911 graduated from the building, even though the school would not be completed until July.[8]
From even its early days, students were no stranger to protest. In May 1913, in retaliation for what students claimed were "harsh methods", an effigy of the principal, J.E. Witmer, was hung from the telegraph wires in front of the school. After the principal removed the effigy in the early evening, another was hung from the flagpole on top of the school. When signs were found painted on the sidewalk in front of the school the next day, the local marshal took every male in the senior class into custody, ordering them to remove the signs under threat of arrest.[9] The next year, 110 students walked out on strike when the principal refused to grant a holiday for Columbus Day.[10]
In October, 1915, the school district began the process of selling US$50,000 in bonds for the purpose of expanding the school.[11]
In 1929, work began on a new school building. A bond issue was approved by voters in June, though a lawsuit filed by some local taxpayers led to an injunction blocking the bond issue after construction had begun.[12] The new school construction was eventually completed.
In November 1936, voters in the district approved a bond issue, in conjunction with funding from the Public Works Administration, for the construction of a fieldhouse.[13] The fieldhouse, including a swimming pool, was completed in 1938.[14]
World War II—1950s
The outbreak of World War II brought almost immediately bad news to the school. Several of their alumni had been a part of anIllinois National Guard unit (Baker Company, 192nd Tank Battalion). The unit had been activated by the U.S. Army in 1940, and was caught in heavy fighting in the Philippines. Of the 137 members of the company that were killed or captured while defending the islands against the Japanese invasion, 52 of them were alumni.[15] Those not killed were forced to participate in the Bataan Death March.[16] Starting in September 1942, and for every September since, the loss to the community has been commemorated.[17] In the end, 191 alumni were killed in the war.[18]
There were several changes to the school as a result of the war. A pre-flight aeronautics class that was open to both young men and women. Ostensibly, the course was designed to reduce training time for future military pilots.[19] Despite being a suburban school, coursework was offered to students who were interested in filling needed jobs in the agriculture sector.[20]The National Youth Administration (NYA) built a workshop on the property to advance vocational education. When the NYA ceased operation in 1943, the school negotiated for the workshop to be turned over to the school, greatly increasing its work space for vocational education.[21] During the summer months, Proviso became a center for training industrial workers necessary for the war effort, offering classes in three shifts, 24 hours a day.[22]
In April 1951, the Illinois Education Association meeting held at Proviso East saw a keynote address by Edith S. Sampson, the United States' alternate delegate to the United Nations, and the first African-American woman to represent the U.S. at the United Nations.[23]
In 1953, researchers from the University of Chicago recommended that the school begin planning to expand, and school district officials began examining the purchase of land for a new school.[24] By 1955, the school population had grown to over 3,400 students, with an estimated increase to over 6,500 students by 1956.[25] In June 1955, the board accepted a recommendation to purchase a 60 acre site in the town of Hillside, and planned a bond issue for the autumn.[26] Even with the plans for a new school moving forward, the district also approved an expansion of Proviso: a new gymnasium for young women, new music rooms, and new facilities for woodworking classes.[27] In November, the bond issue was approved by a 5900-626 vote.[28] 1957, the last year Proviso would be the only school in the district, the student population topped out at over 4,800 students.[29] With the new school determined to be Proviso West, the board of education voted to officially change the school's name to Proviso East, effective 1 July 1958.[30]
1960s
In 1963, with a combined student population of over 7,000 between the two schools, further room was needed. East added a total of nine new classrooms by (literally) carving them from a hallway, and the passageway which connected the new and old additions of the school.[31] Proviso East was caught up in a great deal of the racial turmoil that was prevalent in the country in the late 1960s. The 1967-68 school year saw local tensions become violent.
In September 1967, a large fight, started in the school cafeteria when five caucasian girls were selected by school officials as finalists for the school's Homecoming Queen, escalated as students were dismissed. Property damage, some caused by the use of gasoline bombs, and fighting caused more than 100 state troopers to be called in, and a strict curfew to be enforced. Principal Hubert Pitt announced that he would appoint a racially balanced group of students to select a new slate of candidates.[32]
Three days later, the situation had not improved, and officials were forced to ask parents to come in and patrol the halls in an attempt to quell the violence. Another fight broke out in the cafeteria. One of the suspected perpetrators was later found out not to be a student at the school leading some to suspect the fight was planned. 31 students were arrested after they later attempted to run from the school. Later, nineteen students were arrested on the street for carrying tire irons. This all came 24 hours after approximately one-half of the school refused to attend classes.[33]
The local chapter of the NAACP by this time had urged a boycott of the schools, and drew up a list of 28 demands for school officials. Some students, both African-American and Caucasian, defied the boycott, but only about one-third of students showed up for classes.[34][35] The boycott was lifted on 1 October, after officials of the school district and the local NAACP reached a compromise.[36]
Later that month, another series of fights at the school required the help of state and county police in addition to police from the City of Chicago and surrounding suburbs. The fights stemmed from the suspension of an African-American student who was fighting with a Caucasian student.[37] The next day, over 300 police officers were called in to handle new disturbances that caused classes to be cancelled. Several students in the street were arrested for criminal damage and theft. Teachers threatened to strike if discipline was not restored. Later that day, an arson threat was called in against the school, forcing police to ring the school, and begin keeping outsiders away from the area. The superintendent threatened to assign uniformed officers to each classroom, if necessary.[38] Two days later, classes resumed with 55 off duty police officers inside the school, and expulsion notices were sent out to students seen as "persistent trouble makers".[39] This led to the expulsion of 35 students.[40]
There was another incident in March involving 300 students.[41] The following day, school officials closed Proviso East for two days.[42] While the school was closed, school officials met to review discipline procedures and plan enforcement, which they said would include the use of chemical mace to quell disturbances.[43] The 300 students involved in the most recent fighting were permitted to return, provided they signed a nonviolence pledge, a move that was challenged by the NAACP.[44] The school board then voted to defer the requirement or students to sign the pledges.[45]
The 1968—69 school year saw more racial problems.
In mid-September, after a day that saw 15 students hurt during fights in the school, a group of 200 students began throwing rocks and other projectiles at passing cars. Seven were arrested.[46] The incidents resulted in six expulsions and three more students withdrawing.[47]
1970s and 1980s
While the 1970s did see a calmer start than the 1960s ended for Proviso East, there were new issues that had to be faced.
Despite the school's large population (still about 4000), the school was forced to adopt austerity measures, which in 1973 involved laying off 52 of the districts' 422 teachers. About 150 students responded by walking out of school, each of which resulted in a suspension.[48]
As the 1980s arrived, Proviso East became a school with a population that was now predominantly African-American. This was not the case with its sister school. In 1976, the Illinois State Board of Education had passed rules that required the percentage of minority students within a school be within 15% of the district's minority enrollment.[49] The school district had redrawn the attendance boundaries for the district to comply, however did not successfully desegregate when local housing patterns did not change as anticipated.[49] In 1982, the Illinois Supreme Court invalidated the State Boards orders, claiming they had over stepped their authority in demanding desegregation.[50]
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