In 1890, the tax paying citizens of Bangor voted in support of a referendum to establish a new public high school. Eventually, the high school district would come to serve the village and township of Bangor including Burns Valley, Rockland and Middle Ridge. Six students carried the torch as part of the first graduating class from the school in 1891. There is a long and rich photographic heritage to this great Bangor institution. The first yearbook at Bangor HS appeared in 1917. The vast majority of images shown in this exhibit come from the rich collection of Bangor High School yearbooks, affectionately known as the ECHO. Since it would be impossible to include the thousands of photographs presented in the total collection of 74 volumes, an attempt was made to draw from several different school traditions and various aspects of school life. Note that the librarians of John Bosshard Memorial Library in Bangor, with support from Bangor High School and the Bangor and Area Historical Society, recently spearheaded a project to scan the entire yearbook collection with the help of inmates from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. As a result, the entire collection of yearbooks from Bangor HS are now on CD's which can be viewed at the library, high school and historical society museum. Perhaps you will find yourself in the images presented in this virtual exhibit. Viewers will note that pictures of each graduating senior from the classes of 1917 and 1967 are included here to celebrate the 100th and 50th anniversaries of their respective graduations. In all, a broad stretch of 70 years are marked by the timeframe of 1891-1971 in this exhibit. Yearbooks were not always published. The biggest gaps are in the 1920s, 1930's and 1940's. Therefore, the historical society welcomes the donations of any pictures related to school life at Bangor HS from 1918-1920, 1922-1925, 1927-1929, 1931-35, 1937-1941, 1943-1946. Scans can be completed by the museum with the return of the originals to the owner. For details, contact museum curator Gregory Wegner at (608) 486-4701.
