Aetonian 1950 [Gonzaga High School Yearbook]

Washington DC: H.G. Roebuck Company, 1950. Very Good. Washington DC: H.G. Roebuck Company, 1950. First Edition. Quarto (29cm); 156pp. Photographic boards with white text along spine; photographic endsheets. Black-and-white photographs throughout. Boards lightly bumped and scuffed, especially at corners. Binding sound. Textblock and endsheets toned; interior pages remain clean. Former owner’s name appears at first fixed endsheet; classmate and faculty signatures throughout. Very Good.

Yearbook for the private Catholic high school in Washington, DC, the oldest boys’ school in the District. Find inside cheeky captions, well-oiled hair, and patterned ties indicative of the style of the time, as well as advertisements for numerous local businesses. (Among these businesses is A. Litteri, a local Italian grocery store that remains open today.)

Though Washington, DC was designated as a city in 1790, Congress did not hold session in the Capitol building until 1800. Thus, 1950 marked the city’s sesquicentennial year as the seat of American government. This Gonzaga yearbook celebrates the growth of Catholic education in the District during that period, featuring brief write-ups on Georgetown University, Catholic University, St. John’s College High School, Trinity College, and Archbishop Carroll High School, which opened its doors the following year. “From a struggling little school in a struggling little city, our Gonzaga has matured to its present position as the largest Catholic high school in the Nation’s Capitol,” writes Father Gargan, President.

Laid-in is the former owner’s acceptance letter to Georgetown University.