Kid History: Dressed for Success

V1 Staff |

CHIPPEWA VALLEY MUSEUM
CHIPPEWA VALLEY MUSEUM

Fall has been back-to-school season for generations in the Chippewa Valley, but much about the classroom has changed over time. From the look of this 1893 picture from the Chippewa Valley Museum, one of the major things that has changed is fashion.

These students at Notre Dame High School in Chippewa Falls wore ankle-length dresses and suits to class. And while many of the things they studied probably have changed, some haven’t: From the drawings on the blackboard at the back of the room, it’s clear students in this classroom were learning about the orbit of the Earth and the planets.

Notre Dame High School graduated its first class in 1889. A new school was built atop Chippewa Falls’ East Hill in 1908. That building is now the Heyde Center for the Arts.