The PWPL Reference staff recently completed inventory and maintenance of our yearbook collection, adding new volumes of the AGORA and TATLER, the BARAGAN, the WARRIOR, all from Marquette schools, along with the PENINSULAN from Northern Michigan University, the HEMATITE from Ishpeming and the PIONEER from Negaunee.

Library patrons look for their parents and grandparents on these pages, sometimes out of personal curiosity and other times for genealogy. This unique collection is a treasure trove of family history.

In order to keep these books on the shelves, and in readable condition, the library is requesting donations of the following yearbooks to fill in the gaps or use as second copies. Please call the Reference Desk at 906-226-4311 for more information.

The AGORA and The TATLER are both publications of Marquette High School, which originally consisted of Howard High School, the Manual Training School, and Froebel Elementary. The multi-purpose building was located at the corner of Pine and Ridge streets, publishing the AGORA from 1902 to 1910. The school renamed their yearbook the TATLER in 1911, a name that withstood the test of time. The TATLER saw the opening of Graveraet High School on Front Street in 1923 and Marquette Senior High School on Fair Avenue in 1964, where it is still located.

MARQUETTE ALTERNATIVE HIGH SCHOOL’s yearbook, a soft cover publication, has been compiled in several locations that the school occupied since 1999, finally settling into the old Vandenboom School building in Marquette Township. We have issues from 2007 to 2017, and would appreciate any additional publications from M.A.H.S.

In addition to the public high schools, Marquette was also home to a Catholic High School, directly across the street from St. Peter’s Cathedral. The BARAGAN is a product of Baraga High School, located at the corner of Fourth Street and Baraga Avenue, from 1905 to 1969. Marquette’s City Hall now stands in its place.

An earlier publication of Baraga High School, The CATHEDRAL CHIMES, was published in the 1930s, preceding The BARAGAN, which was published from the 1940s until the school closed in 1969.

The WARRIOR, created by the students of John D. Pierce School, a laboratory school on the campus of Northern State Teachers College, was published sometime after the school was opened in 1925 and before the high school closed in 1961. The library has only a few volumes from 1954-1959.

High school yearbooks are part of our Local History collection and are cataloged as reference books (for library use only). Feel free to browse these books when you’re in the building, and take a step into the past.