Lewis Henry Tuthill

Principal High School 1888-1890

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In 1888, upon the withdrawal of Mr. BARTO, the principalship of the High School was given to Mr. Lewis Henry TUTHILL. Mr. TUTHILL came to Ithaca highly recommended. The record of his four years in Cornell, his subsequent success as a teacher and school manager, his kindly ways and pleasant address, all made him eminently fitted to fill the position to which he was thus happily chosen.

Mr. TUTHILL was born in Corning, N. Y., November 12, 1862. His early education he got in the schools of that city, from whose academy he was graduated in 1880. Coming to Cornell in 1881, with the aid of a state scholarship, he worked his way through college in three years, being graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1884. During the following year, while an assistant in the library, he continued his studies, proceeding to the master's degree in 1885. Throughout his college course Mr. Tuthill was prominent in the athletic and literary activities of the university. In his senior year he was president of his class. He is a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and of Phi Beta Kappa.

Upon leaving Cornell, Mr. TUTHILL entered upon his work as a teacher. After three years' experience in regents' schools he was called to Ithaca, where he served as principal from 1888 to 1890. He then became principal and superintendent of the Homer Academy and Union Schools. This position he still holds.

The period during which Mr. TUTHILL presided over the High School was a period of peace and progress. The enrollment constantly increased, the faculty became larger, the fame of the school was extended. The tendencies toward wider athletic, social and scholastic interests, and broader scholarship, tendencies which have found more noticeable outward expression in later years, and their beginnings during this period. Moreover, the sympathetic attitude of the principal toward the student--the attitude of counselor and guide rather than that of master--the trust and confidence of principal and student in each other, the spirit of good fellowship of those years factors quite as important as mere numerical growth or increasing renown.

The universal respect in which Mr. TUTHILL was held, cannot perhaps be better expressed than in the words of the students of the High School who, in making the departing principal a farewell gift, June, 1890, thus showed their regard:
"We, the students of the High School, take this method of expressing our esteem for you, our regret at your departure, and our wish that your term among us might have been prolonged. We feel that in your departure we are losing a competent teacher and a valued friend."

Thank you Mary Kreps for transcribing these records into digital format.

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