Continuing with last week’s theme of academic gargoyles and grotesques, let’s take a look at the grotesques of Hughes High School in Cincinnati. This grand building is home to over 90 grotesques representing a wide variety of subjects and skills relating to science, mechanics, fine arts, humanities, and liberal arts (1). Pictured above is the grotesque of athletics in the center, with the grotesque of drawing to the side. More photos of the others can be found here, thanks to a proud Hughes alumnus. The current Hughes High School building – there have been several since Thomas Hughes donated money to start the school in 1825 – was built in 1906 (2).
Interestingly, Hughes High School was renovated a few years ago and has now become Hughes STEM High School, focusing on science and technology (3). That means that some of the subjects celebrated in these grotesques, such as literature and oratory, are not given much value in the new curriculum. Hmmm.
Notes: (1) Jeffries, Tim. “The Gargoyles of Hughes High School” on Eye on Cincinnati. February 23, 2012. (2) elycefeliz. “Hughes High School” (photo caption) on Flickr. March 2, 2008. (3) “Hughes STEM High School” on Wikipedia.
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