Beginning with the original 21 boys, every student who has enrolled at McDonogh School has been given a number, and their name has been recorded in a ledger book. In November 1873, as part of the process of enrolling the first students, Duncan Campbell Lyle, assistant to Principal William Allan, opened the cover of a new ledger book and began to write. He entered the number one, and beside it, wrote the name of McDonogh’s first student, John L. Baker. On the next line, he entered the name of student number two, Andrew Cutino. Lyle continued to write until he had recorded the names of all 21 boys. After that, as each new student enrolled, Lyle entered the name and number into what became known as the Registry.
The tradition of writing each student’s name and his/her enrollment number in sequence in the Registry has continued for 150 years. At times, in addition to the students’ names and numbers, the Registry included parents’ names, addresses, and occupations. The student’s date of birth, height, and weight were also included, as well as the grade in which they entered McDonogh and the date on which they left. The final column is titled “Remarks” and contains a word or two describing the circumstances under which each student left the School. Over the years, reasons for leaving have included: “ran off,” “honorably discharged,” and later, “graduated.” Both John Baker and Andrew Cutino are recorded as having “ran off.”
Today, 150 years later, 19,859 names have been handwritten in the registry.
Read more in the Winter 2017 issue of McDonogh Magazine on p. 32. See the Registry books with the names of students from 1873 to 1935 here.
