This photograph, taken on 21 March 1906, is one of the few interior views of pupils of the Geise School in Lykens Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. At the time of the photo, the desks at this school were “doubles,” which conforms with the stories passed down about “desk sharing” and “seat mates.”
The school was also known as the Gise School and was in existence for 100 years from about 1854 to 1954 when it closed and students from this part of the township began attending school in Gratz Borough.
The following is one possible identification of the persons in this photograph:
Teacher (seated at left): Rebecca H. Thompson
Front Row (beginning behind teacher): Helen [Hoffman] Dietrich; Laura Evitts; Roy Kissinger; Fred Evitts; Henry Evitts; Mark Kissinger; Jacob Kissinger; Verna Evitts; and Stanley Buffington (with slate).
Second Row; Carrie [Mauser] Phillips; Ernest Kissinger; John Hoover; Allen Schoffstall; Charles Ralph Phillips; Gurney Kissinger; Florence [Phillips] Minnich (with white hair ribbon); Henry Salada.
Back Row: Laura [Phillips] Kissinger; Alice [Hoover] Harris; John Phillips; Bertha Strohecker; Annie Bellon; Flossie Evitts; Howard Phillips; Chauncey Salada; Minnie Hoke.
However, because the rows do not line up clearly and because all the persons in the photograph are not named, a numbered key is presented below for readers to submit correct identifications.
I believe the teacher (#1) is correctly identified as Rebecca H. Thompson, and (#2) is correctly identified as Helen [Hoffman] Dietrich, my grandmother. All the others need to be verified.