Midview High School Dedicated – Nov. 6, 1955

Midview High School is one of those schools in Lorain County (like Firelands and Keystone) that I'm just not too familiar with and couldn't tell you where they're located. Nevertheless, I wrote about Midview before (here), when I featured its "Midview Middie" mascot.

Anyway, the new $800,000 Midview High School was dedicated back on November 6, 1955 – 70 years ago this week, as noted in the article above that appeared in the Lorain Journal a day later.

What's odd is that when I was prepping this post, various sources (including its Wiki entry) noted that, "Midview High School was originally built in 1956 as a Junior High School, until the needs of the district demanded more room for students in grades 9-12. The building was then designated as the High School in 1956, and has remained so ever since."

I'm skeptical about the accuracy of that contention. It seems like from the beginning, the plan was to build a high school. Here's the August 31, 1954 report of the awarding of the contract for "the construction of the new Midview High School slated for completion on Capel Rd by Sept. 1, 1955."

Groundbreaking took place on Sept. 23, 1954.

That same week, an architectural rendering of the new Midview High School was unveiled.

After doing my Google Maps "drive by," I'm guessing it's been enlarged over the years. It looks like the classic high school design – very similar to my own Alma Mater, Admiral King High School.

Midview Middie Mascot - 1964

Anyone who has read this blog for a while knows that I really like advertising mascots of any kind. That's why this mascot for the Midview School District in Grafton caught my eye while I was looking at old Journal newspaper microfilm in the library. (Plus, the Midview sports teams have been doing really well lately.)

The accompanying Journal article from September 10, 1964 explained that the emblem (named "Midview Middie") was chosen by the Build Midview Committee as part of a promotional fundraising campaign. "Middie" was going to be featured on decals that would be sold to raise money to sponsor an essay contest, a poster contest and other programs.

The mascot was selected because he "exemplified the combination of friendship, warmth, and forward look of the Midview district," according to the article.

I like the freckled little guy and his clean cut, wholesome looks right out of a 1950s or 60s comic book. He looks like he should have a slingshot hanging out of his back pocket.

Contrast "Middie" with the design of the current Midview sports mascot (below).

I guess times and tastes have changed! "Cute and wholesome" have given way to a burly, hairy "goon" look, dripping with testosterone. He looks like he doesn't just want to defeat the other team, he wants to pound them into senselessness.

Somewhere along the line in our culture, the concept of a sports mascot seems to have changed from that of a 'lucky charm' to that of a symbol that must project the strongest, manliest attitude – lest the team and its fans stand accused of being utter wimps. 

Although the cute "Middie" has long since been retired, apparently his message is still relevant. On the current Midview schools website, the first paragraph leads off with "The Midview Schools are on the move!"