North Side

Pan American Club

First organized by Mr. Philip Leonard Green in New York, the Pan-American Student League dates as far back as 1920, having Latin American student federations represented in its membership. The North Side Pan American Club, started in 1942, purpose is to promote friendliness between the United States and the twenty-one other American republics. During this period, it strived to lay a “firm foundation for the unity and order which must come about in the future” (1942, Legend). One of the unique aspects of the club is its organization, for membership is limited to forty-four members, a boy and a girl to represent each Pan American nation, plus the United States and Canada. Despite this small membership, the Pan American Club has grown so in importance that it is now one of the outstanding clubs at North Side. Throughout the year the club host programs and talks on these various countries by their representatives, with a hope to foster new appreciation for our Spanish speaking neighbors to the south, their cultures, language, and so much more.

North Side Soldiers of World War II

Many former students gave their lives for the country. The school honored them by placing their names on a plaque in the second-floor circle and planting elm trees in their memory in front of the building.

Yankee Clipper

In 1930, as a onetime thing for the school, Mr. Oscar Foellinger, publisher of the News Sentinel stated that the four students ranking highest in their respective classes would be given rides in the Yankee Clipper, the News Sentinel airplane.

1943 Bond Agents

Purchase of war stamps and bonds totaled $150,000 in 1943, enough to buy a pursuit plane which was named "Redskin Raider." Legionnaires gave assemblies on patriotism, and military drill classes held army-type marches.

North Side Front Steps

Long standing traditions and the elegant architectural lines give the school a commanding and herculean presence during the bleak, barren winter months, while the abundance of foliage surrounding it in the spring and summer give it a regal setting. However, there is more to the front steps of North Side than meets the eye. For instance, seniors have their own entrance, where anyone who isn't a senior should be scared to tread, to marriage proposals long after high school is over, come to represent the importance of the school to many. North Side High School provides its students with more than an architectural wonder, it also offers a place of wellbeing and belonging. “Peace with its full measure of living is the ultimate aim of all that goes on within its walls. Ability to earn a living, maintain a home in security and happiness, enjoy a wise use of leisure time, appreciate the best of our modern civilization,” are the goals of the class of 1940, “these are included in the ends for which our North Siders are being developed.”

Detroit Pistons at North Side

In 1941, The Detroit Pistons’ franchise (an American professional basketball team) was founded as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, a National Basketball League (NBL) team, playing in the gym of North Side High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. North Side High School Gym was an indoor gymnasium that held nearly 3,000 people and it hosted the Fort Wayne Pistons from 1948 until they moved to the War Memorial Coliseum in 1952. In 1957, the franchise moved to Detroit. However, the gymnasium still hosted games for North Side High School up until 2004 when the school was renovated. The teams at North Side now play in a new gym, By Hey Arena, and the old facility was transformed into the school's library in the renovation.

Blueprint of the School

With consideration of Fort Wayne’s previous two high schools, North Side High School’s building designs and impressive civil engineering confers a certain elegance and grace as though the building committee desired to maintain the grand style of the earlier buildings with a longing to surpass the structures as well. The long, low rooflines of the wings harmonize with the sweeping curve of the river in the foreground, and the tiled roof of the auditorium blends with the arch of the bridge. From the hub of the auditorium five wings extend like the spokes of a wheel forming a semi-circle. Although the architecture of the wings is very plain, the simplicity is pleasant and comforting. Moreover, the wide expanse of windows is broken by columns of the Tuscan Order – a simple base and an unadorned frieze.

Ghosts at North Side

According to legend, in 1927 the school was built on a Miami Indian burial ground. A tribal chief tried to stop the construction but was unable to do so. Chief Mac, the school’s mascot, was supposedly adopted to placate his restless spirit, but it is reported that the chief haunts the grounds of the school, where the burial site once was. While the auditorium was being built, a portion of it collapsed, killing a construction worker, and injuring several others. The ghost of this unfortunate worker reportedly manifested during recent renovations to expand the school. Then there’s the spirit of a janitor who died when he suffered a fatal heart attack while he was down in the basement of the school. Staff have made many reports of seeing the ghost of the janitor when they go down into the basement. The most popular story from North Side High concerns the ghost of a former student. Her apparition has been most frequently seen in the gymnasium and indoor track, usually in the morning.

Famous Alumni

Born in 1975, Charlie Savage is a North Side High School Alumni and former editor of The Northerner. He is a Harvard and Yale graduate, and in 2007, when employed by The Boston Globe, he was a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize. He writes about national security legal policy, including presidential power, surveillance, drone strikes, torture, secrecy, leak investigations, military commissions, war powers, and the U.S. war-on-terrorism prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.