Kennedy's first principal, Mina Parsons, strikes a formidable pose on the porch of her home, just a couple blocks from the school, circa 1918.
Mina Parsons was Kennedy School's principal in 1913 and 1914, and continued as a teacher at the school into the early 1920s.
This 1916 Ladies Home Journal clipping touts Kennedy School's revolutionary, single-story design.
John D. Kennedy, the school's namesake, was an early landowner, who was instrumental in bringing the school as well as a church to the neighborhood.
This bunch of unruly looking boys stand in front of the school in the early 1920s. The kid in the back row center, Amo DeBernardis, went on to be the founding president of Portland Community College.
School girls gather in front of the school on what looks to be a warm day in the late ‘teens.
That's future founding president of Portland Community College Amo DeBernardis around the time of his graduation from Kennedy School in 1928. He sits astride his Indian motorcycle, giving his girl a squeeze, on NE 33rd in front of his family home near the school.
Taken in the late ‘teens around NE 28th and Ainsworth, Marian Lumm poses outside the family's home a few blocks from the school.
Marian Lumm, tennis racquet in hand, stands alongside Ainsworth Street near 28th in the late ‘teens.
Cecelia Scanlon, dressed for a school skit, smiles big for the camera Kennedy, in the mid 1920s.
Lois Erickson attended Kennedy School in the 1930s. Many of the children's rhymes and poems displayed in the halls of Kennedy School are from her yearbooks.
A seed cultivation project? This image from the 1930s was anonymously left at the front desk after McMenamins reopened the school in 1997.
The seeds have sprouted! Some time has passed from the previous photo. Some of the wall decorations have changed, too. This image from the 1930s was anonymously left at the front desk after McMenamins reopened the school in 1997.
For decades, Boy Scouts Troop #11 was a thriving organization in the neighborhood. The troop often met in the Kennedy Gym, as pictured here, ca. 1945.
At 3:10 p.m., on April 8, 1943, this is what Miss Connolly's 4th-grade class at Kennedy Elementary was up to.
One of the favorite hangouts for Kennedy students was the 30th Avenue Dairy Store, owned by the DePue family. Located at NE 30th and Alberta, near the movie theater, it was a great spot to get ice cream on a hot day.
Martha Jordan's kindergarten class, 1948. She was one of Oregon's first African-American public school teachers, and a Kennedy favorite. She taught here until 1962.
Mrs. Inez Palmer taught at Kennedy School longer than most and remained a popular teacher throughout the years. Many of her former students were delighted to see her at McMenamins' 1997 grand reopening of the school. This photo is from 1946.
Kennedy crossing guards gather in the auditorium, 1940s.
A 1940s-era report card.
A happy though disheveled group of Cub Scouts lines up on the school's steps, ca. 1946.
In addition to the Kennedy School, John D. Kennedy was instrumental in bringing the St. Charles Catholic Church to the neighborhood. Seen here around 1940, its original location was NE 33rd and Webster.
The kids in this 1950s classroom seem to be perked up by the afternoon sun filtering through Kennedy's big windows.
A well-behaved classroom of students (well, mostly) is captured in this 1950s view.
Game shows were hot back in the ‘50s, especially "The $64,000 Question." Here in the early 1950s, Kennedy kids stage their own version in the school auditorium.
A dramatic scene in a 1950s Kennedy School play in which a detective seems to be wrapping up a murder case; the young audience looks on with rapt attention.
Kennedy students stage a play in the school's auditorium, 1950s.
Mrs. Drew was a memorable teacher at Kennedy School during the 1960s.
This 1968 Kennedy yearbook features principal Gertrude Ramage and teachers Kate Drew and Don Kohlmeier.
For this PE class on Kennedy's back field, wind sprints and high waters are prominent.
A perfect pyramid is achieved during Mr. Kohlmeier's PE class.
Hopscotch at recess, mid-1960s.
TUG OF WAR! Indoor gym class in the mid-1960s.
Flag football was a favorite PE activity among the boys.
That's pretty good defense. Maybe go for a long hook shot.
Tetherball in the foreground and dodgeball in the back; that's a good recess!
Friends on the playground. Great saddle shoes.
Mrs. Jacobs' 5th grade, 1971-72.
<!--StartFragment-->Kennedy principal, Mr. Dindia, confers with Mrs. Olson, school secretary, in the front office, 1974.<!--EndFragment-->
Checking out books in the school library, 1974.
Invitation to a year-end program that elicited mixed emotions - the school's 60th anniversary and the graduation of its last class before its closing by the school district, June 1975.
School's out for summer... school's out forever. Kennedy School releases its final students June 13, 1975.
The Safety Patrol gets geared up for another session, 1974.
The renovation phase begins, while tagging persists.
The boys' room was in a bad state by the time of this 1990s photo.
Even in a dilapidated state, the Boiler Room is an industrial, gothic sight to behold. Today, guests can drink a beer, have a meal and play some shuffleboard here.
Originally an open-air play court, this space was enclosed to create a cafeteria. Today it is the Courtyard Restaurant.
An empty, lonely classroom.
The school's front entry as it looked for much of its vacant period.
The colorfully painted designs on the boards covering the school's windows infused some sense of life into vacant building.
Not a good time in the life of the school, this early ‘90s shot shows the southern courtyard off the gym, where the soaking pool is now.
This close-up shot of the gym floor illustrates the extent of the water damage.
<!--StartFragment-->Burst water pipes wreaked havoc on the once pristine gym floor.<!--EndFragment-->
Renovations begin in a much neglected classroom, tagged with the signature Racer X that was so prevalent at the abandoned Multnomah County Poor Farm, today reincarnated as McMenamins Edgefield.
The school's cafeteria kitchen is shown here in the early 1990s, largely still intact.
Years earlier, a mushroom ring was the most wild thing in this courtyard; by the early 1990s, it looked like an untamed wilderness.
This invitation was sent out to hundreds of friends, neighbors and alumni to mark the start of the school's rejuvenation.
Longtime Kennedy teacher Inez Palmer was one of many former faculty and students who helped celebrate the school's reopening in October 1997. Here, Mrs. Palmer stands in front of the not-quite-yet completed room named in her honor.
Mike and Brian McMenamin say a few words and give a toast to a new beginning for Kennedy School.
Kennedy School's last PTA President, Sharon Kolb, reprises her role by ringing in the new era, with the school's original bell, at precisely 7 a.m. on opening day, October 22, 1997.
