I’m starting a new series on the blog called Wednesday history, where I publish an image or story from the history of the neighborhood every Wednesday. This shot is of two lacrosse teams at Central High School around 1930, Central being the old name of Cardozo High School, which is still recognizable behind the players.
It’s an interesting photo in general, and I had no idea that lacrosse was common back then, though I know this area is a hotbed of the sport. I like the weird helmets and funny short-shorts on the non-striped team too.
The photo is from the Library of Congress and was taken from the National Photo Company Collection.
The commenters on Shorpy, the great blog where I found it, dug up some old news articles talking about a team from Oxford and Cambridge universities in England touring the US, and this is presumably who is pictured, perhaps against St. John’s College from Annapolis.
Central High became Cardozo in 1949 when the city designated it as a “colored” school, according to Wikipedia. Here’s how the school looks today. Not much different, though I haven’t seen any lacrosse played there.
