Madison Central High School yearbooks

Madison Central High School was Dane County’s oldest high school, opening as Madison High School in 1853 with 90 students and only one teacher. In 1922, it became Madison Central High School following the opening of a new East High School, and later became Central-University High School in 1965 when intern teachers from the University of Wisconsin were welcomed to the teaching staff.

The Tychoberahn yearbook was first published in 1900. The publication’s name is derived from two Indian words: “tah-hah,” the word for lake and “tshopiwi,” a word meaning four.  The words were combined to form Taychoperah, the name which the Ho Chunk people gave to the four lakes region around Madison. Alternate titles — Orange and Black and Mirror Magazine — appeared briefly in the 1930s and 40s.

When the school closed its doors in 1969, Principal William Marsh donated many of the yearbooks to the Dane County Historical Society. Gaps in the collection were filled in by donations from Central High School alumni, who also funded the digitization of the yearbooks, which was completed by Northern Micrographics of La Crosse. The collection includes all volumes from 1900-1969, except 1905, when no yearbook was published, and 1931, which has not been located.

Records show that on June 19, 1969, just two weeks after the school closed its doors for the last time, Principal William Marsh donated material to the Dane County Historical Society including copies of the school’s yearbook, Tychoberahn.

Note that there was no volume published in 1905. Two volumes published in 1932. Volume for 1931 is missing from this collection. Many Central High School alumni have donated additional volumes and funding toward the success of the project to digitize the Tychoberahn. Thanks to their donations and assistance, the complete, digitized collection can be found on the Tychoberahn page hosted by Recollection Wisconsin. Physical copies can be viewed by visiting the Otto Schroeder Records Center, to make an appointment Contact the Society.