The San Diego High School Collection dates from 1901-1982. It consists mostly of paper records. Included in this collection are copies of the school's early yearbooks, The Russ Annual, and its successor, The Gray Castle as well as copies of the school's Homecoming programs from the 1920s to the early 1980s. Also included are two pieces of rock from the Old Gray Castle building dated 1906-1976 mounted on wood pedestals to celebrate the school's 70th Anniversary.

San Diego High School began as the Russ School in 1882. Named for the founder of a local lumber firm, Joseph Russ donated all of the initial lumber used to build the school. The original building, designed by the Stewart Brothers and built by Brown and Stevens, was two stories tall and had eight classrooms. The school opened on August 14, 1882 as a grammar school with an initial enrollment of 308 students—32 more than they had chairs for.

2.50 Linear Feet

The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine.  Requests for permission to publish must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.

This collection is open for research.