A formal and all-female graduation in 19th century Delmar

Colleen Herman of Millsboro sent the following letter after publication of this historic photo purporting to show an early Sussex County high school graduation: “I always enjoy the ‘Delaware Cape Region in Photographs.’ I was surprised when I saw the photo in the June 16 issue of an ‘All-Female Graduation in 19th Century Milford.’ The photo looked really familiar. I showed it to my sister who has an original of this photo that had belonged to our grandmother. This is not a photo from Milford. It is a photo of the first graduating class from Delmar High School in 1901, along with the school principal. The same photo was displayed for many years in a glass case in Delmar High School. The people in the photo are back row: Minnie Smith (my grandmother), Margaret Hastings and Ann Stevenson; and front row: Susie Francis, Ethel Hayman and Susie Hastings. The principal is Willard Deputy.”