Historic Rochester grade book includes Charles Mayo

(ABC 6 News) – Construction at John Marshall High School uncovered a grade book from over 140 years ago.

Workers came across a locked cabinet that, when opened, revealed one grade book from the early 1900s, a 1950s Rochester High School guide to sportsmanship, and a second grade book from 1880. 

Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Kent Pekel was looking through the book from 1880 when he discovered perhaps the most famous name in Rochester included as a student. Charles H. Mayo, the younger of the brotherly duo who formed the Mayo Clinic, had his grades marked down with the rest of the class. 

“It’s cool that we have the opportunity to build on a really extraordinary legacy of education in Rochester and that you had, literally, a global revolution in healthcare that started here among our students,” Pekel said.

The historic pieces will be kept safe at the school until their future is determined.