The Bookish 1930s
With the 1930s came a swell of interest in clubs focused on English, foreign languages, and other academic subjects. This brought about the formation of the Junior English Club in 1932, a "peppy organization" whose activities included competing in short story and essay contests and supplementing their literature studies with field trips to local places of historical and cultural interest.
That same year, the high school students organized their own English club called the Salmagundi Club, a group whose aim was to "find the best in literature and bring it to the school." Activities of the *Salmagundi Club that year included writing book reviews, giving short book talks, and creating bulletin boards.
* meaning "a general mixture"
The most popular of the foreign language clubs was the French Club. La Petite Alliance Francaise was named "one of the liveliest clubs in the school," and required a certain level of expertise in the language to gain membership. The club sought to increase knowledge of the French language, people, and culture by conducting their meetings entirely in French, reading French literature, and even writing letters to students in France. This group of enthusiastic students also took field trips, published a French magazine entitled Le Bruit, and awarded a medal each year to the "most oustanding French student."