In this Alumni Directory, our focus is on the often-forgotten BY Academy secondary senior classes between 1877 and 1903, and on the BY High School senior classes from 1904 to 1968.

In 1881 Brigham Young Academy's Scientific Department broke new ground by awarding a "collegiate diploma" to James E. Talmage, the first such BYA diploma to be issued. This raised serious questions about whether a secondary school could issue a "collegiate diploma" that would be recognized by colleges. James Talmage and others were required to take extra tests at other colleges before their collegiate credential was accepted.

BYU and the BYU Alumni Association keep records of BYA collegiate-level graduates, but have not in the past kept comprehensive lists of BYA high-school-level graduates. That is why our emphasis in this Directory is on high school graduates. Nevertheless, in this Directory we will also track the relatively small number of BYA students who received BYA collegiate degrees between 1881 to 1903, simply to avoid confusing the two groups, and because there is much overlapping. [We have also added the earliest BYU graduates, 1904 to 1935, for the same reasons.]

Class of 1899.

As inconceivable as it may seem, following research in the BYU Records Office, photograph files, newspapers and all other sources we can think of, we have been unable to find even one name of a Brigham Young Academy high school or collegiate graduate in the Class of 1899. We plead for help in reviewing all possible sources to locate the members of this class.

BY Academy High School, Class of 1890. John M. Mills, Spanish, high school Normal diploma. Source: Utah Enquirer, May 23, 1890. ~ ~ ~ ~ BY Academy Collegiate Class of 1900. John M. Mills, "Class of 1899" (sic), received a Diploma: Bachelor of Letters. Source 1: Deseret Evening News, June 2, 1900. ~ ~ ~ ~ Source 2: J. M. Mills, received Bachelor of Letters (B.L.) Degree, Spring of 1900. Students Record of Class Standings B.Y. Academy, Book 1, Page 12.