Rectangular wood and cast lead print block. A rectangular section is cut out from the top left side towards the center of the block. The print image is a layout of Greek text. At the top and center is a Greek word that translates to "school certificate." The word has decorative embellishments around the letters. Below "School Certificate," on the right-hand side are three lines of text. The second line of text is offset to the right of the first and third lines and is followed by an opening brace ({) that extends to the first and third lines. The second line text is an abbreviation that translates to "number." The first line translates to "control" and the third line, "school registry," each followed by dotted lines. The rest of the text is situated in a paragraph layout. Within the text are fifteen (15) blank spaces provided by dotted lines. The rough translation of the text states that the student had fulfilled all the course requirments provided by the school and was deemed worthy for graduation and advancement to the "upper school."

Donated by John Damianos. The printing block was used in a linotype printing machine. Linotype presses allowed for the casting of entire lines to be printed at a time. Linotype printing was eventually succeded by lythograph printing and computer typesetting during the 1960's and 1970's. This printing block was used by the Chicago-based, Greek Art Printing Company. This printing block was used, in combination with 2008.37.3, to print grade school graduation certificates for the Socrates School. The school started in 1907 when the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Chicago began offering Greek language classes at the famous Hull House. The Socrates Greek School opened in 1908 and was renamed the Socrates Greek American School after an English curriculum was added in 1917. The schools successor institution is the Hellenic American Academy in Deerfield, Illinois.

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