Bridgewater State University - Alpha Yearbook (Bridgewater, MA)

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CLARA COFFIN PRINCE

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18 NORMAL OFFERING 151111. Chvnrgr 19. Martin, illitt. B. EORGE HENRY MARTIN was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, August 16, 18413 died in that city March 25, 1917. After gradu- ating from the Bridgewater Normal School, he taught a grammar school for a time. In 1864 he returned to Bridgewater as a teacher and remained here as first assistant for eighteen years. The contact with his vigorous intellect was a stimulus to the hundreds of young men and women who were under his instruction during those years. While teaching here he did much work in Teachers' Institutes, work of such high quality that in 1882 he was appointed an Agent of the Board of Education. In that capacity he made thousands of visits to schools in all parts of the State. Through his keen insight and his sympathetic appreciation he gained a first-hand knowledge of actual conditions in the schools, and he worked assiduously for their improve- ment. ' In 1892, in the full maturity of his splendid powers, he became a Supervisor of Schools in Boston and for twelve years he gave the schools of that city the fruits of his wide experience. In 1904 he was appointed Secretary of the State Board of Education, that office being then the highest position in the educational system of the State. It was universally recognized by those who knew him that, through his native ability, his knowledge of educational history, his study of edu- cational philosophy, his observation of educational practices, and his addresses and writings on educational subjects, he was in fact, as well as in name, foremost among the leaders in public education in Massa- chusetts. A clear thinker, a forceful speaker, a ready writer, a wise counsel- lor, an inspiring teacher, a genial friend, he has left a lasting impress upon those whose privilege it was to feel his influence. Two years ago he wrote the historical address for the seventy-iifthi anniversary of this school. Even then his health was so frail that he was unable to be present, but his paper was read by one whom he had selected for that purpose. It is probable that the preparation of this address was his last important public service. Surely he would have wished it so: that the school to which he had given more of his life than to any other cause, and to which he had remained intensely loyal through all the years since he left it, should be the subject of the last eiort of his mind, and hand, and heart. ' W. D. J.

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20 NORMAL OFFERING Gllara Giuffin lirinrv. 9' OR more than thirty-seven years a devoted and inspiring teacher 'I I in the Bridgewater Normal School. A daughter of music, who has shown thousands of students how to attune the melodies of their lives to the Infinite Harmony. The keynote of her life is LOYALTY-to her students, to her col- leagues, to the school and all its best traditions, to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. May she live long to shed upon us the benediction of her friend- ship and influence! 'Qinhvrt IE. Iiellianirr. HE first Bridgewater graduate to sacrifice his life in the great I European struggle has been Sergeant Robert E. Pellissier C1903D, who was killed in action at the Somme, by Clery, August 29, 1916. ' He was born in France in 1882, the youngest of seven children. His early education was received in that country, but when fourteen years of age he came to New York to live with one of his sisters. He entered a public school in Brooklyn, and after the first year made rapid progress, finally graduating from the high school. In the fall of 1899 he entered the Bridgewater Normal School and remained four years. As a result of his good record, he was able to enter the senior class of the Lawrence Scientific School in the fall of 1903. Despite the fact that he was obliged to carry a very heavy course, and in addition had to spend many hours correcting French composition-books, he gradu- ated with honors the following June.