East High School - Redjacket Yearbook (Pawtucket, RI)

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8 Pawtucket High School Class Book—1918 l istonj of the (Class of 1018. ANY summers ago on one September morning the old school received within its portals, the greatest class it has ever had or ever will have (?) But unfortunately or with that perversity which always persecutes genius, it was too blind and biased to realize the fact, and called us Freshmen green as grass, told us to recite where we belonged, on the lawn, and expressed surprise that we did not all wear Buster Brown collars and knee dresses. And as for those of us who boldly proclaimed our genius, the sophs endeavored to wash out the divine spark under the faucet. But despite our self-assertiveness, we and the spark lived, though we assumed a mask of timidity and deference, merely because we did not wish to have to chastise the rest of the school in case their egoistic pride and fear of our humbling it, should force them to rash violence. And so we took over a section of the school, known as the Freshman quarters in which no soph ever entered singly, unless camouflaged. For we did not know each other very well, and so, to frighten by a show of strength as we firmly believed, always invaded the upper classes en-masse. Al. B and B1 were our rooms though already the memories of them are beginning to fade. We had three happy days of enrollments, schedules, and seating plans. We were enthusiastic over the snap we were having, and v. ere ready to sign up as pupils for life, when a cloud appeared on the horizon. In our joy we could not see it, and when some of us curious ones were admitted to the first mysteries of Latin, French, and Algebra, and when others were permitted to satisfy a great longing to be allowed to tickle the keys of a real honest typewriter, our spark knew no charms. But then when the first homework lesson came, we took it as a joke and didn’t do it, thereby earning the fatal sentence of two o’clock. What an hour was that, when no man dared to speak and no one dared to call his soul his own! However, we came thru the ordeal without any terrible results, and lived to go thru the same sentence many times during the year. Our teachers developed an unusual interest in us, for it was not long before they refused to allow us to return home after our hard (?) day’s labor at one o’clock but kept us, loath to part until one-thirty. This was called the perm”, and it soon came to be the friend ' ?) of our class judging from the number of our rank who stayed every day. Last but not least came the fatal catastrophe of our young lives; namely, the exams. How we squirmed and wriggled, begged and pleaded, tore our hair and wept bitter tears, that we might be allowed to escape but it was of no use, “the powers that be, had deaf ears, and hard hearts and we were forced to submit. We came thru the fire without even being scorched, and were led to admit, that we were more frightened than anything else. This was the last of our trials. The year soon rolled by and June came making us the happiest of creatures, because we could now throw off the hated title of freshmen and declare ourselves sophomores. The summer passed slowly, and we awaited u ith eager expectation the opening of the fall term. On the auspicious morning we all got up at an early hour and prepared for our triumphal entry into our new territory. Rooms 14. 16 and 12. Promptly at 8:15 we arrived at the school, where we expected a cordial welcome from our new colleagues, the classes of 1916 and 1917. To our surprise, they did not even seem to notice the addition to their numbers. That did not disturb us. however, and when the 8:25 bell rang we entered the school building with the confidence which our new rank justified. We found our new quarters satisfactory, and approved of the established order - of

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Pawtucket High School Class Book—1918. 7 (Elass ODftr. ★ Hail to thee dear Alma Mater, Guiding light upon our way Strenght'ning us for service greater As we onward go each day. Thy great lessons we shall treasure In our thoughts they oft will dwell And mid all our toil and pleasure We will always love thee well. Thou hast given strength and power For the future still unknown And wilt guide us every hour With the precepts thou hast shown. As in life's great strife we enter As we fight for victory Memories ’round us will center Of the happy years with thee. We will fling on high thy banner And our voices often raise That in thought and deed and manner We may e'er thy glory praise. And may nineteen eighteen ever To the goal with courage press h rom thy love may we ne’er sever Hail to thee, dear P. H. S! EUNICE TRUMAN KEOUGH. Music by DOROTHY LOUISE CHEEK.

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Pawtucket High School Class Book—1918. 9 things. One thing which especially pleased us was that the authorities had with great wisdom excluded from the presence of their betters those green, ignorant, pestiferous creatures, the freshmen. In the following month we found our new studies somewhat more difficult than those of the previous year, but after that we took them as a matter of course, along with the other necessary evils, among which we included pink slips and the permanent list—the well filled “roll of honor.’’ All this time a sectional spirit had been growing up among us. Those of us who studied French and German took pleasure in invading each other's territory, and in a shower of chalk and erasers many a fierce German invasion and many a wild counter attack was pushed in to the enemy’s country. However, in spite of all the conflict, good nature reigned supreme, the members of the two factions gained increased respect for their opponents. This was the beginning of a new feeling of class unity which grew more intense as time passed. In December an important event occurred. This was the arrival of our class pins, which were greeted with delight, and worn by the proud members of the class on the most conspicuous part of their apparel. The rest of the year was filled with the usual round of school affairs—debating, dramatics, athletics, and last but perhaps not least, studies. In all these various activities the class of 1918 took its part, and if that part was sometimes a minor one. that was because the class was “learning the ropes , and was fitting itself, by observation and experience for a more important part. The organization of the class, and the class elections took place in June. The organization, which was only an outward manifestation of the feeling of unity which had been growing during the year, was the last event of importance in the sophomore year, and when vacation time came, we all departed with a cheerful an revoir. We all felt that we had had a profitable, and what was perhaps more important to us, an enjoyable year. After another summer of anxious waiting, we returned to the old school. During the summer a marvelous change had been taking place. The superactive, boisterous sophomores of the previous year had disappeared, and in their places were the newly created juniors, dignified, quiet ( ! I and responsible. And well might we be so. for were we not to succeed the class of 1917 in their position of leaders of the school? So, with this thought in mind, we took our places in the school. We observed that there were sophomores in the school, but we paid no attention to the children. We found that the senior regarded us with more respect titan formerly. On the other hand, their dignity did not impress us as it had during the preceding year, and we soon found friends among their number. We were quite pleased with our surroundings; in fact, we would have been entirely satisfied if it had not been for an unheard of indignity which was imposed upon us by the authorities. Impossible as it may seem, they had actually dared to permit those unsophisticated infants, the freshmen, to use our desks in the afternoon session, and to leave their A B C books in them. Protests were of no avail, and we so endured it with as much patience as was possible under the circumstances. Later in the year, however, rumors were whispered about that certain juniors had been detected in the act of writing notes to the afternoon feminine occupants of their desks. These rumors were treated with deserved scorn. Many improvements were installed during the year, but lack of space allows us to mention only two of the most important of ,l e.n. One was the abandonment of the permanent list on account of insufficient accomodation. The entire class, shed bitter tears at the departure of such an old and beloved (?) friend, but grew much less sad when it discovered that the kind teachers could still hold quite large pink slip parties after school hours. Another improvement was a concession to the