Grosse Pointe University School - Pericon Yearbook (Grosse Pointe, MI)

Page 15 text:

nomical and eTTicienT, buT also iT malces possible The combinaTion oT The besT TeaTures oT co-educa- Tional wiTh segregaTed Training. AlThough The schools are now housed in buildings over Tour miles aparT and alThough classes and many acTiv- iTies occur in each school separaTely Tor boys and girls, iT is possible Tor The Two schools To combine in many OT Their school TuncTions. When The new building has been cornpleTed, This will be done even more eTfecTively. No hisTory oT a school is compleTe wiThouT some commenT upon The degree To which The in- sTiTuTion has TulTilled iTs major purpose-The edu- caTion oT The youTh OT a communiTy Tor worThy service in ThaT communiTy. l-lerein D.U.S. is iusTly proud. No maTTer The physical handicaps nor The Tinancial disTresses The school has had To op- eraTe under in iTs years, The aims of The 'founders have always been ToremosT in The minds of Those who carried on iTs desTinies. 'II

Page 14 text:

This was The seT-up as creaTed by The merger and sTill exisTs wiTh The excepTion ThaT The Nursery School is now locaTed on The CounTry Day School Campus, The new and more adequaTe quarTers donaTed by Mr. George R. Fink in I946. On Friday, April ll, I947, D.U.S. experi- enced her second Tire. AlThough The Third Tloor was pracTically demolished by The Tire and The resT oT The building was drenched wiTh waTer, dam- ages were suTTicienTly cleared so ThaT school was resumed on The Tollowing Tuesday. However, all repairs were noT compleTed, nor was The addiTion oT an enlarged and improved Third Tloor Tinished unTil laTe in I947. This pasT Spring and Summer has wroughT more changes. On May 6, I948, Mr. WheTsTone resigned as HeadmasTer oT These schools. His posT has been capably Tilled by Mr.G. Iv1.GarreTT, AssisTanT To The HeadmasTer aT D.U.S., and by Miss Blanche Richardson, AssisTanT To The Head- masTer aT G.P.C.D.S., as The acTing adminisTraTors in The Two schools. During The summer an addiTion To The CounTry Day School was made. This has made iT possible Tor These schools To educaTe a larger number oT youngsTers and To be oT even greaTer service To The communiTy. In May, I947, The Board oT TrusTees under- Tool: a DevelopmenT Program which is designed, when compleTed in Tive years, To provide greaTer securiTy Tor The sTaTT, more scholarships, and in- creased space Tor The schools. When The Tinancial goal has been reached, a new building Tor The high school girls will be consTrucTed on Cook Road opposiTe The D.U.S. campus. This will allow Tor a more eTTecTive and eTTicienT uTilizaTion oT The Tacil- iTies and The TacuITies oT These schools. This combinaTion oT schools seems To be a happy one. NOT only does iT prove more eco- 10

Page 16 text:

First Students .loin-tin Congratulating March 2, I949 Dear Frank, You have advised me that the Editor-in-Chief of the Pericon has asked that l, as the first enrolled student in D.U.S. write a letter congratulating the School upon the attainment of its Golden Anniversary. This first student enrolled in D.U.S. is one of those legends that come down from the murky past of fifty years ago and one which l have from time to time protested, on the grounds that, while I was enrolled at the conception of the school, certainly my fraternity brother, Joe Sherrard: should have that honor, if being alive so long can be considered an honor. lt was Mr. Henry Gray Sherrard, perhaps the greatest teacher of the classical languages of his day fof whom e delightful picture appears in Pickin's book, On My Own D, who was in every sense the father of D.U.S., and l am sure his own boy Joe was enrolled in his mind if not on paper before I was even thought of. However, I well remember the evening in the summer of I899 when Mr. Sherrard, who, in those days before there was e paved road to Grosse Pointe and before automobiles existed, with his family and Mrs. Sherrard's family were the only year-round residents of Grosse Pointe, strolled down to our summer cottage and told my father that he had at last gotten the necessary pieces together to form the boys' preparatory school which he had long planned. Then he turned to me and said, with that friendly twinkle in his eye that was so characteristic of him: and, Harry, I have a fine old gentleman associated with me whom you will like very much. That was my first word of Mr. Frederick LeRoy Bliss who became the first headmaster of the school and had agreed to resign his position as Principal of the Central High School to undertake with Mr. Sherrard the organization of D.U.S. And it is a commentary upon youth and Mr. Sherrard's understanding of youth that when some months later I first met Mr. Bliss, then, I believe, in his forties, Mr. Sherrard's description of him as a fine old gentleman did not seem in any way amiss. The foregoing is my earliest recollection of D.U.S. and one which few alumni now living can remember. After a lapse of half a century l take great pride in having been one of the first D.U.S. boys, a member of the Board of Trustees for the past 25 years, that my father was a member of the original corporation, in the fact that my two sons are alumni of the school, that my four daughters attended its affiliate, the Grosse Pointe Country Day School, and that two of my grandchildren are now enrolled in that school. To the Headmasters, Frederick LeRoy Bliss, Frederick E. Searle, Howard F. Fletcher, Clifton 0. Page and Lambert F. Whetstone, to their associates William H. Fries and Gaither M. Garrett, and to the many able teachers who have served under them, but, above all, to Henry Gray Sherrard who conceived the idea and was responsible for the excellence of the school's beginning, all alumni of the school and the City of Detroit are deeply indebted for what they did. l congratulate those who are now carrying on upon this passing of the half-century mark of the school and wish them all success through the years to come. Very sincerely yours, C0 C. H. Haberkorn, Jr. Mr. Frank Sladen, Jr. Detroit University School Cook Road Grosse Pointe Woods 30, Michigan Congratulatory letter from William H. Fries to D. U. S. on the occasion oi its 50th Year Anniversary. Fifty years in the life of a man or of an institution is no small measure of time. For thirty-six of this fifty year span of Detroit University School, l lived with the school and its interests were mine. Now that l am outside and can view it with a certain obiectivity, impossible when working at the immediate school problems, I realize the truth of the saying that any institution is as good as the product it turns out. I2