Malden High School - Maldonian Yearbook (Malden, MA)

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To John B . Matthews, who is completing his first year as headmaster of the school since the retirement of Thornton Jenkins in June, 19f3, ice offer the affection and, gratitude of the class. Our H e a

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We, the Class of 1944, believe that in the three years we have spent at Malden High, we have seen changes, within and without the school, that are unlike any seen before by any high school class. We have seen bewildering changes in the school itself. Our own beloved Mr. Jenkins retired, and Mr. Matthews stepped in, to make himself, in the short space of a year, universally popular with faculty and students alike. Faculty appointments and replacements in the teaching staff have made the faculty sections in the 1942, 1943 and 1944 yearbooks bear only a bowing re¬ semblance to one another. New organizations and events—Student Council, Sophomore Class, Orientation Day, Guidance Day—have come with almost bewildering rapidity. In the outside world, the war has dominated our thoughts, dreams and anxieties. We of this class have seen the shape of the world change, knit, dissolve and change again a score of times in three years. We have seen maps of Europe and the Pacific become obsolete in a month, a week, a day. Pearl Harbor came during our three years, and Guadalcanal. As sophomores, we sat spellbound in our classrooms, one fifth period, and heard Congress declare war on Germany, Italy and Japan. We have seen Russia push the Germans back to where the war began, and we have seen Italy invaded, and the Marshalls taken, and the push from Burma. The end is not yet in sight. Avid even now, while the Allies prepare for the invasion of Europe, while the fight for New Guinea continues and the mud on the Road to Rome dries in the spring sun, our classmates are fighting on a score of f ronts for our dreams, our beliefs—and theirs. And that is the biggest change of all. We are living in the pages of history—and we are grateful. We are grateful that these three years of change in our school life, in our personal lives, in the story of the world, have been spent here in an atmosphere of academic serenity, amid the pleasant turmoil of student activities. We are grateful for any precious days or weeks left to us before we, too, must plunge into the glory and the devastation that is our war. And we are grateful to the members of our class who are now in service—those who have gone before us. Those of us in the class who will take part in the graduation exercises know that a gulf has opened between us and the fighting soldiers and sailors of our class. Yet, humbly, and with familiar affection, we claim a tru e kindred of spirit with our classmates in the armed forces. It is, perhaps, not too much to say that the same high ideal of being rather than seeming sustains all of us; sustains them in their struggle against the enemy, sustains us in our preparation to assume more ac¬ tive duties of war, sustains the tried and the untried alike in the strong determination to forge a just and durable and happy peace. Encouraged by this strong sense of unity with you, classmates in arms, we offer you this unworthy tribute as a tender of all we feel in our hearts. To you we respectfully dedicate this book.

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Zo the Members of the Class of 1944 : It is always a difficult task for me to say goodbye to a senior class. To say goodbye to this class is no exception. For many reasons this class has a warm spot in my heart. I have watched the members of this class grow and grow. Today invariably the members of this class meet their obligations well. They have matured from young and carefree entering students to older young men and women with a purpose in life. What measure of success we have had in our school , this my first year as Head Master , is due in no small part to the wonderful support and co-operation of the members of this class. The school will miss you and I certainly shall. But that is the way of the world. You are going out into a world most chaotic. If I could give you one thought to take with you it would be this: “There is no short cut to success.” Good luck to you all and may God bless you. JOHN B. MATTHEWS d ni a s t e r 4