Mansfield High School - Hornet / Green Years Yearbook (Mansfield, MA)

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Miss Jennie Freeman Copeland stood out in crimson “Non Solis Nobis” (Not for our- selves alone). At the reception a few choice friends were allowed to look on it, but the actual ceremony was behind closed doors. The only incident that we have been able to learn in the history of the class of 1897 is that they hung a May basket for the principal at his home. The wily pedagog ushered the girls into one room and the boys into another. In spite of his precautions the company was soon mixed. Athletics had had their part in the life of the school almost since its beginning. In 1877 the baseball team was playing Plainville and Attleboro. In 1888 they were using as a practice field, Jane’s field, on West Street. But it was in 1898 under the guidance of the principal, Mr. Stone, that football was started. He was a good sport and played with the boys. When he became too disheveled, however, he disliked to be seen by the townspeople; so, at least on one occasion, the boys grouped around him to form a screening body guard as they returned to town. The feminine contingent assisted at the games from the sideline by rattling the opponents. The girls had a milder form of athletics. They were required to buy Indian clubs, which they used in the gymnasium, the unfinished attic, where they were obliged to stand in the middle to avoid hitting the rafters. The next year the boys’ athletic field was transfer- red to Branch Street. 1899 was the last year of the three year course. Consequently there was no graduation in 1900. This year an addition was made to the Central Building which enabled the high school to have an extra room and a larger laboratory. Every class is proud to record its initiative. The annals of the class of 1902 show that they started hav- ing plays in the Town Hall to raise money they pre- sented the school with a bust of Shakespeare, the first class gift: and they introduced the class will. The school authorities caught the spirit of starting things and offered a business course, including shorthand and typewriting. Fifteen pupils elected the course, which made a heavy demand on the single typewriter. Each one had a try at it for fifteen minutes. The Boy Cadets were organized in the spring of 1903 under Major Danforth. His favorite expression, “Hold your head up, your feet will stay on the floor” soon had its effect on the military bearing of the boys. The class of 1903 followed the example of the pre- vious seniors, and put on a class play, which netted three hundred dollars. Part of this sum was spent to purchase a statue of Minerva. Poor Minerva! No goddess was ever so beset with trials. They tested her courage by leaving her alone all night with a mouse tied to her. She suffered the indignity of being clothed in male attire to represent a mere mortal, one of her assistants. Whether in the cause of hygiene, or as a matter of pure deviltry, somebody gave her a bath and spoiled her school girl complexion. She received fractures, and no one knows how or where she ended her days. Minerva was not the only immortal who endured trials at the hands of high school pupils. Fearing that Shakespeare had an earache, they stuffed his ears with tinfoil; they put a cigarette behind his ear, and even in recent years taught him to wear a hat in the school room. And he survived! In 1904 the two sessions were compressed into one, lasting from 8:20 to 1:15. The school year was length- ened from thirty-six to forty-weeks. The Athletic Association, which supported base- ball, was formed about this time. It gradually became inactive, and was revived with a new constitution in he Ie Its support didn’t amount to much, as the boys had to furnish their own suits, which were never complete. They traveled to out-of-town games on trolleys, and changed their clothes in woods or barns. The cadets spent a week each summer from 1904 to 1909 at Oak Bluffs, where they formed a regiment with Taunton, Fall River, and Brockton. In 1904 and 1905 the Boston Herald offered a trophy in baseball, which Mansfield won. The school officially took little part in athletics, for there were none of the faculty at games. “Ringers” were used, and the Mansfield team often took its own umpire in order to be sure to win the game. On one occasion at Walpole, to satisfy the ambition of the team, the umpire was obliged to pronounce a fair ball a foul. The fellow who had made the hit ran to home plate, grabbed the bat, and chased the umpire all over aes ts Fé ‘ as a @IrA Lp Mansfield’s Gooseberry Pie from Mansfield England

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and a cornet. On special occasions it was not unusual for the affair to last until 5 A.M. Chaperones were unknown, and it would have been deemed an insult had anyone suggested the need of an older person’s attendance. The class of 1882 was composed of only two mem- bers, both young men, who allege they always tended strictly to business. Undaunted by scarcity of num- bers, they planned to carry on the regular graduation exercises, confident of the quality of the class, if not the quantity. But, alas, they were doomed to disap- pointment, for the school committee allowed the principal to accept a better position, and leave three weeks before the end of the term; so school ended without a graduation, and the diplomas were just handed out. That year they had five different princi- pals. In 1883, examinations rules were more rigorous than in Mr. Crowley’s time, and out of thirty-five candidates only ten were admitted. The graduation exercises were held in March, a custom which was continued for several years. The spring term opened in the newly finished Town Hall. Since students owned their own text- books, moving day was simple. The night before the change the pupils took their books home with them, and the next day brought them to the new school. In 1884, the town began furnishing the books to comply with a new State law. At this time the school year con- sisted of thirty-four weeks. The class of 1885 graduated with one lonesome boy among eight girls. One of °87’s well-known members, Mr. Ernest White, with two classmates, had an unhappy experi- ence with an elderly deacon residing on Union Street. The deacon was strict in his ideas and had little inter- est in school athletics. During football practice in the yard behind the Town hall and cemetery, the boys kicked the ball into the deacon’s chicken yard, and while engaged in recovering it, accidently broke the fence. Before they could reach the school, they saw the owne r of the broken fence heading for the same place. Youthful legs, prompted by guilty consciences, enabled the owners to reach the schoolroom first, where they scattered to separate hiding places. The boys were nowhere to be found when the principal tried to satisfy the irate deacon. White concealed himself behind the organ; where he remained all morning, until the air became so stifling that he feared suffocation, and slunk out to be met by Mr. Tower’s inquiry, “Where have you been?” Ernest meekly replied, “Hiding from the deacon.” Forthwith the other boys were discovered and given the alterna- tive of apology or a week’s suspension. They chose the later. Returning a week later, they discovered that the apology was still expected, and were sent to the owner of the chicken yard. He accepted their acknowledgements of error with the requirement that they tip their hats when they met him on the street. The year 1888 saw the addition of an assistant to help the boys and girls; the girls gave the boys a run for their money. Scholarship, however, in the class of 89 and preceding classes, received no rewards of cov- eted places on the graduation program. These honors were allotted by the class. The class of 1890 was the last to choo se the valedic- torian by vote. They were the first to have an ode. A unique number on the graduation program was an exibition in calisthenics by some of the boys. Several of the class enjoyed a sleigh ride two days following graduation. From 1889 to 1893 Mr. Fred C. Hardon, whose musical abilities were well recognized in Mansfield, was principal. He tried to prove in the high school his contention that everyone could sing. His theory, how- ever, proved a failure and his plan was frustrated by the necessity of excusing several boys whose voices were changing. Until 1891 languages had been taught only as a special favor to pupils who needed them for further study. In fact, one of the early principals either from lack of time or inclination, sent those who desired German or French to his home to be instructed by his wife. In 1891 a Latin course was introduced. A new epoch in the history of Mansfield schools began this year when Mr. E. P. Fitts became superin- tendent. Up to this time the entire supervision of the schools had been in the hands of the school commit- tee. Mr. Fitts revived the June graduation. The year 1892 marked the removal of the school from the Town Hall to the Central Building, where it occupied two rooms and a small, poorly equipped laboratory in the attic. The moving was not entirely a joyous occasion, for the pupils felt it a step downward to leave a building exclusively for them to occupy a section of a structure supervised by Mr. Berry and including lower grades. The lawn in front and one the sides of the building was carefully graded; and as long as Mr. Berry remained principal, it was hallowed ground, not to be desecrated by scraps of paper or unruly footsteps. On Arbor Day, at the instigation of William C. Winter, a member of the school board, small maple trees were set out along the edge of the lawn. Each room planted a tree and was expected to be responsi- ble for its care. In October the High School joined with the other schools in commemorating the four hundredth anni- versary of the landing of Columbus. Much time was spent practicing for the songs, marching, and recita- tions. The class of 1893 initiated the idea of class rings. As a result of being the first class to study German, they used that language for their motto. The class of 1895 was still more ambitious, present- ing a short French play at graduation. The class of 1896 seems to have featured the Eng- lish language, as they were the first to start a school publication, the “M.H.S. Mirror,” an entertaining sheet written in longhand on school paper. The most ambitious number was read as part of the graduation exercises. Also, in the senior year of the class, one issue of the Mansfield News was handed over to the high school to compose. They were entirely responsi- ble for the editorials, a short story, and the news items. It was a custom for the Seniors to have a beauti- fully decorated cake, which was cut graduation night and distributed among the members. This class had a beauty. Upon the pure white frosting the class motto

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1919 Girl Cadets the field. However, the umpire’s decision was law, and Mansfield won the game. The college preparatory group greatly rejoiced in 1905 because the Mansfield High School was granted the certificate privilege. The graduating class of 1905 was the largest up to this time, yet it continued the custom of having every member of the class take part at commencement. Consequently patient relatives remained on the wooden seats in the Town Hall until quarter of twelve. That never happened again. The next year’s class had a selected program. In the fall there was an entire change of teachers. In 1905 the class of 1909 started a paper, the “Bow- Wow Bulletin,” which expired after three years. The class of 1906 was left in the lurch when the music director, angry at the boys’ inattention at the rehearsal on the morning of graduation, walked out. One of the townspeople was called upon to direct the chorus that night. Mansfield initial experience in a speaking contest game in 1906 when Mansfield entered into competi- tion with Franklin, Medfield, Medway, and Woon- socket. The first girls’ cadet drill was in 1908. One of the school committee objected to the girls’ having a drill, and said they had better learn to make doughnuts. To prove that they were able to do both, the girls made about thirty dozen doughnuts, which they had plan- ned to present as souvenirs to the guests. But the Boy Cadets in front of High School school committee, learning of the intended distrib- ution, ordered that they should not be served. The boys cadets, however, ate their fill and pronounced them very good. The next year 1909 saw two improvements: a field in back of the school was added to the school yard, and a new business department was installed on the third floor, with twenty desks, and a long bench for typewriters. The class of 1909 which as freshmen issued the “Bow-Wow Bulletin,” in their senior year published the “Argonaut,” a printed monthly magazine, which was a credit to the school. Later it was published only three times a year. The same year, in order to raise money to support a baseball coach, the school gave a minstrel show which benefited them by the sum of seventy-five dol- lars. A trip to Washington was an innovation intro- duced by the class of 1910. All these years the school had been growing, until in September 1910, the membership was one hundred thirty-four. The same fall a High School orchestra was organ- ized. The 1911 baseball team won the Bristol County Championship. The present school color, green, was adopted about this time. The class of 1912, which was the second class to go to Washington, raised their travel fund by ingenious means; they collected twelve dollars worth of old rub- bers, and also held a Christmas fair. In the spring, the high school joyfully moyed to their new building. A few hours after they had arrived in the midst of general disorder, with books on the floor and unattached seats, they were hustled out of the building because of a rubbish fire in the base- ment. The pleasure of moving into a new building was partly marred for the seniors by the inconven- lence and disappointment of being obliged to hold their graduation in the gymnasium because the Town Hall was under repair. The new gymnasium was an incentive for the form- ing of boys’ and girls’ basketball teams. Even at drill the girls introduced style. This was the period of long, tight, skirts, so in order that they might match, their navy blue skirts were slit and showed colorful petticoats. The first of the so-called “big classes,” the product of the consolidation of the eighth and ninth grades of grammar school, entered the High School with a membership of seventy-six in the fall of 1916. The class fo 1917 was the last to go to Washington. Phonograph money and a lantern for the lecture room were purchased with money received from the sale of Lowney’s chocolates. The World War had its effect on the High School. The only class to send any of its members into the service was 1919, which contributed two to the cause. Economy was the keynote during these years, and graduation dresses were simple. Girls were excused from classes to sell little pins for the Red Cross. In the winter of 1918 school was forced to close for four weeks as a result of the coal shortage. The after-