Manual Arts High School - Artisan Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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' BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM Fifty years ago at the opening of the second semester of the school year 1908-09, the Los Angeles City School System found it necessary to place 350 B-9 pupils in a new school located on Olive Street in downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles and Polytechnic High Schools, then the only two public high schools in Los Angeles, could not house them. Such was the humble beginning of a school which was destined to become the most widely known high school of the century. From the start this infant high school manifested the characteristics which were to make it famous. The principal, the teachers and the students were all rugged individualists. They believed in themselves and the edu- cational values of an activity program. They valued the self respect and the personal satisfaction that came wit h a philosophy that can be summed up in the motto It can be Done and the practice of saying Let us do it. From the halls and classrooms of this fledgling school, now moved to its permanent home on Vermont Avenue, came, in a shorter period of time than any other school in the country a great procession of community state and nation-wide leaders. Statesmen, artists, musicians, writers, generals, engineers, judges, businessmen, doctors, lawyers, and educators as well as thousands of thoroughly competent technicians, mechanics, and trades- men poured in a steady stream from this school into the life of the com- munity, the state, and the country. These were not inclined to meet the demands of the day with Let Others Do It. They were eager and vital and asked only that a task be assigned, and that they be given an opportunity to serve. In diproportionate numbers they made their way into positions of fame and leadership and service. I had the privilege of spending a day in historic Philadelphia last Febru- ary. As I walked where George Washington had walked, sat where Thomas Jefferson had sat, and reflected where Benjamin Franklin had re- flected, I realized what these men had done in their day. They had demon- strated to all men that they believed in It can be done and had evi- denced their belief by crying Let us do it. In my mind I journeyed three thousand miles across a continent to where our student body and our staff were working on a spot where the true spirit of the revoluation had had a rebirth in the twentieth century. I vowed a rededication of life and purpose to the things that have made our country and our school great. Come, let us of Manual rededicate ourselves in this second half of the century to faith and to work; to faith in the belief that it can be done and to work in vigor and joy in the sure realization that true greatness in our generation will result from worthwhile achievement as it has in all the generations that have gone before us. BY OUR FRUITS MAY THEY KNOW US. ' ■ , ■ | Mr. Honn conversing with Everett Stephens, Student Body Cabinet R.O.T.C. Representa- tive. B-10 Orientation class looks on attentively as Mr. Honn speaks. Mr. Honn and Manualites cheer our team on to victory. 20

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The New Manual, by Jerry Livingston, W ' 36 Artisan. teams also brought in league championships. Music and drama, too, have been tops. The orchestra has many best ratings for the period. A new upsurge of dramatic activity in the last half of the fifties has brought sweepstakes recognition at Shakesperean fes- tivals and one-act play contests. Dino has joined the greats n f other eras s a senior plav, and drama teams have been asked to out on programs at LACC and USC, where Manual alumni are carving significant names for themselves. Dancers and musicians have en- tertained the student bodv and then graduated to larger audiences on staae and television as well as in the field of composing. Three times graduation music was writ- ten by a member of the class. And as a crowning part of these fifty golden years the alumni have shown their love and loyalty to the school beginning with a banquet of 200 graduates of 1913-1919, each of the decades has had a Jubilee gathering — Five hundred and fifty. The Twenties gath- ered in joyous reunion at their party — when they sang the old songs, and yelled the old yells, and heard their old classmates and principal. On Doctor Wilson ' s birthdav, March 6, the alumni in education and the faculty members honored him at a large tea. Nearly three weeks before the Thirties party, their dinner tickets were sold out and several hundred joined the diners later for visiting and talking far into the night. Two ballrooms, at the hotel, it took to hold the Forties for their dance where over 1,200 visited and reminisced. As for the Fifties, ' ' it took all outdoors to hold them on their all-day picnic where spouses and children added to the gaiety and number and the current student body service groups linked the present and the past. The magnetic Dull of the school not made with hands, is still a force. What will the next decade bring? There was something in old Manual, As she stood before the quake, That would linger in my memory, Tho a better school they ' d make. There was something in the old arcades Where the student used to stroll, That I wondered if they could replace With fine architecture and gold. Now I never went to Manual Before her walls were down And I never strolled her old arcades Nor walked her flowered ground. But there was something in her portals. And the love of students there And it made me dream of time to come, When I too that love would share. And at last I ' m here at Manual I have watched her new walls rise, The change that I feared is here at last She stands bravely against the skies. But it ' s not the walls of Manual That make her dear to me. It ' s not the arcades or the grounds Or anything to see. It ' s the spirit of old Manual That lurks in school life there. She spreads her wings, and shelters us With more than buildings fair. 19

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To the Seniors, the year 19 r 9 will always marks the year of your grad- uation as well as the Golden Jubilee Anniversary year of Manual Arts High School. Manual has produced many thousands of fine Americans ahead of you. We have every rea- son to be proud of Manual. It has ranked second to none among schools of the city for fifty years. The students ahead of you have left a rich heritage for you, guided by ins] iration and inspired by tra- dition. For the last three years you have enjoyed working together, and I want to congratulate you upon the achievements you have already ob- tained and the accomplishments which have made possible your graduation. I am confident the grad- uating classes of this fiftieth year will make a worthy contribution to society. We hope your experiences at Manual have convinced you that anything worthwhile comes as a result of effort and perseverance. Success usually comes to us be- cause we are willing to accept criti- cism and profit from it. In light of these few words, may I wish you every success in your fu- ture careers. Ivol Blaylock Mr. Blaylock Boys ' Vice-Principal The Social Studies Department welcomes Mr. Blaylock to Manual. Our Guideposts Congratulations to the Valedictorian and Zirconian classes. As the graduating classes of our Fiftieth Jubilee year, you will no doubt, look back over the years of Manual ' s history, feeling pride in the achievements of Manual- ites before you — achievements that have con- tributed to the glory of Manual, of our state, and of our country. It is up to you to make decisions and formu- late your plan for life in such a way that you, too, may make a positive and worth-while con- tribution to mankind. You have a part to play in the pattern of life, even though it may seem a small one. It you play it well and make a positive contribution, then your life will be worth while. I hope that each and every one of you finds your proper niche, and with it the happiness and peace that comes through a life well lived. Evelyn Smith Mrs. Smith Girls ' Vice-Principal Mrs. June Peterson Head Counselor 21