Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts - Mohawk Yearbook (North Adams, MA)

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faq Ufzaiian 1894 - 1944 ' IFTY YEARS of Progress . So we, emboldened by youth, feel justified in saying of our College. Fifty years ago this traditional ivy plant was just beginning its task of twining the hearts of past graduates into a loyal, clinging cover for the beloved halls. Today we look on each ascending tendril as a reminder of tier on tier of young eager graduates, who become to us who stand here today so remote that they are forms without outline, faces without features. Yet they too stood here. They too tried to examine the past with critical eyes, but their vision, like ours, grew dim. They could look only forward, and strain toward the future - a future yet as undefined as the past, but glowing with golden promise. But let us for a moment look behind us. In 1900 there was peace in our land, while all over the world there were uprisings and revolutions. We Americans were the peacemakersg we were the wealthy, we were the powerful, we were the wise, and so we looked on wondering at the warlike Europeans and Asiatics. What thoughts, we wonder, were in the minds of the students inside these walls in 1900? How far ahead could they see? Two decades later we had brought the first World War to its con- clusion. The time had come when it was necessary to set in order the tangled affairs of Europe, so we sent our young men over to prepare the Held for action. They did so, nobly and unselfishly, with their blood. Were' the young hearts beneath the ivy leaves eager for enduring peace? Were youthful faces grave with foreboding when the signatures were affixed at Versailles? 1930. The nation had suffered tragedy through a phenomenon called the Stock Market Crash. All the energies of its leaders had to be directed toward that material prosperity which seemed to be important to their people. It was safe now to concentrate on economic reconstruc- tion, for had we not in a company of fifteen nations signed a pact out- lawing war? 21

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No bombs or guns to destroy these passions That dominate the lives of men on the home front, In their actions no vestige of comprehension is seen. Those men on that battlefield lying cold and dead Have been unjustly forgotten, and erased From the deliberations of the self-centered individuals. How fortunate those men were to die quick, valiant, destined deaths. They were not selfish, they were not impious, they were not avaricious: While we at home lapse into languid, cruel and mental deaths. Our minds are content with egotistical meditations, Thoughts which shade the pangs of reality. Our very lives are being blunted by these evil passions, How ignorant we are, how unaware, how wrong! All of us must awaken to the use of our great weapons,- No, not guns or bombs, but the power that lies in learning, Whereby our lives from childhood to man will be enriched with wisdom and virtue, Thus we may lessen the self-complacency of society today. Let us drink from the deep, rich cup of knowledge, Then only may we fill our hearts and minds with the humble under- standing, a sympathy with all men, And stand behind, not in front of, the men who have sacrificed their lives That we at home may make our selves free and victorious. Martha jane Mf1cAcfoo '44 23

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But four years ago far-sighted men having heard the increasing rumble of approaching war were starting the mechanisms of national defense. But wait - we call them far-sighted. What did we call them in nineteen-forty .... alarmists',? Perhaps we did, not realizing that the warning was already late. We may question whether those same far- sighted men noticed the small beginnings of World War II nearly ten years before. It is comforting to think that some in America sensed danger in events abroad, even while others among us ignored them, or worse, helped to promote them. In which group can we place the youth then in college? Here we stand, fifty years separated from our beginnings. We have been at war since December 7, nineteen forty-one. It is perhaps in- appropriate at this time to examine whether we, through myopic com- placency or greed helped bring this conflagration on ourselves. Rather we should now accept the responsibility for the years that lie ahead. Have we been thoughtful citizens? We shall be, for thoughtful Americans are unselfish Americans. Unselfish Americans can see beyond their own doorsteps to the distress of their neighbors. And their neighbors' troubles do not go unnoticed nor unaided. Fifty years from now we, the class of nineteen forty-four, will be but a dim shadow, symbolized by a climbing vine. Nineteen ninety-four will not attempt to trace our course through life, for that is solely our concern. Then let us accept the future with the unswerving resolve that each of us as individuals can look back one day with clear-sighted eyes on his own fifty years of progress. Helen M. Sindermmz 25