Natick High School - Sassamon Yearbook (Natick, MA)

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6 T H E S A S S A M O N ADDRESS OF WELCOME--GRADUATION Parents, Teachers and Friends: It gives ine pleasure as president of the Class of 1946 to welcome you here this evening. We are gathered here tonight for the last time as a class. Soon we shall take various paths along life's highway. XYe feel that we have been very fortunate to have enjoyed the privileges of this great democracy and we pledge ourselves to keep America truly the land of the free and the hotne of the brave. as A glorious heritage is ours, Our native land with freedom bright Make strong our hands, G Land of Ours, To guard, protect, defend thy might l 1' 1 sf THAT WE SHALL REMEMBER Twenty-tive years ago today, anofh class, graduating from Natick Hi School, faced a great many problems not unlike those which we, the class of 19 face today. They were also at the beginnitfg of a postwar era. They too were puzzled and skeptical about our foreign policy, about the coal situation, the world court, prevention of war, and the League of Nations. And somehow during the few years that followed, people lost interest in these things.. They forgot what war was like, they forgot what the rest of the world was doing. Consequently, when the shadow of the aggressor began advancing across Eastern Europe and in the Orient, the League of Nations was powerless to arrest their progress. England, France and the other nations refused to impose economic sanctions as long as the United States was not committed to such action, for they feared that we would take advantage of the situation to increase our own commerce. Who can say that our participation in the League would have prevented war 5 but there are those who say that our lack of interest precipitated the war. ,4 Today, as we go forward, may we remember what.has h ne and what is more important, why it happened. Then let tts resolve'to do s g about it. Let us work toward unity with the nations of the world. The unify of which we speak is international cooperation through organization -the main purpose of the lfnited Nations. lt seems, then, only logical that this organization be encouraged as the medium for attaining world harmony. Not only should the work of the Lfnited Nations be encouraged, but it must be given whole- hearted, active support by every nation to prevent the degradation of humanity. The lfnited Nations did not develop suddenly. The desire for a new inter- national system was mentioned as early as the Atlantic Charter and then the idea began to mature. The title l.,'nited Nations' s first officially used in January v I

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THE SASSAMON GRADUATION PROGRAMME Processional, Pageantr5 ...... . Irving Cheyette HIGH SCHOOL ORCHESTRA National Anthem . ...... . Franfis Stott Key Invocation RIEVEREND EVERETT R. BARROws Address of Welcome JOHN ROBERT DRrsCoLI. President, Class of 1946 Baritone Horn Solo, Introduction and Rondo . . . Forrest L. Buchtel XNVILLIAM SARGENT BRADFORD .4Cl'0llIf7tl111-Sf, JOAN TERESA PARRINELLO Essay, That VVe May Remember DOROTHY ELIZABETH OLSON Soprano Solo, Caro Nome ........ Verdi JOAN TERESA PARRINELLO Accompanist, GERALD EUSTIS THOMAS, Class of 1947 Farewell Address RITA NIARY DEANGELIS President, Honor Society Selection, One VVOI-ld ...... . Godfrey O'Hara SENIOR CHORUS Address PIONORABLE EDNVIN O. CHILDS Presentation of Diplomas HAROLD H. JOHNSON Chairman, School Committee Alma Mater . ........ Lucile Nichols '26 CLASS OF 1946 Recessional, llliestival March ....... C. M. von Weber In HIGH SCHOOL ORCHESTRA A ROBERT EDNVARD FAIR, 1947, Marshal

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THE SASSAMON 7 1941 when forty-eight nations' united to win the war. At subsequent international conferences more and more was said about uniting for a permanent peace. Finally, in the summer of 1944, forty delegates from Great Britain, China, Russia, and the United States convened at Dumbarton Oaks to discuss the desire for a new inter- national peace system, and to compose a document, which was later known as the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals. Finally, in April 1945, little over a year ago, The United Nations Conference on International Organization opened in San Francisco. The delegates from forty-eight nations, with the Proposals as their guide, began work on the United Nations Charter which blueprinted the main governing bodies. There were more than a few differences among the many representatives, but there was no bitterness. Concessions were made by both the large and the small nations, many disputes were settled by compromise. At last, two months later, the completed document was signed by fifty-one nations. The world had made another advance toward peace. Since then, there have been twoiiineetings of the United Nations: the prepara- tory meeting in London, and the first session at the Qgporary headquarters at New York. Already a great many difficulties have arisen, Izhid we have found several imperfections in the Charter. Yet when the Constitution ofgthe United States was completed in 1776, one of the most eminent of its '-fotmdiiig fathers, Benjamin Franklin, saw its many flaws and he uttered this comment, l confess that there are several parts of this Constitution which I do not approve, butii am not sure that I shall never approve them .... Thus, I consent, Sir, to this Constitution, because I expect no better, and because l am not sure that it is not the best. That same document is the living basis of our democracy today. Therefore we must not be discouraged! The United Nations already has two great advantages over the League in thatlit has the power to use force against an aggressor, and that the United States is a charter member, pledging itself to support and maintain an active interest in the orgainizationqt has laid the groundwork for a practical and workable permanent peace. XVhat the final result will be-whether the United Nations will work or not depends on us. No official delegate can make the Organization work unless the people he represents are convinced that it is the only way to insure lasting peace and that they must work for peace. Then, and only then, will the United Nations succeed. . DOROTHY ELIZABETH CJLSON. 4 1 4 FAREWELL ADDRESS Never before in the history of the World has there been a generation charged with so great a responsibility as the one borne by our generation. lVith us. and especially with the youth of America, lies the task of keeping alive in the minds of the peoples of the world the stark tragedy of war and the necessity of a lasting peace. Ours is the task of seeing that the world never forgets the wasted youth, the vast destruction of property, and the great corruption of morals that is synonymous with war, -