Ramsay High School - Rams Horn Yearbook (Birmingham, AL)

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PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS JANUA R Y Classmates and Friends: Masefield has given us the immortal lines: “And all I asked is a ship and a star to steer lier by. To-day we step up the gangplank and sail aboard our ship. In order to live a joyful] useful life may we use the star of character-education to direct our course. Each of the five points of this star plays an important part in developing our characters and in equipping us better for life’s sea. Use and follow this star to the harbor of success which is wisdom and virtue. During our high school career, we have become quite familiar with the first point of our star co-operation. Willingness to work together for the common interest is indeed one »f the greatest tests of the strength of one’s character. The welfare of our country depends upon the ability of its citizens to recognize the true meaning of this word. Mow can we serve our nation better than bv caring for the welfare of all? May we always let the rules of love and justice control our action. The necessity of world ’co-operation is felt to-day by all races and by all nations. The worthy use of leisure, the second point of our star, makes us realize that the old proverb, “An idle brain is the devil’s workshop. still holds true and even more so. for the rapid rate of progress of the machine gives us more and more leisure. We. who have had the advantage of a secondary education, know the pleasures obtained from books, music, art. active participation in sports, and the joy of creating. The character of the people of a country determines largely its strength. How important it is then that our leisure hours be wisely spent! There is no obstacle too large to overcome if we possess the third point of our star courage. The few frontier men. who made the great American democracy, had it. The courage of youth to-day builds the constructive citizen of the world tomorrow. King Arthur and his knights were courageous because they pursued and defended a cause worthwhile. May we not profit by our study of Burns who unfortunately lacked this quality when it touched his own life? Carlyle tells us that only one whose ideals can stand the most penetrating scrutiny possesses integrity. Thus we come to our fourth point. How wise is the expression. A truthful man is a respected man”! Honor and respect can be gained only by being honest both in private and public life. Social integrity leads people to understand one another better, and where there is understanding, there is no hatred and war. If we are to possess self-respect, we must not only have courage and integrity, but we must seek self-control, the last point of our star. Wordsworth reminds us: A man without self-control Would seek what the degraded soul Unworthily admires. Fellow classmates, may the good in us ever prevail. Seek always the best in others and the l est in us will grow. May our influence always elevate, not degrade, the lives of our friends. Then there will be happy days and nights on the friendly deck of our ship as we meet new people and do new t ,nSs Jim Norman. January, 'y?

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SENIOR POEM A L O n A the breaking of known threads Seems too hard. If the obscureness of roads ahead Frightens your heart. If the dividing of our paths firings tears loo near, Do not whisper loze. -‘Farewell, Or cry a laughing. Adieu Let your lips imprison All words of finality: Let not a brave adios. Or a harsh good-bye Break through your guard! Say what your heart is saying: Say what you feel and hope' IIV shall meet again II hen years haze wrought their hange. Bernal love for you. Alma Mater. H ill be safely hidden beneath our lives. Say. with me. my friends. “Aloha ' —Frances Baldwin, January '37

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PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS JUNE Classmates and Friends of Ramsay High School: Harry Elmer Bumes in an address delivered at a meeting of the l a-partmerit of Superintendence of the National Education Ass'n said: We are living in one of the four major transitional periods of the entire history of man on this planet. Only the so-called dawn of history, the break-up of ancient society with the decline of the Roman Empire, and the rise of the modern age after Columbus can compare with our period in the sweeping and thorough transformations to which we are being subjected or to those which stand immediately ahead of us. Truly we are living in a momentous period of the history of the world. Modem invention has been going on with lightning-like rapidity. Technology of production, transportation, and communication has advanced beyond anything previously conceived. We are faced with the possibility of economic abundance and the foundations of peace and justice in the world. Our social thinking, however, has failed to keep pace with our national advancement. In the economic field, we have not provided for a fair distribution of the social income, neither have we successfully checked the manipulations of high finance. In many countries, this has so undermined the capitalistic system that it has called for the intervention of force and fascism. If we in America would escape the dangers which threaten civilization, we must depend upon the education of our youth. This education must deal courageously with the realities of problems of t xlav instead of serving temporarily a decadent system which no longer serves our needs. The real danger in America lies in the reactionary spirit of some of our people who are opposed to reasonable concessions to social right and decency. In short, it is only by an intelligent application of a spirit of unselfishness and cooperation, that’we may escape the dangers of fascism and communism and preserve for us and our posterity the blessings of democracy. Classmates, as we go forth into this chaotic world, may we determine to give our l est in thought and deed toward the adequate solution of the manifold problems which now beset us. Let us not feel that graduation is the completion of our education. Verily it is but the beginning. To those of us who have enjoyed the benefits of a high school training, there comes a re-Sponsibility for intelligent leadership. Let us ever keep before us the ideal of unselfish service. Let us realize that each one of us has an important part to play in this rapidly changing civilization. May we continue to read and to study. Some will continue their education in college or university. To them comes even greater opportunity for leadership and for service. Others will enter directly the world of industry and of business. This likewise affords opportunities for further advancement and enlarged vision. Whatever may be our future careers, let us accept the challenge to intelligent leadership and faithfully and conscientiously strive to make the world a better place in which to live. Truman Morrison, June 37.