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Page 9 text:
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REFACTIONS We thought it would be nice to reflect briefly on a bit of the history of Agawam and our Class. lho3e of us who have had our roots in Agawam have reason to be proud of it. Agawam is truly a part of the history of America. In 1636, white settlers, led by William Fynchon, met and contracted with the Indians to buy all of Greater Springfield and a part of Conn, for 18 coats, 18 hoes, 18 hatchets, 18 knives and 18 fathoms of wampum, (strands totaling 108 feet of beads) The property East of the Conn, river became Springfield, named for William Pynchon's home town in England. Twenty-two square miles of land west of the Agawam River became and still is Agawam. The truancy law was adopted in the Agawam Town School System in 1885 In I89h, a law was passed that the Town of Agawam must pay the tuition to out-of-town High Schools or maintain a High School of its own. Many Agawam residents attended West Springfield High School—a school that later became our rival. In 1895 the town voted down a motion to build a High School but did approve the appointment of its first music and art supervisors. Finally, in 1920, the Town voted to appropriate $250,000. to purchase the Walter Barr property to build a High School. In 1921 the Cornerstone was laid and in 1922 Eenjamin J. Phelp3 was engaged as the Superintendent of Schools. There were 25 members in the first graduating class, who, for the most part, were transferees from West Springfield High. The size of the classes increased slightly in size in the following years. In 1929 there were 28 graduates and in 1930 , 33 graduated» Our Class, in 1931, was the largest class to graduate to that date. This was because, in 1926, the ninth grade was being eliminated so that eighth graders were promoted with the ninth graders to become freshmen. There were 65 in our class. A small class compared to a class of close to U00 to be graduating in 1981. Over the past fifty years, ve lost eleven of our class, namely: Earl Fay, Frances Figiel, John Roos, Mae Novelli McGowan, Julius Thormeyer, Jame3 Wright, Henry Madden, Florence Cowles Carroll, Helen Casanova Bassi, Alfred Levesque and Arthur Ruffo. Our class was referred to as nthe class of champions” and justifiably so. Musically, members of our clas3 were part of a 200-member Glee Club, a girls' choir, a double quartet and a 22-piece Prize-winning orchestra and all these groups were trained and directed by Ruth Perry. Selections were made from these groups and operettas were presented each year. During our four years in high school, 1928 - 1931, the Agawam Mirror received first clas3 honor ratings from the National Scholastic Press Association and in our Senior Year, the Mirror was classified nationally and was recognized as an all-American Honor Rated Publication. Talented members of the class were a part of the Art Department under Miss Crowley. They were always ready to help out with Stage sets. Mirror illustrations and Publicity Posters. The Commercial Dept., under the leadership of Miss Mclntire, had as its mascot a toy pig, indicative of its efforts to hog all the prizes and they were successful in their goals. We had so much to cheer about with our ever-winning football and basketball teams who also established the reputation of being clean, hard-fighting good sports. Harmon Smith was gym teacher for both the boys and girls and Elizabeth Baker Pond, in addition to being a top-notch bookkeeping teacher, coached Girls' sports until Marion Edge11 was engaged as physical education teacher for girls. The agricultural department was new to Agawam High School and, no doubt, was invaluable to those who became interested nnd went on as successful farmers. W® would especially like to pay our respects to the outstanding teachers assembled by Ben Phelps, the Agawam Supt. of Schools. We remember F. Earl Williams, the Principal, courting Ruth Bugbee, the English teacher. We remember with affection Hazel Aldrich in Domestic Science, Elizabeth Baker Pond in bookkeeping and Economics,
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Page 10 text:
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Gertrude Belyea in bookkeeping I would especially like to thank Nellie Irene Button who taught us to express our thoughts on paper, Eleanor Smith who made mathematics invaluable to my later life, Marjorie Ward who made history come alive, Ruth Perry who opened up the world of music to us all and Allan Hadley in Science as he courted Katherine Phealan who taught History and English. Other fine teachers were Mary Crowley in Art, Fred Dacey taught manual training before advanoing to greater things. We remember with gratitude Marian Edgell and Harmon Smith in Physical Education, Elaine Mansfield and Miss Jacques in French, Clara Mclntire in typing and shorthand. We salute Eleanor Miller in Latin and Geometry. Latin may be a dying subject but it wa3 darned useful in learning other languages, reading foreign menus and solving each Sunday Times crossword puzzle. We recall John Quirk in Science. These were an unusually capable and dedicated group of people. They were handpicked by Ben Phelps with hi3 always smiling moon face and continual enthusiasm. We thank you all. I suppose we were a “depression class . 1931 was in the middle of that 1929 i93k period—about the worst in U. S. History. A plate of spaghetti and bread cost 25 cents at Tinti's; Ford s best car cost a little over $500.00 Each of us present here tonight hopes that we have contributed our little bit to the society in which we live, that we have enhanced the reputation of Agawam High School and partially repaid the large debt we owe the taxpayers, school administration and the faculty of this fine high school. Thank you all and my especial thanks to Edith for her research. BION T. WHEELER, JR.
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