Allen High School - People Yearbook (Allentown, PA)

Page 17 text:

There's a stamp collection, too, that is still going on. He delights in it, works at it, admits to about forty-odd thousand varieties, but adds that rarities are not for school teachers. The philatelists who have seen it insist that it is a great collection. His thought, A teacher must be inter- ested in his subiect and in his students. lf that interest isn't there, he might iust as well not be teaching, has guided his own work as a teacher. With the same deep warmth that has animated his many interests, he has instilled the forces of character in his stu- dents. He has insisted on high standards of scholarship, but his true interest is more than schooling,---it is the foundation of education. But, commented a man from town who happened along while this record was in the making, you don't really know Dan Hamm unless you have gone fishing with him. lt seems that many a faculty man, many a man from the town, recalls fishing trips --Ambrose Light, Barnegat Bay, Angle- sea, off Cape May, tuna fishing at Beach Haven, at Lake Rideau in Canada, and fresh water fishing all around this section of the state. l'll bring you a good picture, said his fisherman crony, and that adds another face to the composite portrait. The Masonic orders of town could add more to the picture. There is no need to review for them the high place Daniel Hamm has attained, or the many honors they have accorded him.

Page 16 text:

A naturalist, Mr. Hamm is planning to complete his already extensive catalogue of the plant and insect life of Lehigh County, to add to his amazing collection of the mosses of this area, and to go on with his work in microscopic botany. Among his treasured experiences are the summers he spent in Maine and in the Adirondacks,when at the appointment of Gifford Pinchot he helped on the survey of a l25,000-acre tract, made by the United States Bureau of Forestry for the Great Northern Paper Company. And one of his small personal satisfactions has been his culture of flowers. Waldheim Sunshine and Wahldeim Glory are two of the several dahlias he has originated. These are listed in current seed catalogues. His interests are many. He is a lover of books, and of beauty in books. The 2500 volumes in his personal library have been chosen both for their wealth of expression and for their exquisite bookcraft. Chief among them are the biographies of the sound men who have led or influenced some definite period in American history. And there are books and books of science, books and books recording in word and picture the work of the naturalists. There are rare copies of the old classics, there are thoughtful books analyzing our own times. But there are few novels, Mr. Hamm is impatient of books that have no substance.

Page 18 text:

To the school then, the most important element of all has been the earnest care and thought he has given to every student who has passed through the halls of high school. True, there may be many who have never been called to the office either for advice, admonition, or in conference on school activi- ties, there may be others who, in so large a school, may never have had a personal conversation with their principal, but person- ally known or not, their welfare has been his deepest concern. Those with whom he has had personal association cherish the memory of the deep-voiced teacher who became quietly their friend and counselor. Many faces has the life ofa man. Some see them all. Others see this side, others that. But through any one of them, or all of them, the true man will shine.