Appleton High School - Clarion Yearbook (Appleton, WI)

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wit 3 loved Cap Harris. uCap has been in the SILVER A NNI VEHSA If 1' walk-around whose purpose was to introduce the freshmen to the upper classes started the social season. Class parties were held in the gymnasium and were very inexpensive. Dancing com- menced at seven and stopped at ten o'clock. Then there was the junior prom. Until the crowds outgrew it, these functions were held in Harmonie Hall: then in the armory. The decor- ations were most elaborate. The danc- ing began with a grand march led by faculty members and prominent stu- dents. The girls always had new dresses, flowers, and were escorted to the party in a Uhackn. The Clarion First appeared as a monthly publication of magazine na- ture. The youth of the times blos- somed forth in poetry and prose in these pages. The last number of the year was more pretentious and was called a senior number. ln l9l3, this number was dedicated to our be- school as engineer for twenty-live years and has been much beloved by each generation. At one time, he was so popular that lVlr. Keller forbade the boys' going to the boiler roomy whereupon, they drew a line across the doorway and decorated it with a skull and cross bones. During this past year, the school celebrated HCap's eightieth birthday. As the ears mass, man new activities a ear which show rowth and ex ansion. g ln IOI4, the idea of the scho presented annually to the class which during the year has shown the best spirit in every way. ln I9I4, a school bank with student officers was es- tablished. Since then it has been taken over by Thrift, ln- eorporated, in cooperation with the First National Bank of the city, For a few years, an organization known as the Amateur Press Club flour- ished. Ardent youths who as- pired to achieve literary suc- cess satislied their ambitions in the pages of their maga- zine. lVlr. lVloe was the prime mover, with Alfred Galpin and Margaret Abraham also f'tlj!r' fIt'i'lI'r' ol spirit cup was inaugurated. Since then a cup has been f,yfff!ff!W Z fi

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Tllli IILAHIUN Twenty-fziqve Years Over twenty-five years ago, one winter morning when the thermometer registered below zero, the citizens of Appleton awoke to find the old Ryan High School a smouldering ruin. Up to that time, there had been no semblance of a union system of schools, for the thirdi fourth, and second wards each supported an independent high school. With the burning of the Ryan High, a great adjustment was necessary. The citizens decided to have one union high school of size sufhcient to accommodate the youth of the city. Those men of greater vision, among whom was Mayor Frank W. Harriman, insisted on a building large enough to accommodate three hundred fifty or four hundred pupils: but they thought it would be many a year before the student body would reach that mark. During the period of the construction of the new union building four present onel classes were held in various buildings about the city. The students enjoyed little journeys to the theater, city hall, and other build- ingsg but we wonder how much else they accom- lished and how the teachers survived. In the early days of the union system liter- ary and debating societies were in vogue. The girls' society, lVlinervias, had among its early 7 members Esther Erb, Enid Saecker, and Flor- ence Ross. Agora, literary and debating society for both boys and girls, also elected the debate teams. Doubtless many ponderous questions too deep for more mature brains were definitely and hnally settled by these groups. For entertainment, plays, debates, dances, and athletics held the attention. ln l906, a vau- deville was given: the admission was twenty-five cents, expenses were one hundred eighty dollars, and the profit was eighty dollars. Girls as well as boys participated in interscholastic basketball. ln 1906, the boys held the state basketball cham- pionship. The Hyde Declamatory Contest, the Keller Oratorical Contest, and later the Heiss Memorial Contest sponsored by the class of I9I 6 in honor of William Heiss who lost his life in the 'T--:L World War, were very prominent. In l905, Mae Spencer won first place in a declamatory contest in Chicagog in l907, Florence Canavan won a similar honor. During these years the basketball teams captured championships occasionally and always played well. On October 26, 1911, President Taft visited Appleton. The student body marched to the campus of Lawrence College where from the steps of main hall the president addressed the citizens. About l9I I-IZ, the methods of dancing began to change. The pupils had been enjoying the old-fashioned two-step and waltz, with variations such as the circular two-step, broom waltz, and rye waltz. Then the Boston and tango appeared, much to the consternation of the more dignified and staid elders. The occasional boy and girl who dared brave the stares and comments of the chaperones were branded as belonging to the fast set. The parties, as a whole, were very simple. ln the fall, the annual l'ug1v i'lt'7'i'u

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THE CLARION rampant. May-Day also had a place in the extra-curriculars for a time. A lVlaypole was erected on the east lawn, and about it frisked, more or less gracefully, most of the girls in vivid costumes. ln the winter of l9l 7, a unique project was undertaken by the home economics de- partment. The girls, directed by lVliss Fern l-loag, adopted and cared for a baby girl. The entire school was greatly interested in the child. As the school grew, need was felt for a newspaperg so the Talisman,' was started as a weekly publication appearing every Tuesday. At the same time, the Clarion was converted into an annual of rather elaborate style. The dramatics and music de- partments were also enlarged. The junior class play and operetta have J . -' L. N 'N I f I . become annual events. The school . K ' , .1 55 fi' I also boasts a fine band and or- 7 I ' fi i ' chestra. Cilee club, band, and , 1 up wig X il V ' V. orchestra have become part of the ,R ll 1' Mill? , regular curriculum. V ' 5 ' 'Ilia , i ll., At Thanksgiving time, for ti If A lg ,577 . 1 , several years, the seniors spon- ' M41 lm l A sored an auction for charitable V r I 'I ' purposes. The money, several yt 1 I - V Q Ill! X I hundred dollars, was used to help W, E--1 I Z I ll? lr , ' 4 12 1' Q 'I I f' l ,' ' the poor. Articles to be sold were R l P 1 - 1 ll 'l l fi solicited from various merchants. W1 illirj , l 4 ' But this event, although of worthy I 'bl' . , A purpose, died because it provcoizd to , Jw-.. V I ll ,,.. X jljli ' e too great a tax on stu ents, S Qi. A faculty, and merchants. 'JI 7 ' ' V 1' , , 1 ,LZ For many years, there has L. ' 44' '. 5 existed a student governing body 7 '-12 , 2'f77lja- - I 2.57 Mf.f.ws' : .--fr called the student council. Rep- f .91 ul., resentatives from the classes to- ff, ' fl 1 gether with the principal, plan and execute means for improving conditions about school. It has always been a very effective organization. During the year of 1927-1928, a chapter of the National Honor Society was in- stalled. The object of this society is to promote high scholarship. Seniors are elected to membership by the faculty. Of course, with the growth of the school has come the development of athletics. For the past few seasons, Appleton has belonged to the Fox River Valley Conference composed of Oshkosh, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, East C-reen Bay, VVest Green Bay, Fond du Lac, Marinette, and Appleton. These schools participate in football, basket- ball, track, hockey, and cross country sports. Entrance into state tournaments has been abolished. Nor must we forget the war service of our Alma Mater. A bronze tablet placed in the main corridor lists one hundred fifty students and teachers who took an active part in the World War. Seven gave their lives in the cause for democracy. During the war period, the school itself was not unaware of the conditions. Classes in the preparation of surgical dressings, knitting sweaters and socks, and frequent letters from those at the front were constant reminders of the great struggle. Vriyr' fl1i1'li'vn