Benjamin Franklin High School - Electron Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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Joseph B. Hearn Vice Principal

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4 w :- i '13 v V .. 1 11 .- A51; 1. A- - 'l I W tram 0 y; 311' 9'! SF 7 :y-dfm THE SENIOR CLASSES OF JANUARY 1 1953 ; JUNE

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A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRINCIPAL Political democracy, which involves an understanding of the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, is the primary purpose of education in America. It ties together the knowledge of American ideals embodied in the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and what each citizen does in private anti public life. From out study of history we have learned that the great democracies and republics disappeared largely because too many of their citizens became indifferent to their responsibilities in the hands of fewer and fewer people, until the free society became a despotic one. This happened in Athens, in Rome, and in the Weimar Republic. It can happen to any society whose citizens iilet George do itii or refuse to iiget mixed up in politics. At Ben Franklin you have traced some of the steps in the development of self-govetnment in America, and you have experienced its processes through your student association. You have learned that self-government is no iixed form, but a process that can be used to meet the changing needs of the people. It is a process that protects the rights of the minority while expressing the Will of the majority. In the years ahead this work of making democracy more secure must go forward. The nations of the world muSt learn to live together in peace. That is the challenge of the future to you who will be grownup citizens of tomorrow. My best wishes for success and happiness go with you. I. Lewis Horowitz