High-resolution, full color images available online
Search, browse, read, and print yearbook pages
View college, high school, and military yearbooks
Browse our digital annual library spanning centuries
Support the schools in our program by subscribing
Privacy, as we do not track users or sell information
Page 10 text:
“
To WILLIAM PRIDE HENDERSON who has hccn and I.s ' the emhodimrnt of that qaatitu called Latiu School Sjiirit” ; adin has sc7 ' ccd as counsellor, ( aide, and friend to Latin School bo) s for forti i eai ' s. To “RILL” TKACIIKR CI.ASSMATE FRIEND wc, the Class of lO-lH, atfcctionatcl and respect fully dedicate this record of our activities.
”
Page 11 text:
“
TEAi:} CCCI 5 VALEDICTORy In September of 1879 I set forth witli my fatlier to a hazard of new fortunes. I almost never got to tlie fortunes; though, foolislily impetuous, I made immediate test ol the hazard. When the train was pulling into the old station on Kneeland Street, I could not w ' ait tiff it stopped, but swung off wlien my car was passing a close brick w ' all. Crow ' ded between the step and tfie wall, I revolved till I emerged between the cars. My father, on the platform behind, reached for my collar and pulled me up beside him. 1 can still see that strained and staring face above mine; the exact wording of the terse oration tfiat smote my ears I have quite forgotten. Perliaps it is as well. Relations were strained as we made our way to the Latin School on Bedford Street and mounted to the dingy hall where some fifty boys were gathered. There, on the end of a long wooden bench, sitting beside a hand.some boy whom you know as Uncle Billy Norton, I first looked on the stern face of Dr. Merrill, then Headmaster. 1 could not know that he was to be my dear friend, and director of my professional life. For he sent me to my first position in New ' Jersey; and on my return, all but forty years ago, he welcomed me into the Latin School faculty, then less than one-quarter of its present membership. I am not going to tell you how primitive were our times; of tlie slow little street-cars drawn by two horses, with a third waiting to be hooked on when hills impended; of the straw that didn’t keep our feet warm, and the stove near one end that roasted a few pass- engers and left the rest cold; of the dearth of telephones and the lack of motor cars. For myself, I walked most days from South Boston to Warren Avenue and home again after school, and I was none the worse for it. Your Register of today is so much larger and handsomer and wittier than our little four-page sheet that I mention ours only because it gave me once a bad two minutes. I think I was a rather poor editor. But one month I toiled mightily on a composition meant to be funny. It was a bit of macaronic verse, a jumble of indifferent English and worse Latin. I am glad the com posing of the thing gave me an evening or two of pure delight, for the sequel was agonizing. The Headmaster was the only censor; we had no teacher adviser. I submitted the proof with unsuppressed pride. From a recitation I was sum- moned to the Presence. Happily I raced to the office. Now it just happened that one line of the Latin of my macaronic was susceptible of two translations; one harmless, the other suggestive of evil. I had seen only the innocent version ; naturally the eye of authority saw only the other. I can still hear the thunder of the voice demanding what I meant by it”. My macaronic did not appear; I returned to my room slowly; joy and I were strangers for the rest of that day. Our Register may have been a small thing, but among class songs ours was unique. I here salute William Augustine Leahy of South Boston, who wrote it. For it was in four languages; English, Greek, Latin, and French. The choruses were tailored to match. A tuneful quartette sang the verses; we proletarians swelled the polyglot choruses. If we had no chemistry, we did have botany and physiology. Of the botany I re- member little; one laboratory hour in physiology keeps a place in memory. Each student found before him that day a pan in which a large lobster held pride of place. These crus- taceans we were in.structed to dissect. That was a memorable, and a messy, period. Our history was the ancient story of Greece and Rome. We had to learn it pretty well by heart, and it came hard. One day the going was exceptionally tough; the giants were falling all about; but I, who had worked late and hard the night before — and again
Are you trying to find old school friends, old classmates, fellow servicemen or shipmates? Do you want to see past girlfriends or boyfriends? Relive homecoming, prom, graduation, and other moments on campus captured in yearbook pictures. Revisit your fraternity or sorority and see familiar places. See members of old school clubs and relive old times. Start your search today!
Looking for old family members and relatives? Do you want to find pictures of parents or grandparents when they were in school? Want to find out what hairstyle was popular in the 1920s? E-Yearbook.com has a wealth of genealogy information spanning over a century for many schools with full text search. Use our online Genealogy Resource to uncover history quickly!
Are you planning a reunion and need assistance? E-Yearbook.com can help you with scanning and providing access to yearbook images for promotional materials and activities. We can provide you with an electronic version of your yearbook that can assist you with reunion planning. E-Yearbook.com will also publish the yearbook images online for people to share and enjoy.
