Boyertown High School - Bear Yearbook (Boyertown, PA)

Page 6 text:

Two I ,. George B. Swinehart, supervising principal of Boyertown Schools, lays his work aside for a moment to be photographed f r the 1945 BEAR. Mr. Swlnehart Speaks Dutch and German Mennonites were the first group of immigrants from the continent of Europe to settle in Pennsylvania. Arriving in Philadelphia in October, 1683, they soon settled in the countryside adjacent to the city and established the community now called Germantown. Here they found the religious liberty and economic opportunity denied them for centuries in their homelands. Why are We now commonly called The Pennsylvania Dutch? The answer seems to be that most of our ancestors came from that portion of western Europe Where German, or one of its dialects, Was spoken. The English settlers, hearing the immigrants call themselves Deutsch, translated this into its cog- nate Dutch, Our origin, in the repressive atmosphere of persecution, prob- ably accounts for our love of freedom and our intense individualism. To Write even a sketch of the contributions of the Pennsylvania Dutch to our national life in music, art, literature, agriculture, and business would re- quire a volume. Without our Conrad Weiser We might have become a French colony. In the military life of the nation, the Pennsylvania Dutch have sent forth their leaders from the time of the Revolution to the present day. With pardonable pride We recall the names of Colonel Muhlenberg, General Eisen- hower, and General Spaatz, the latter an alumnus of Boyertovvn High School. I I am glad that the staff selected this theme for our yearbook in 1945.