Bristol High School - Green and White Yearbook (Bristol, RI)

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uHinmaa $1 Irujhtmau, §r. Thomas P. Bright man. engineer and beloved friend of the students of Colt Memorial High School since 1919, was stricken ill and died about one year ago at his home on Usher Place, Bristol. Rhode Island. Mr. Brightman was born in Charlestown on May 10, 1854. son of the late Peleg Thomas and Lucy Kenyon (Stanton) Brightman. He received his education in the public schools of Warren, and later followed railroading for twenty years as an engineer. In 1919. Mr. Brightman was appointed engineer at the Colt Memorial High School, a position which he held at the time of his death. Cold print seems coldest when we try to express the warm feeling of respect and gratitude which we cherished toward him. Mr. Brightman was not just an ordinary man hut one whom we all came to know, to understand, to love, and to appreciate deeply for his extraordinary qualities as a gentleman of the first order. To the students, he was ever a friend—ready to console, anxious to encourage, and constantly striving to give them the wisdom that he had gathered by years of patient and successful toil, that they might carry the baton of life in the interest of others, in a fashion worthy of merit. He utilized his precious time to enrich our abilities at every opportunity and his splendid qualities shall motivate us to render greater service to our fellow man. In 1920 he organized the “Knights of the Boiler Room,” a group of high school boys who were privileged to know Sir Thomas more intimately perhaps than most. When the spirit of rebellion at faculty edicts filled us as only high school students can be filled, it was he who changed our minds. When an important basketball game was played in the boiler room with no more equipment than a sponge and two waste paper baskets, it was he who was referee. When more serious problems confronted us it was Sir Thomas who was our advisor, friend, and champion, a man with a solidity that swaying opinion failed to disconcert. His seventeen years at the High School were ones of continuous service. It is a great thing to be able to say of a man that he was always ready when help was needed. That was true of Mr. Brightman. Xo man in Bristol had more grateful friends than he. for all of the students who passed through Colt High had had occasion to be thankful for his wisdom and kindness. For nearly a score of years he exerted a beneficent influence over high school pupils, especially boys—an influence that will live long after him. Though by his death, we have lost a friend whose place shall never he taken, yet ever will we cherish the memory of an individual to whom the most precious attributes of man were given. W. S.—’20. GREEN wndl W010TE-

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TO THE MEMORY OF (Lite late (Lltmuas |L rigljhuau, j§ r. THE BOARD OF EDITORS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATES THIS ISSUE OF THE GREEN AND WHITE

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GREEN AND WHITE STAFF