Case High School - Chief Yearbook (Swansea, MA)

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The Joseph School Class History In September of the year nineteen hundred and tw enty seven there descended upon the new ' and beautiful portals of this, t he Joseph Case High School, a band of adventurers. I say adventurers, because in a manner of speaking that is w ' hat w ' e w ' ere—newxomers in the bound¬ less held of know ledge. Our number w ' as a small one to be sure, but it must be remembered that the choicest things do not alw ays come in the largest packages and we wxre not unmindful of the fact. Howxver, let it not be said that wx over-estimated our w ' orth—far from it. Any high regard w ' e may have tendered ourselves had long ago deteriorated in the tmng fires of our Freshmen days at other schools. By that I do not mean to imply that w e adopted an attitude of subsercdence— not at all. As Sophomores wx wxre the upper classmen of the school and as such felt perfectly capable of lording it over the Freshmen. However, this was a privilege wx used sparingly, not because of any sense of the equality of men, but rather because it w as impossible to assume superiority over those colleagues w ith w hom wx wxre to rub elbows in almost intimate daily contact. Before the passing of many wxeks wx found it necessary to elect officers to guide us through the trials of the year. These leaders wxre found in Alan Daniels, wffio was elected first President of the school by our unanimous vote; Abbott Cole, who assumed the position of Vice-President; Alice Frenette, wffio became our Secretary; and Eleanor Martin, our Treasurer. With these officials duly installed we settled down to wxrk and labored so dili¬ gently that tow ' ard the end of the year many of us wffio might otherwise have blushed unseen ” wxre allowxd to display our dramatic ability in a comedy production directed by our combination Principal teacher —advisor and critic, Mr. Chace. The rest of the year passed practically without event and with the coming of June we congratulated ourselves on having ' thus far so nobly advanced.” Returning in September wx found our number augmented by fresh adventurers from the local grammar schools. However, wx wxrthy Juniors wxre far too intent upon our work to be tempted from the Page Twent} -five

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' Record Book - Qlass of 1930 Commencement Exercises ADDRESS OF WELCOME Parents, Teachers and Friends: The Class of 1930 extends to you a cordial welcome to our Graduation Exercises. It is our sincere hope that you will share with us the joy of this most happy occasion and feel a little of the pride and honor that we do in being the first graduating class of Joseph Case High School. We have assembled here this evening, my classmates, as one unit, a compact body bound together by common purpose, by common effort and by common achievement. Three years of class association have been a strong incentive in bringing our lives more closely together, in cre¬ ating a feeling of unity both in spirit and in action. Although we are about to separate and each go his own way, there will always remain with us memories of pleasant friendships and happy associations made during our high school days. Tonight there are here with us our parents, teachers and friends, but they cannot wholly make up for the absence of Mrs. Elizabeth Richmond Stevens who made possible this graduation and all that for which it stands—She, to whom we of the class, shall always be indebted for giving us the opportunity of obtaining our high school education in Swansea. The members of the class of 1930 feel Her loss keenly, and deeply regret that She could not be here tonight to see the fruition of Her kindness and generosity, that She, too, might share with us the pride and joy of this occasion. Once more we extend to you a cordial welcome to ours, the first graduation exercises of Joseph Case High School. Eugene E. Adam, Class President. Page Twenty-four

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%ecord H ook - Qlass of 1930 beaten path of duty and before long the school once more assumed the appearance of serenity that comes with perfect contentment. As a whole, the year was uneventful. The officers of the previous year re¬ tained their positions and our only social event was an operetta which was produced by the Girls’ Glee Club, under the guidance of Miss Eddy, our long suffering music director. And so, with the passing of the year, we left another milestone behind us. With the arrival of September, nineteen twenty nine, we entered upon the last lap of our journey. This long anticipated year was a memorable one, not only for the Senior class, but for the rest of the school as well, for it marked the establishment of a four year course in Case High. First of all, we exhibited rare good judgment in our choice of officers, the chosen few being Eugene Adam, our estimable President; William Brindle, formerly a boy scout, Vice-President; Esther Kingsley, our capable Secretary; and Ruth Manchester, guarding our worldly wealth as Treasurer. Proceeding with this history I find it increasingly difficult to limit myself to facts which concern the Senior Class only. As is natural in a newly established school, our classes were comparatively small and as a result, instead of separating into four groups, we remained almost as one class. Thus it came about that we were all concerned and interested in the same things. (I offer this as an explanation in case I appear to reach beyond the scope offered by the activities of my own class.) But to continue— Early in the year Mr. Walkden assumed the position of Athletic instructor and took the embryonic Red Granges of the school out on the field for football practice but the season was so far gone that little progress was made. There was, however, a basketball team organized which was successful beyond our fondest dreams and for the first time in three years we were given an opportunity to exhibit our school spirit. Another interesting feature of our Senior year was the debating class. In the small group which composed this class I am sure there was more than one Lincoln or Douglas discussing the momentous questions of the day. At least they seemed to my inexperienced ears Page Twenty-six