Central High School - Tom Tom Yearbook (Tulsa, OK)

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' W ,, . 4A i'r'3i f swf' . . rm tff'?: i YVILL FRENCH ASSOCIATE SUPERINTENDENT TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS To Know Their Art and Music ls to Appreciate a Race N A PEOPI,E's music, art, and literature is to be found the double distilled essence of all that is best in its cultural past. Its artists forever seek to reincarnate the spirit of their times in the materials of their arts. If you would learn to know a nation's heart, study its art. ln making the art and music of the Indian the theme of this year- book, you show that you recognize in what aspects of the past you may find the most valuable contributions for the present. And the future of Tulsa and of Qklahoma, like that of every other social group, depends upon the ability of its people to reweave into the patterns of the present only the best materials of the past. Conscious social progress is not an ieonoelastic process by which we break away from the past but rather a selective process by which we choose the most promising elements of the past out of which to build our future. ln physical science, we have long learned to expect progress from the known to the unknown. VVe are discovering that in social science as well this method is most fruitful. In reality the past is never dead, but is being perpetually re-born in the best of our plans for the future. lf our past were dead, so also would be our future. Mayf you as an individual and as an institution draw richly and draw wisely for the future from the short but colorful past, the hectic but fructiferous past that belongs to all of us who live in Tulsa, in Qklahoma, and in America. Y A-+ -f nw Q 4-vm' ie- Pwr 75

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l V i f Vi..- fi, ti 1 i l 3,9 5 V lil l Q i 2 Q l s 5 P ily 5 E 1 5 Q : l i , l 5 l i DIE NLE I'RUX'l'Y I T SUPERINTENDEN1' X TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS lil .I . 1 M x 1 . 3 ? To Be Educated ls rl o Be Alive to l L 1 ' i Une s Surroundings . . , ITHOUT sophistication the Indian through his art and music gave true imagina- A Q V tive expression to his environmental experiences, fundamental emotions, and V abiding convictions. His art and music were normal, natural outgrowths and 1 emotional revelations, of his varied life experiencesg his fidelity and honesty in delicately , 5 and accurately portraying these experiences rank them with the classical in achievement. The Indian lived close to and revered God's handiwork as probably no other people J f ever did. He was sensitive to the serene appeals of unmolested nature, its creatures, gran- 3l i deur power and its ma'estic beaut f of manifold color hues and rhythmic desi ns. His I 1 .' . . J . 5 . . g . Q ., music, too, reveals intimate surgings and dynamic urges of deep emotions as reflected in Q ' the laughter of waters, the language of birds and animals, the rhythm of forests, the . . changing of seasons, the Hashing of lightning, and the roar of war drums. Q Enduring progress of American art and music depends upon a creative spirit on the , part of artists and composers who shall recognize and reveal, as truly as did the Indian, ' the spirit of our environment and the life of our time. Schools should contribute to art 1 , and music of our day and generation by observing and teaching the enduring principles Q , of art and music evolved in the past and hy creatively enriching them through increasing awareness of our surroundings. N l ix ,E fl ll xg f 1 1 .M lbw . A , . ii, '-. Wx . - , , ...,.A...,., ,. ' - ' ....-A-nw 1-vw.. , . -.- .-4.. . - --M ---' 1 Y - -V - We X r W,it W' , , c c f'.i 'T,...-,r, . 'M ..,.., ,fl ....,, . ',,-,-.l-..-, ,,,. PAGE 24

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- ' W N ff'- f- ,wfggjz ...A t 5. ,Yagi-Hr. -4-. E, ...-.....fz .a.L..-.,.,. GA LIGN .ION ICS ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT IN CHARGE OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS To Portray Indian Culture Is to Share An Immortal Heritage HE MESSAGE of Indian art and music is beautifully and tellingly portrayed in the 1931 edition of the Tom Tom. The vision of those responsible for this year-book is gratifying to all who are alert to the colorful background which is ours in Oklahoma. The power of the emotions is revealed in the study of lndian life. It is art' and music that give the most genuine release to the inner life of a people. The things which bind a group together are the common ideals, appreciation, and modes of group expressiong consequently it is of inestimable value to youth in a modern city to discover the significance which the art and music of the Indians held in the civilization which preceded ours and which has woven itself into the warp and Woof of modern Tulsa. No loftier desire could be coveted for the youth now in Central High School than that he come to an awareness of the present contributions which music and art have for his life. lllay the charm that is music, the beauty that is art, and the refining power of cultivated emotionsicontinue to enrich your lives. in 3014-24. Place 26