East High School - Redjacket Yearbook (Pawtucket, RI)

Page 16 text:

REV. HAROLD L. SWEET

Page 15 text:

Philip Darrell Sherman Philip darrell sherman. since 1907 a distinguished member of the faculty of Oberlin College. Oberlin. Ohio, is a graduate of Pawtucket High School in the class of 1898. After leaving high school he entered Brown University, earning the degrees of A.B. and A.M. in 1902 and 1903. He began his teaching career as an instructor in English at Ohio Wesleyan University and the following year became Headmaster in English at the University-Flexner School, Louisville. Kentucky. In 1907 he assumed the position of Instructor in English at Oberlin College, becoming later Associate Professor of Literature, a position which he holds at the present time. Professor Sherman is a former President and Fellow of the Rowfant Club, the second of the leading Book Clubs in America. He has coached and produced upwards of two hundred plays for amateur groups, ranging from grammar school to semi-professionals in urban centers. He has travelled extensively in England and has had the privilege of knowing personally many men of letters, among others. Arthur Henry Bullen. the Elizabethan scholar in Stratford-on-Avon. Mme. Perugini (Charles Dickens' daughter), Sir Edmond Gosse, Austin Dobson. Lady Ritchie (Thackeray’s daughter), Gordon Wordsworth, and William Butler Yeats. During these last thirty years Professor Sherman's activities have been most interesting and varied. He has given lectures and addresses on material in the field of literature, the theater, and the drama. For twenty years he served as director of the Oberlin College Dramatic Association. In addition to the home productions, the Club appeared under alumni and other auspices in Toledo, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia. Washington. D. C.. New York. Boston, and other cities. The players travelled in a private Pullman and carried a full equipment of scenery, costumes, and lighting effects. Professor Sherman also served as adviser to foreign students and di- rector of the Oberlin College Cosmopolitan Club. At times between twenty-five and thirty nationalities were represented in this group. Much of Professor Sherman's time has been devoted to writing. He has written special articles on the Elizabethan Theater, the modern drama. English and American Literature, travel in England and the United States, foreign students in American colleges, book reviews, and general feature stories in the leading newspapers of the country. He has done much editing for various publishing houses, among other classics, Kinsley's Westward Ho! , “Selections from Wordsworth”, and Selections from American Prose . At present he is working on an edition of Thoreau's “Walden, annotated by Thoreau himself, to be published in 1942 by the Rowfant Club. During all these years Professor Sherman’s library has been of utmost importance to him. He says. Aside from teaching, my life's work has been the formation of a library of English and American books. I am. I suppose, what is generally called a booklover in the fullest sense of the word. The love of books, the material in them, the paper, the printing, the binding, and the men and women who wrote them—all these have been literally a passion with me. Many of my books came to me as gifts from the authors, members of their families. or friends. Many of the books contain original manuscripts, original drawings, and illustrations, all of which give them an intensely personal interest. Brown University is to be the owner of this valuable collection of books, as a memorial to Professor Sherman's great teacher and friend, Harry Lyman Koopman. No one can measure the influence and inspiration of a man such as Philip Darrell Sherman. The Class of 1941 is proud to pay tribute to this graduate who has won recognition as a teacher of English, lecturer, and writer. Dorothea Conkey

Page 17 text:

Reverend Harold Lawrence Sweet AMONG the most promising young men to graduate from Pawtucket High School in recent years was the Reverend Harold Lawrence Sweet, late rector of the Church of the Advent. Pawtucket. At his untimely death in May. 1940. this young man was known throughout Rhode Island as one of the state's best loved ministers. Harold Sweet was born in North Providence on February 20. 1905. Even as a boy the Church was his main interest. During his boyhood he was identified with the work of the Church of the Messiah. Providence. He graduated from Pawtucket High School, class of 1926. In the fall of the same year he entered Carleton College, Minnesota. Upon completion of the prescribed course there he took special theological courses at Nashotah House, an Episcopal seminary in Nashotah. Wisconsin, and Berkeley Divinity School affiliated with Yale University. Mr. Sweet returned to Rhode Island in 1933 and for two years did supply work in the Providence diocese. In the summer of 1934 he substituted at the Church of the Messiah during the absence of Rev. John Morris Evans. D.D. It was from this church that the young curate entered the ministry. In January of that year he first became connected with the Church of the Advent as assistant recor to the Rev. Seelye Bryant, and on November 1 he succeeded the retiring pastor as rector. Under his leadership the church prospered. He was able to cut down the parish debt materially and was largely responsible for the largest confirmation class in years. The young priest's warm friendliness and winning personality soon won him the love of the entire congregation. In a very short time he had more than doubled the number of baptisms and was warmly commended by his bishop for his excellent work. For five short useful years Father Sweet was the beloved teacher and friend of every person in his little parish. The atmosphere of his church was always pleasant, for he had a fine sense of humor and a hearty, contagious laugh. The old and infirm were always his first concern. He never failed to call upon a sick parishioner, and these little visits always were calming and soothing. In May. 1940, the young rector decided to take a well-earned vacation and visit Canada. He had reached Buffalo. New York, when he was suddenly stricken with appendicitis. He failed to recover from an emergency operation, and on May 27 the youthful priest went to meet the God to Whose service he had devoted the thirty-five years of his life. Father Sweet is truly deserving of any honor that we are able to pay him. It is with deep respect and sincere admiration that we. the Class of 1941. pay homage to a man who was so fine a citizen of his community and so truly a religious leader. Eleanor Claire Cox