English High School - Blue and Blue / Record Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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June, 1953 Zo the Class of 1953-. On Wednesday, May 6th of the present school year, on important military leader visited the school. He was Major General Bickford E. Sawyer, U. S. A., Class of 1913 of The English High School, Chief of Finance of the United States Army, in Washington. All financial transactions of the United States Army, in- volving billions of dollars, must pass through the Office of Finance, of which he is Chief. The Head Master took pleasure in showing him around the building, which he had not visited for forty years. After his return to Washington he wrote a letter containing the following: The excellent academic instruction and the sympathetic and wise counsel of the teachers were of the utmost value to me during the forty years that have elapsed since 1 graduated. I am very proud that 1 am a graduate of your great institution, the first such school in this coun- try. As the years of experience begin and continue, you will evaluate and ap- preciate more fully, as has General Sawyer, the instruction and the sympathetic guidance of your under-graduate days. You are graduating this year. Your paths now are in the direction of those thousands who have preceded you. Where they have gone you will go. The world that they have entered you are now entering. We are confident of your success. You are ready for what is before you. I have sometimes thought of this school as a ship on a voyage to the land of opportunity. The crew is the faculty, assisted by the students. The motive power is the spirit of each in doing his daily task. This ship stops first at one port, then another. Some leave to enter one field of opportunity, some another, but the ship sails on — on to the land of opportunity, of achievement, of service. At the mast head are two flags. Proudly there we see the stars and stripes of the United States of America. Beneath is another flag. It is dark blue, and on it are the letters, in light blue — E. H. S. The watch word of those on board is Be Clean, Be Courteous, Be Square, and their aim is to be Men of Honor and Achievement. All define achieve- ment as follows: Service to Mankind is Honor and Achievement. From many lands their forebears came in search of freedom. In its defense they fought. Many died. God grant that their sacrifices may make stronger the bonds that unite all mankind. GOD BLESS YOU — EVERYONE

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WALTER F. DOWNEY, A. B., Ed. M., L. H. D. Head Master ( 6 )

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lummj otes Each year the great record of honor and achievement of the EngUsh High School alumni is augmented by graduates in every conceivable field. The stories of these men and how they rose to such high positions in their service to mankind are a great inspiration to present-day graduates and undergradu- ates. Many or these men were of unbelievably humble beginnings and had to overcome tremendous handicaps to command the highest positions in business, industry, and the professions. The following paragraphs will recall members of the alumni whose attainments have been brought to our attention during the past year. On April 11, 1953, an article, entitled Your Heart is His Business, ap- peared in the Saturday Evening Post. This is the story of Doctor Samuel A. Levine, clinical professor of medicine of the Harvard University Medical School and associate in coronary research at Massachusetts General Hospital. Doc- tor Levine is today one of the world ' s foremost heart experts. He is credited with being one of the first to identify coronary thrombosis in a living human be- ing and has made several important discoveries in the field of medical re- search. He was the first to detect the absence of acid in the stomachs of per- sons afflicted with pernicious anemia and has made invaluable contributions to the study of thyroid heart disease. The doctor, an individual of amazing intellect, was a freshman at English High School when he was only twelve years old and graduated with the class of 1906. He completed four years of college work in three years at Harvard College and was graduated cum laude from the Harvard Medical School at the age of twenty-three. Samuel Levine came from Lomza, Poland, to live with his family in a slum flat in the North End when he was five years old. He worked his way through school, selling newspapers, and won a scholarship from the Newsboys ' Union. In addition to this he received many honors from English High School, including a Franklin Medal. Before graduating from medical school Levine was sleeted to do re- search work with the first cardiograph in this country at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. Another distinguished alumnus, a member of the class of 1923 is William M. Hickey, president of the United Corporation. Mr. Hickey graduated summa cum laude from the Harvard Engineering School in 1927 and was employed by Stone and Webester, Inc., of Boston and New York until 1930. He has been with the United Corporation since 1943. An account of Mr. Hickey appears in the 1953 edition of Who ' s Who in America. This year the class of 1913 held its fortieth annual reunion, which was at- tended by two distinguished military officers. One was the Chief of Finance of the United States Army, Major General Bickford E. Sawyer, who made the fol- lowing comment on his career at English High School in a letter to Mr. Dow- ney. ( 8 )