Franklin School - Franklinite Yearbook (New York City, NY)

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CLASS HISTORY According to Messrs. Funk and Wagnall, a history is a systematic record of past events. To be thoroughly systematic, then, we must begin at the very beginning. Today we have remaining only four of the tots who toddled up the stairs to Primary I in the manner made famous by other class histories. Still, these infants were a lusty lot and, even in those days, made plenty of trouble for their teachers. By Intermediate I, more than half the members who are now in this class had entered our ranks. Intermediate II marked our first venture into extra-curricular activities. In this year our class organized a baseball team. This was a significant event in view of the fact that up to that time no class aggregation had ever been formed independently of outside assistance before the Intermediate III year, nor has this feat since been duplicated. This team, whose members averaged ten years of age, engaged in contests, not only with the class above us, but also with the class two years beyond us. Although our games, which were played below the railrbad tracks at Eighty-third Street and the Drive, usually lasted for not more than three or four innings because of the loss of all our balls in the river, still these contests paved the way for the more serious efforts which were forth- coming in later years. We did not taste of victory in either of the penmanship contests which are usually chronicled as the outstanding events of the Intermediate III and IV years. Nevertheless, we have the satisfaction of seeing that while our hand- writing has steadily improved since those days, the penmanship of the victors' has, by their own confession, undergone considerable deterioration. We did show our supremacy, however, in the eraser fights and interclass skirmishes which used to take place during the luncheon periods. In Junior I we first started to play baseball seriously. Our class team contested with the athletes from higher and lower grades and generally emerged victorious. In the track meet we also showed our ability by carrying away a number of the medals. Our premier participation in int-erclass debating came in the following year when our orators succeeded in overwhelming the more experienced speakers from Senior C. Our first representative to make the Red and Blue staff took oflice this year. It was then, also, that we first recognized the importance of class organization, for a class constitution was drawn up. Although this docu- ment was forgotten the week after its completion, it required many stormy class meetings to achieve its ratification. During this period a class library likewise flourished-that is, for about two months until our avid readers had consumed all the volumes and the members of the class ceased to make contributions of their old and shelf-worn books. Page twenty-six

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ROBERT WECHSLER Bob 'Hold the fort-I am coming. ---Sherman. Entered 1920 Yale Franklinite Contributing Editor. 5: Red and Blue Athletic Editor, 5: Debating Club, 5: F. A. A. Secretary- Treasurer, 5: Cub Basketball, 1. Z: Captain, 3: 'Varsity Baseball. 5: 'Var- sity Basketball, 4, 5: Senior Dinner Committee, 5: Senior Dance Commit- tee, 5. Page twenty-Hue

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The Senior C year likewise found us taking a good part in school activi- ties. Two of our members graced the f'Red and Blue staff, one played on the school football team, and th: nucleus of the victorious Cub Basketball Team came from our ranks. Last year our athletic ability again won us glory when we contributed three men to the 'Varsity Basketball Team, four to the Junior 'Varsity, and one to the Tennis Team. We lost the Senior Debate. but it was no ignominous defeat. This brings us up to the present year. Our class has showed itself more than equal to discharging the duties of a Senior Class. Four of our members divided among themselves the most important positions on the editorial staff of the Red and Blue . A fifth served on the managing board. Nine of our men were on the 'Varsity Basketball Team which enjoyed the most successful season in recent years. This Franklinite which you are reading, only in its second year as an institution of the school, has been carried on, we believe, suc- cessfully, by us. The initiative of the class is well demonstrated by the revival of baseball as a school sport this year. The team, which is just opening its season as this goes to press, numbers seven of our men on it. But the crowning achievement of the Class of '29 is undoubtedly the Senior Debate. During the last few years, this event, which was followed by a dance, had become more and more of a social affair, the debate being subordi- nated more each year. The climax was reached last year when, a hall seating three hundred people having been hired, the first speaker addressed an audience of but twelve persons. This year it was determined to hold a debate which would be a strictly informal affair, unconnected with any social function, which would be attended by people interested in hearing a debate. The Senior Debate this y-ear turned out to be a great success from every angle. Because of the efforts of two members of the Senior Class and one from the Junior Class, over two hundred tickets were sold: and an audience of over one hundred and twenty was on hand to hear Dr. Koenig introduce the first speaker. The debate itself was declared to be one of the most interesting in recent years and, what was more, was won by our orators. So the Senior Class History has been unfolded. As we pe-ruse these pages in years to come, events which even now are memories will return to our minds, recalling to us the mark that '29 has made in Franklin's history. Page twenty-seven