Fredericksburg High School - Rapahanoc Yearbook (Fredericksburg, VA)

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RPvPftHfiriQg 1921 ? jtistorp of tfje Senior Class H AIL! the Class of 1921. A class of thirty-four persons whose history is as varied as the colors of the rainbow, and contains many exciting and interesting experiences a few of which I shall relate. Through these experiences and difficulties for eleven years we have studied together, always striving onward and upward, and struggling to live up to the words of our motto. We started on our long cruise togeth er, in the first grade, in the vear, 1911, with Miss Nellie Boatwright as our teacher, beginning with our A, B, C’s and finally reaching the stage of development in our mental faculties, when we could spell “cat” and “rat.” As the years passed we reached the fifth grade, where to our great sorrow we were separated, some of us going to Miss Rice and some to Miss Honey. Upon entering the sixth grade we were greeted by Mrs. Euliss, our friend and teacher, who always impressed upon us the fact that we were nearing high school, whenever we were wont to be lax in our lessons. I suppose she foresaw some of the trials through which we were to pass upon entering that unknown land, “high school.” When we started to school the next year, much to our joy we were again greeted by Mrs. Euliss, who faithfully drilled us for high school. The great day had come at last in 1917, when we marched down Main Street to our high school—the Hotel Frederick—a structure of brick, aged plaster¬ ing and other temporary features making it an inviting school, as you can well imagine, which recalled to my excited mind “1 he 1 umble Down Shack in Athlon. There was the usual rush of getting classes together, but here was a surprise for us, upon looking around the room to my great joy I recognized many of my old class¬ mates who had separated from us in the fifth grade. We were, of course, sneered and laughed at; called “rats” and the like, by the Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors; but little did they realize what the morrow would bring forth; to-night if any of them are present, (I mean the aforenamed Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors) I wish them to view the Class of 1921, and I am sure they will be fully convinced that we are the most brilliant and enthusiastic looking class that has ever passed through the Fredericksburg High School. But now to come to the worst part of our first day here, a day long to be remembered by our boys (I say boys because we alone suffered). Many a cry for help could be heard issuing from the freshmen being tortured in our “large and beautiful” playground. But what was the use—the seniors rocked our poor

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RRPBHP rtD£! 1921 Salutatory Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of the Faculty, Fellow-students and Friends: I have been the recipient of the great pleasure and privilege of welcoming you here this evening in behalf of the Senior Class, and I earnestly trust that this evening will be preserved in your memory as a most pleasurable occasion. We know this is not so much an eventful experience for you, for many such celebrations have you witnessed; but to us, the graduating class of nineteen- twenty-one, this hour is one never to be forgotten—ever to be cherished. It is the most important period that we have yet known, for this occasion closes the founda¬ tional epoch of our lives. And yet, it is with mingled joy and sorrow that we part from our high school days, for hand in hand with the tears and toilsome tasks were the happy moments of mirth and merriment. New friends were created, old ones drawn closer. We were the tiny seeds in a great garden which had previously been tilled and cultivated and prepared for the planting of these seeds. Stop and think of the great promise which each seed held, the great possibility of the perfect blossom of the future. Just as someone has written: “A poppy seed—it lies in the hand, a grain of dust, motionless, unlovely, dead. Yet think what it holds: The cool gray-green of upward-springing stalks and leaves; the compact calyx, studded with its hundreds of protecting hairs; and within, crumpled like a baby’s hand, the exquisite, shining silk of gorgeous petals—sunset—rose, faint, misty, white, bold magnificent scarlet—all this in an atom of dust.” So we, with attainments, harbingers of better things, begin to-night the process of our unfoldment. We are the tiny buds awaiting the warm sunlight and the gentle showers to burst forth into manhood and womanhood. Entering this arena with the vista before our gaze our desire is that this manhood and womanhood may redound to the honor of the teachers, those painstaking gardeners who have cared for us in our growth, and above all may we be bright and shining lights for good and the uplift of humanity. But now, dear fellow-students, let us not be appalled at the duties awaiting us in the land beyond; the unfathomable region, for— “Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings: Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul. As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last. Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea!’ 31 Lucy D. Ninde.

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§]) RAPBHP MDC 1921 carcasses against Mr. Brawner’s fence without mercy, while our dear girl class¬ mates stood watching and pleading for us, but without avail, for we were in the hands of a heartless mob. Such was our initiation into high school. Mrs. Court¬ ney was our first year high school teacher, much to our advantage, as we have learned, because she first expounded to us the laws of a well-regulated school. One of our sore trials during our first year in high school was Algebra. 1 hat un¬ known quantity “X” puzzled our brains, but through the excellent drilling and teaching of Mr. Birckhead we fathomed the depths of our first year in Algebra and climbed to the heights victorious. Next year we again entered school at the Hotel Frederick, but this time under the honorable name of Sophomores. Mrs. Blake was our able class teacher. During our second year in high school we were kept warm and smoky by the so- called New Perfection Heaters. Where they obtained their name is a mystery to me and always will be. They are perfect in only one thing and that is to make one think he is in Pittsburgh or some other smoky place. Our lives were saved from suffocation by the janitor that year. He left one burning accidentally and it ex¬ ploded, to our great relief. So our joys and trials by water and fire were over for one year, and again we found our classes together and ready to start anew our Junior year at the Hotel Frederick where we remained till we were frozen out, and we then went up to crowd the elementary school, to our joy and to their sorrow. Mrs. Williams was our class teacher and advisor who helped us through many a difficulty. On one occasion while quietly studying, our class was quickly dispersed without the ringing of a bell by a peculiar odor issuing from the cloak room. Mrs. Williams hastened to investigate and found lying in the corner of the room a generous portion of lim- burger cheese. After some questioning it was found that the person responsible for the unwelcome lunch was Fielding Wilson. We were all amazed as Fielding was never known to talk in school, much less do anything of that sort. Another Link was added to our school chain and a good one, too, although he was smitten with a Payne, which affected him very badly and soon there were wedding bells ringing. We worked hard that year and when June came we had earned a well-deserved vacation and one which we enjoyed thoroughly. So another school year commenced and we returned to the elementary school where our class was together once more, but much to our sorrow Miss Conway was not with us. We have missed her greatly during this year and hope that she will be able to visit our Alma Mater soon. 33