George Washington High School - Continental Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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,.-4 3 eam captains A ' jr-' Team x..-if days of hundreds of graduates in a class, it seems odd to think of the first class of only five graduates: Ruth Howe, Hazel Parker, Dick Goodwin, Edmund johnson, and Edward Magdaleno. Now l'm going to ask Miss Verle Morrow, first senior class sponsor, to recount her memories of the first commencement. Miss Morrow: On commencement night the five graduates sat in the center of the stage, surrounded by an overwhelming array of officials all gracefully seated in rocking chairs, ito fill up spacei with floor lamps and palms to complete the impressive setting. The student speaker realized that, like George Washington him- self, he was setting a precedent: that hundreds of speakers would follow him twice each year down through the succeeding generations. He started valiantlyg but before he was half through, the respon- sibility of the occasion suddenly overwhelmed him, and his mind became a blank. Mr. Hughes, two vice-principals, two sponsors, one school board member and one prompter from the wings, in agony sent out panicky thought waves while the audience sat frozen. And finally with such stalwart backing the oration was finished-in five installments. And what of the audience at this graduation? Unlike the present day when tickets are at a premium, then each member not only was given as many as he wanted, but he was urged to take more, to bring all his friends and relatives. The faculty likewise were urged to bring their cousins and their aunts. All friends of the school were asked to bring others with them and added to these were a few condescending onlookers from other schools, here to see what Washington could produce. Thus was assembled an audience well worthy of so momentous an occasion, and never was there one so enthusiastic. No restraining of the applause in that day! Applause was a necessary part of the performance, for to make five names sound like an impressive ceremony, there must be pauses longer than the names, and every member got his full share of acknowledg- ment. We are sure no students have been more thoroughly graduated.

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Galainef Number One li li S ' s McCane Spencer Peterson Le Grand Flegel Hawkins Boone Shafer Hocum Woodward Scott Mr. Hughes: Ah, those arduous days in the school, when customs and traditions were in the making! We should look with sympathy at the first officers and leaders of the student body, their struggles to adopt a suitable constitution by which the students might govern themselves, and the trials of the first officers who had to establish precedents with a student body overwhelmingly junior high. To Bradley Spencer, first president, was given the task of showing all future presidents how this office should be conducted. Credit should go, too, to other members of that first cabinet: james McCane and Alice Peterson, vice-presidents, Mildred Haw- kins, secretary, Allan Scott, manager of athletics, Geraldine Hocum and Robert Woodward, self-government presidents, Leona Flegal and Loren Boone, Boys' and Girls' League presidents, Archie Schafer, manager of publications, and Bud Le Grand, manager of finances. But the student body officers weren't the only ones taking part in those formulating days. There were also the leaders in athletics, scholarship, and social life, who played such important roles in organizing activities and winning honors which have made high school life more enjoyable and valuable. For instance, there were the first Sealbearers, Evelyn Graves, Aeoma Schellhous, Mary Provaz- nik, William McNeIis, and Maurice Yazloff, the first Knight, Archie Schafer, and the number one Lady, Fanchon Martinson. And let us not forget the athletes. Dal Neville, track captain, Bud Kenny, baseball pilotg Ed Allen, varsity football head man, Bill Davis, captain of varsity basketball: and Ellamay Foyle, G. A. A. president. Others who had their share in buildingfschool spirit were Dick Goodwin, yell leader, Maurice Yazloff, editor-in-chief of the Sur- veyor: and Mary Provaznik, editor of the first Continental. Nor should we forget the first of our Ephebians, Aeoma Schellhous, And in these 2

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Mr. Hughes: Tragedy comes in the form of an earthquake! The ground rumbles, the building rocks, the Board of Edu- cation acts, and the once proud school is closed as the entire population moves into tents. Fortunately no students were in the building gbut the head custodian, Mr. Harry Messersmith, was, and now he'll step up to the traveling news mike and in his own words give you his impressions of those memorable seconds. Mr. Messersmith: l was iust about to leave when I sud- denly became conscious of what sounded like a terrific rush of wind and a roar underneath the building. Then it hit. The building began to sway and rock, and the air became dark with dust and plaster. The fire walls around the top of the building fell. The water pipes in the tower creaked, and bricks and huge blocks of cement crashed thunderously to the ground while the building swayed wildly. The quadrangle had the appearance of a stormy sea, and the flagpole whipped through the air. After things had stopped moving, l began to look around and see what was what. The cafeteria received the most dam- age, having been shaken two inches off its foundation. The water pipes broke, and the whole floor was flooded. The tower of the main building from top to bottom, had swung to the west five inches. This was caused by the swishing of the water in two one-hundred-and-twenty-ton water tanks in the top of the tower. There were about 35,000 gallons of water in both the tanks. The tower then was a little more than four stories high, and there was a crack all down the front of it, from top to bottom, about five inches wide. ln the book room books and shelves were piled on the floor. ln the chemistry room bottles of chemicals had fallen off the shelves and broken glass was about two feet deep all over the floor. A fire started from the chemicals but was quickly put out with soda and water. Debris in almost every room was from one to four feet deep. gafzfluqualze - i933 4