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

Page 18 text:

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

Page 17 text:

,.-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.

Page 19 text:

Mr Hughes' Cold rainy, winter daysg hot, dusty, sIm.,:mmIer t c i- days and wind. often accompanying both, such was e k d of the life in the tents Study was made matic bac groun . difficult social events were almost at a stand still, athletics B th s irit of carried on under tremendous difficulties. ut e p W shin ton held steadfast. The class of Summer '33 had 3 8 named themselves Pioneers and felt the name well chosen. Undoubtedly, however, the outdoor life made of us a hardier l'aCC. At the very first there was no gene g cept the bleachers, but soon the big circus tent was erected in h t is court making Washington a real tent city. There t e enn , new students were introduced to the school, operettas were ' ' f t the musical presented on the tiny home-built stage, o ten o b t of the billowing canvas, and there students strained their ea backs or craned their necks to see around tent poles in order ' ' d Il to miss nothing of the only too few au ca s. I mnus recalls none too quiet study hours in the Many an a u improvised study hall scattered among the lockers of the girls ' ' h ' I drafting gym and framed on all sides by offices, mec annca classes, and the sound of passing feet. And who can forget that never-to-be-forgotton hash line where beans were thor- oughly watered in rainy weather, and where one almost died from heat while waiting in the sun during warm September and june days? It was with difficulty now that Washington continued its d I ment. Enrollment naturally dropped off, for what ral athering place ex- eve op student enjoyed sitting in an English class in one tent and having Spanish float in from one side, shorthand from another, ' 'f d th ' d history from the back as the various teachers li te eir an , voices to bring all eyes away from the out-of-doors too close igafzflzqualze Days, 33- '36 ll5Il