Greenfield High School - Evergreen / Exponent Yearbook (Greenfield, MA)

Page 13 text:

THE EXPONENT 3 quiring mental skill as well as mantial labor. People did not call them freaks and cranks be¬ cause they did do such work. No, they were called patriots. They were not afraid! Women had been wait¬ ing for the opportunity to show that given the chance, they were as capable as men. They wanted to show the boys when they came home that the country had not gone to ruin because they were away. What a blessing the war was to women in one way for it so increased her opportunities. This is indeed the golden age for woman. Now that woman has established herself and is treated as an equal of man there are no drawbacks to her future development. The doors of opportunity are wide open for her 1 to enter in if she will and there is little doubt that in the future woman will open many new doors which hitherto have been closed to the world. This woman of today has been called the “new” woman. There is no “new” woman, but there are new opportunities, new interests and new occupa¬ tions. She is still the same woman as of old days, but through her new and varied opportunities, she has found expression for the ingenuity and capa¬ bility which had been hidden in her for ages. My classmates, “The old order changeth, yield¬ ing place to new.” So spake King Arthur as he was leaving Lyon- nesse and all that goodly fellowship of knights to go on to the beautiful island-valley of Avilion. For us, too, the old order changes. What a splendid thing it is that we have had the privilege of associating with each other for four years in High School. We have worked together through all these years, we have played together, we have formed close friendships in our class which will always remain strong and true in years to come. We have enjoyed studying together in preparation for our life work. Yet, it would not be good for us to stay in school all our lives. We too, must get out into the world. As time dissolved the fellowship of the Round Table, so must our Circle of Friendship break up. The regret we feel tonight at leaving our teach¬ ers, our school and one another, will be replaced by a memory of these years together which we shall always cherish in our hearts. Still, we should not grieve in saying farewell to our school and to our teachers and to one another for we too are going to an Avilion of the great wide world. We must pass on for, “The old order changeth, yielding place to new, And God fulfills himself in many ways Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.” AGNES P. FINNIE ’22. SALUTATORY Friends of Greenfield High School: It has been the custom for the graduating classes to take this time to show their appreciation for the hard work and sacrifice which made it possible for them to be before you ad we are now. So we, the Class of 1922, to show our sincere gratitude to you, our fathers, mothers, and friends, do ex¬ tend to you the warmest and most cordial of wel¬ comes tonight. Avocations for the High School Graduate “Variety is the spice of life.” Probably all of us realize the truth of that old and trite saying, for do we not see on every hand different types of people, different surroundings and different cus¬ toms? Each one of us believes in this doctrine, whether he has ever realized it or not. This old world of ours would be most monotonous were it not so. What a wealth of happiness and satisfac¬ tion does he lack who has but one interest in life, one work to perform! Only stop for a moment to consider some of the avocations which, plus our vocations, may make up the very essence of our lives. The business man and woman has eight hours of regular work, leaving four or five more which may be devoted to worth while avocations of one type or another. For suggestions let us turn to the biographies of a few of our well-known men and women, tot in their lives we can discover some very interesting avocations—recreations which were a vital part of their success. Theodore Roosevelt at one time held the highest position to be had in our country,—President of the United States. Despite the importance of this office and the necessary work to be done, he had time for other things. He had a decided avoca¬ tion, an employment outside his regular work, which gave him pleasure. This was hunting. From his early boyhood until his death he never lost the interest which the out-of-doors held for him. Dur¬ ing his college days he spent his free hours either in actually taking ' trips himself or in asking others about theirs. He would ask the most minute ques¬ tions about the cries and habits of birds and ani¬ mals, thus showing how very great his fascination for nature was. And when it was time to take up his work again, his mind was refreshed, rested. It had had a change. He was no exception to the rule. We are all human beings and have some of the same character¬ istics. We all want a change, and must have it to be well and enjoy our lives and work. During our high school career we are more or less taken up with school work and affairs, and do not have time for any particular avocation. But when we leave that institution of learning, we must seriously con¬ sider how we are going to spend our leisure hours.

Page 12 text:

2 THE EXPONENT Graduation represents a venture attempted and succesfully completed, something worth while gained. The members of the Senior Class take away from Greenfield High School a fund of knowl¬ edge of great practical value in very nearly every occupation one could name. Besides this knowl¬ edge, they take with them good habits of thought, speech and application, which are three of the best marks of an educated person and will stand by them like good friends wherever they go. Next year, we shall miss the support some of the members of the Senior Class have given to athletics, the Exponent and music; not only in these activities shall we miss them but as friends as well. That last statement may well include all the members of the class. Although they will be gone, followed by our best wishes for all the luck in the world, they will not be forgotten. M. S. ’23. VALEDICTORY The Golden Age for Women When the opportunities of the woman of today are compared with those of the woman of the past, the present woman should be thankful that she is living now. For, less than fifty years ago, at the age of eighteen or twenty an unmarried girl was considered to be an old maid and she usually had to go out and work as a hired girl. There were no modern conveniences and a girl was subjected to long hours of work with very little compensa¬ tion and she was given a small back-bedroom, to which she stumbled wearily every night. However, if she was clever with her needle, she might be a village seamstress, while the girl who found a posi¬ tion as a district school-teacher was considered fortunate by her friends and was greatly envied. How different the lot of eighteen year old girls now! They may choose the occupations of real estate dealers, florists, ranchers, fur traders, retail and wholesale buyers and sellers, book-binders, private secretaries, doctors, dentists, architects, landscape gardeners, poultry raisers, farmers, busi¬ ness executives, educational directors in stores, teachers, managers of tea-rooms, lawyers, profes¬ sors in colleges and many others too numerous to mention, for, two years ago a census taken of pro¬ fessions open to women showed that there were then three hundred and seventy. But it would be impossible to keep a correct list of these em¬ ployments as women are going into so many new fields of work daily. Some have taken the old home ideas and car¬ ried them out on a much larger scale. Such was the case of two girls, college graduates, who con¬ ceived the idea that if they made a new scientific bread, people would buy it. Their conclusion was quite correct for they have developed a large trade. Mrs. Louise Powis Brown saw the possibilities of introducing Philippine embroidery into this coun¬ try, developed a worth while business and today is reaping a fortune. And, we have all heard of Miss Gladys Wood’s successful tea-room at Nan¬ tucket, constructed from an old coaling barge, a tea room known all over the States because of its individuality. These are only a few examples of what women have done with their opportunities. How is so great a change in so short a time to be explained? It is but another of the great changes brought about by the industrial revolu¬ tion. After the introduction of factories, women were gradually forced to take up work outside of the home because it made the home duties lighter when manufactured articles replaced those which had formerly been so laboriously made at home. No longer did the mothers and daughters sit at their spinning wheels, for now they could buy their cloth. The butter which used to be churned and then placed under the willow tree to keep cool is made in a factory. The provision room is supplied with groceries from the store which tends to lighten household tasks greatly. No longer does the mother have to stand for hours over a kettle of soap or d dye pot. This great change has been wrought by the industrial revolution, but what was to be done with this surplus of women? The time was now ripe for women to break away, yet some one had to start the movement, for a break never comes unless it is started by some person. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. An¬ thony, and Lucy Stone Blackwell, are those pioneer women who faced ridicule in revolting against the injustice which women suffered. They had a long difficult struggle; they were ridiculed and scorned, not alone by men but even more by women, the very women for whom they were striving; they were called freaks, unwomanly and crazy but they carried on this work with the greatest determina¬ tion and they were victorious. To those “Liberat¬ ors of Women” we, the young women of today, owe a debt of gratitude for establishing the break. Since these women had paved the way, it was easier for the women of the next decade to fol¬ low in their footsteps. Consequently, when the World War made it necessary for women to fill men s positions, they were ready. They put on overalls, bobbed their hair, and went into munition factories, onto farms, and ran trolley cars. They took up the most difficult and dangerous work re-

Page 14 text:

4 THE EXPONENT All do not take up the same type of work, thus making it impossible even to suggest just what avocations to think about. Some will go to schools of further learning and may take up sports for their recreation, something that will be entirely different from the work of the day. We may be¬ come interested in taking pictures, as was Gene Stratton Porter, one of our leading naturalists. She says, “In my spare time I mastered photogra¬ phy to such a degree that the manufacturers of one of our finest brands of print paper once sent the manager of their factory to me to learn how I handled it. Thus her avocation led the way to her success as a novelist today, by putting her in charge of departments of the publications of Recre¬ ation, which had to do with photography. In this way she came into contact with literature and de¬ cided to try her hand at it, with what result we all know. Of course, we could not all become novelists, but we could enjoy ourselves just as we did in our childhood days when we pasted funny clippings into scrapbooks. However, that will not appeal to all of us, for— our likes and dislikes are distinctly varied. Who knows but what some of us here tonight may be now or at some time later in. our lives, great busi¬ ness men and women? What shall we do then in our spare time? Shall we idle it away in playing foolish games, in gambling or wasting our energy in some similar pastime? Or shall we keep our minds on our business from morn till night? Truly, we should not be doing justice to ourselves if we did either. Many great business men like to play golf or go fishing, where they can be in Nature’s wonderful wilds, free from business cares and wor¬ ries. Thomas Edison is very fond of fishing, and we read very often of President Harding’s relax¬ ing by playing golf. Aristide Briand, a leading statesman of France, has for his avocation fishing, as well as sailing. He is not a sportsman, strictly speaking, but he realizes the importance of good recreation. Biog¬ raphers say of his love for the sea: “He loves it in all weathers. He is not merely the summer sailor, though he spends his Parliamentary vaca¬ tion on board the yacht Gilda, but he loves the sea for its own sake, for the rude solitude it gives him, for, like many thinkers, he glories in an isolated taciturnity. Fishing, too, attracts him, and he has tried unsuccessfully to induce his friend, Presi¬ dent Poincare, to share his enthusiasm. In this pursuit he thinks more of the exercise or of the rest and change than of the sport itself. It is a mere excuse for recreation that he may work the more. But—many of us, no doubt, prefer avocations which will not require so much physical energy. Many are‘musical and find greatest relaxation and enjoyment in playing some musical instrument or in singing. Thomas Jefferson, one of the first presidents of the United States, was an arder; lover of music. He writes of himself that the pa sions of his soul were music, mathematics, and architecture, and the traditions of his violin-play¬ ing are numerous and amusing. We know that he used to play duets with Patrick Henry. His biog¬ raphies assure us that he was a fine performer upon the king of instruments, but grandmothers in Vir¬ ginia who heard the truth from the preceding gen¬ erations tell us the contrary and quote on early authority as saying that Patrick Henry was the worst fiddler in the colony,—with the exception of Thomas Jefferson. In Jefferson’s home town there was a young man who had a precious violin which he had bought in Italy. It was the one thing in all the world that Jefferson coveted most and he did not relax his persistence until he had persuaded the owner to draw up an agreement in legal form, signed, sealed and witnessed and duly recorded in the general court at Williamsburg, agreeing to sell the violin to him. To everybody but Jefferson this unique contract was a joke, but he was so lacking in the sense of humor and so earnest in his desire to possess the instrument that he took it seriously. This young man, however, soon went to war and before going sold the instrument to Jefferson. From that day Jefferson carried it with him wher¬ ever he went and practiced upon it while he was attending his duties as a member of Congress and Secretary of State, took it to France when he was minister, and occasionally played an old-fashioned air upon it while he was President. He never lost his love for music.’’ However, many of us are often inclined to look upon music as simply an avocation. It does not appear to be a regular work the same as business or professional practice. And yet there are a num¬ ber of great men and women to whom music means the necessities and luxuries of life. Without it they would be destitute. Such was the case with Richard Wagner. His family, once possessing a fair amount of wealth, was reduced to abject pov¬ erty and Richard simply had to do something to earn his bare living. He chose music, not for his avocation, but for his regular work, his vocation. He had an avocation, too, it is true, though it was not so well defined as some. His was that of pro¬ tecting animals. During his whole life he carried on a crusade against cruelty to animals. He had the provident and beautiful Buddhist theory of Pity, and he lived his theory. Believing in the eternal law of Christianity, Buddhism, and every great religion in history, in the laws of Mercy and