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

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6 THE EXPONENT read the Good Book m the original. But they cc-rtaiiily started it all. From Massachusetts, this great reform was spread scatteringly through the colonies as far south as Pennsylvania before the Revolution. The new Northwest was given the free schools sys¬ tem as a birthright by the wise and farsighted (or perhaps, extravagant and insane) grants of land made by the Second Continental Congress. The West, therefore, has grown up with the new era, while the South just began to introduce public schools after the great Rebellion, when slavery was no longer a barrier. Now where are we? There are free schools everywhere, even in the smallest villages. Our schools and colleges do not wait for the people to come to them—they go to the people, and all the people have to do is to incline their ears and to absorb what is given them. The most wonderful thing of all, or, if you prefer, the most appalling, is the way the rest of the world is taking up t his new movement. The other Americas, North and South, Europe, Africa, Asia,—everywhere you go, outside the limits of utter savagery, you find to¬ day the free school and its amazing effects. This popular education is a right-about-face in the policies of an old, old world. It has brought radical changes in affairs, and none can say what the final outcome of it all will be, or even wheth¬ er it will be good or bad. However, we can al¬ ready distinguish some of its results. One very obvious result may be seen in coun¬ tries like India and China. The atmosphere of centuries has changed almost over-night. Students and leaders, many of them graduates of American colleges, are stimulating their countries to new life. Public schools are springing up, medical colleges have formed in the big cities, and the free education boom is on. A prominent Chinese says of his country, “The dormant giant is stir¬ ring; soon he will arise, shake himself, and then call his tormentors to account.” This is significant; education has always seemed to breed disorders and revolt. Again, the education of the masses means the passing of the ruling power from the few to the many. We may well question, as did Alexander Hamilton, the wisdom of the change. Are the masses fit to rule themselves? American tradi¬ tion holds that they are, but our government may at any time fall into the hands of educated, all¬ knowing morons, who would have been harmless hewers of wood and drawers of water under the old regime. It is not hard to believe that some¬ thing of this sort has already happened, judging by some of our recent legislation. But you can’t prevent things like that once you have taught your masses to read and write. Take this class as an example. We’re educated. We are just as good as anyone else, from our point of view. We are going to have a hand in running things bye and bye, and we’ll run them just as we see fit! Now, is it any wonder that the boat is often rocked? A fool with an education is forty times more danger¬ ous than a ditch-digging lunatic, and you will re¬ member that we educate fools and all, in our sys¬ tem. Since mass education, became so widespread, there have been great struggles going on between capital and labor. The laborers want to be on equal terms with their employers. There is no servile race today. Free education was all very well in old Athens, where there were slaves to keep the world running, but who is going to do the work today? Slavery is no longer fashionable. The younger generation, being educated to a cer¬ tain extent, feels itself above manual labor. In 1903, when the Mosely Commission came from England to study our school system, one of the Commissioners gave it as his opinion that our policy, if adopted in England, would prove her ruin. He noted that in this country a very great part of the ditch-digging and coal-heaving was done by recent immigrants who had never had a chance to learn, and he pictured England’s pre¬ dicament if her laboring class should be educated away from the pick and shovel. England has no immigration of laborers. Well, neither have we, for the new immigration bill which goes into effect in July cuts out Southern Europeans. Even if we had no such law, it is only a matter of a few years before education of the masses is firmly es¬ tablished in that region, ruining for all time that supply of workers. And this is what education has done, and is doing. Consider the people themselves. How are they affected by their education? They are taught to read and write, but not to think, and, as a result, are exposed to the propaganda of all sorts of fa¬ natics. As Pope said, “A little learning is a dan¬ gerous thing.” People thus educated, always ex¬ posed to the influence of the printed word, which is the most potent tool ever invented for the spread of evil, discontent and disorder, are bound to be misled, with unfortunate consequences. This movement is not all to the good. It is a fearful adventure, the full result of which cannot be imagined. The astounding rapidity of its com¬ ing is no more surprising than the host of new dif¬ ficulties that broke out soon after its arrival. We must go on, nevertheless, giving to the world this untested medicine, without knowing whether dt will act as a poison or a purge. It is impossible to turn back.

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THE EXPONENT ness men went to work to make farming a pay¬ ing proposition like their factories. It was not an easy job, but it is just this application of busi¬ ness principles that farming most needs. The time was when the New England farmer was at a disadvantage, but the tide has turned. There is no longer any cheap land in the West. Transportation charges to the eastern markets are no longer low, as the rates are now standardized and based on distance. This gives a decided pref¬ erence to the farmers of the East. The western lands are losing their fertility, and commercial fertilization is already recognized as a necessity for good crops. Nevertheless, there are many i large and growing cities here in the East that must be fed. All these facts spell opportunity for New England, and that opportunity lies in one direction —agriculture. Classmates, we have reached our goal. Through four, long years we have seen hard work and good times together. Through four long years we have worked and planned for this climax of our school life. Tonight we part, but may we meet again in the future. A. LINCOLN DURKEE, ’24. CLASS DAY EXERCISES President’s Address of Welcome Parents, relatives and friends: In behalf of the Senior Class, I extend a wel¬ come to our Class Day exercises. This morning our historians will recount the marvelous achieve¬ ments in our past, and our prophets will unroll before you the glorious events of our future. If you think that those efforts are a little too hu¬ morous for such a serious occasion, our orators and song writers will show you that the Class of ’24 can be as dignified as our caps and gowns imply. With our welcome we extend to you, who have made it possible for us to be here, a promise that our motto, “Perseverance Conquers,’’ shall be our watchword in the years to come. LEONARD L. THOMPSpN, ’24 CLASS ORATION The Amazing Adventure of Popular Education Two thousand years ago today, in the midst of a grove of oaks in the isle of Britain, a very in¬ teresting graduation exercise was being held. In a small, rocky, open space, shaded to twilight by the arch of green overhead, stood a little circle of robed, white-haired men. Druids they were, seri¬ ously listening to their leader, a tall man of ma¬ jestic bearing, who was speaking earnestly to two middle-aged men in the center. These two com¬ prised the graduating class. Having finished their twenty-year course of training and study, they were now being received into the exclusive order of priests, or wise men. Here today is a graduating class of one hundred boys and girls, who have covered more ground in their four years than the two men had in them twenty. This is an example of the most astound¬ ing change which has ever taken place in the world. The Druids, representing the old order of things, looked upon education as a great evil, which was dangerous unless carefully restricted and managed. Under their system, only one per¬ son in five hundred ever got a spark of education. The very finest and most promising boys were chosen from the tribes, carefully trained and thught in the privacy and secrecy of the great forest in the learned arts and sciences. At the end of their course they were made priests, and came to have great authority in the tribes. In this age. there is no such careful selection of the best and rejection of the rest; we give any and all who want it all the education they can carry away with them. Now, this principle of universal free education is very new. In all ages, privileged characters have been educated, of course, but the idea of educating absolutely everybody was frowned at. Even as recently as 1671, Gov. Wm. Berkely of Virginia said: “Learning has brought disobedience and heresy and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them. . . The Lord keep us from both.” The Puritans are to be blessed (or cursed, per¬ haps) for starting the free education iaey on its aniazing course. They educated only their beys, and did it because they thought a person could save his soul more efficiently for bei.ag able to

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THE EXPONENT SOPHOMORE YEAR Early September of 1921 found us ready and v aiting to start on the second lap with forty members unfortunately dropped from the roll call. We organized again and Leonard Thompson was once more the crew’s choice of pilot; “Pinky” Fiske became the second pilot; Helen Schneck, lientenant; Philip Stearns, steward with Pauline Franklin, his assistant. We strutted about grandly in our hangar, for we had had one year of valu¬ able experience now. We did not see very much of the new recruits, for the take-off grounds being filled during the morning, they were obliged to wait until later in the day to start their trip. Not seeing them much was all the more reason why we should give them a reception in order to get acquainted. It was a grand success and, I am proud to say, the biggest reception ever given by any crew. A drive w ' as next made for new members of an association, called S. A. S., to promote activi¬ ties and athletics. The crew of ’24 answered with an enrollment of 90 per cent and chose Francis Alberti and Leonard Thompson for directors. The Exponent was again published with Philip Stearns and Roland Reed assistant business man agers. Donald Roberts was chosen to write about the crew of ’24. Thurston Munson now became cover artist. William Ballard and Robert Pratt entered the authors’ ranks as essayists and many amusing essays were contributed to the Exponent’s Literary Department. Our aviators now wished to participate in ac¬ tivities on the ground. A track team was accord¬ ingly made up, which competed with foreign crews. Ed Jangro, Fred Burke, George Streeter, and Ralph Davis, representing the class, received let¬ ters as a reward for their fine work. We also took part in tennis matches with Ralph Davis, William Galvin, and Reg Pfersick showing their excellent ability in the game of tennis. That fall war was declared against our enemies, the Valley League, and Thompson and Jangro vol¬ unteered, fighting valiantly with the oval pigskin. Jangro’s manoeuvers won him the title of “All- Valley-End.” It was a custom of Commander Smith and his assistants to take several days in which to espe¬ cially impress upon the minds of his crews the necessity of using good English. To this end, we gave a play in which “Good English” and her as¬ sistants captured and overcame “Slang” and all his associates. Winter came around and the cold air currents drove our activities indoors. Many were the thrilling tactics we saw in the Washington Hall 9 hangar with Reg Pfersick, Thompson and Fiske representing the crew of ’24. In December we were allowed a short leave of absence to obtain rest and strength for the great storm of January. Hence we were all ready to weather the dangerous wind and the air currents which so often are disastrous to some of our mates. We righted ourselves at the end of the week and found our mates well represented on the surviving Honor List. We celebrated our glory with plays. One of which a group of boys gave; a very fantastic and fearful play called “A Night in an Inn.” It does not sound fearful but we found it was very deceiving, for there were murderers, thieves, gunmen and a horrible creature with one green eye in the Inn. Oh! it made us shiver! Br-r-r! Not to be outdone by the boys, a number of girls gave a humorous play called “Joint Own¬ ers in Spain.” It concerned two old women who shared a room in a poor-farm, who were always finding fault with each other when they were to¬ gether, but were lonesome when they were sepa¬ rated. The play was very interesting and furnished a fine contrast to the boys’ play. Then those interested in the study of Latin brought us back to the days of old Rome by stag¬ ing a Latin Circus, which was both instructive and amusing. All this entertainment was very fine, but we had still to defend old G. H. S. with the ball and bat. So Corless, Jangro, Bartlett, Thompson, Brown, and Kauchinski joined in helping to uphold the honor of the flying squadron. June came and with it the fiercest storm that ever shook the dirigibles of the G. H. S. But in the end, the winds 9, 8, 7, 6, blew gently against us and we prepared to land in order to take a two months’ vacation to recuperate. JUNIOR YEAR In the early days of September, 1922, the crew ’24 came together for the roll call for the third hop. A few failed to appear as they suffered from the severe storm in June. Forces were or¬ ganized again with Leonard Thompson as first pilot, Helen Toomey, second pilot, Ellen Madolyn O’Hara, lieutenant; Francis Alberti, mechanic, and his assistant, Francis Kauchinski. Officers of the crew for S. A. S. were Irene Daignault, vice- president; Mary Ballard, secretary; Francis Alber¬ ti, director of crew ’24. There was a call from the English department for literary supplies and Catherine Putnam, Mary Ballard, Don Roberts, Philip Stearns and William Ballard contributed. In order to have our crew represented on the re¬ ports of the Exponent, Mary Ballard reported.