Hale High School - Pompositticut Yearbook (Stow, MA)

Page 21 text:

W1th women takmg a more actwe part 1n everyday l1fe, the quest1on of extendmg suffrage to them became a nat1on w1de questxon, Lucret1a Mott and Elxzabeth Stanton were p1oneers 1n the woman suffrage movement and 1n startmg the ball rollmg As early as 1848 a meet1ng was held ln Seneca Falls New York to dlscuss the subject Ga 1n1ng the rxght to vote was however a long and severe struggle In 1869 the d1e was cast 1n Wyom1ng when women were allowed to vote In the same year the Nat1ona1 Woman Suffrage Assoclatxon was organ1zed and M1ss .susan B Anthony became presldent A steady carnpalgn was waged 1n the states L.1tt1e by lxttle the movement ga med headway Fmally m 1919 both houses of Congress passed the Nmeteenth Amendment to the Const1tu t1on and the f1ght was over The r1ght of c1t1zens of the Un1ted States to vote could no longer be den1ed by any state on account of sex Smce th1s great even women have taken an mcreasmgly act1ve part 1n our government Many have been elected to state or federal pos1t1ons One of our own representatwes from Massachusetts Edxth Nourse Rogers has spent much tlme workmg for veterans leg1s1at1on Recently Pres1dent Ehsenhower appomted two women to pos1t1ons h1gh 1n the government s functxon One Cla1re Booth Luce he delegated to be our off1c1al repre sentatlve to Italy and the other Mrs Ivy Baker Pr1est became the Treasurer of the Un1ted States Amer1can women played a role far greater than ever before durmg the Second World War They subst1tuted for men 1n the pos1t1ons at home and many thousands actually served m the armed forces They also performed unportant c1v1l1an defense work and were mvaluable as nurses for the S1Ck and wounded Amerlca would be vastly d1fferent today had It not been for the s1gn1f1cant contr1but1ons of women Young women graduatmg from schools or colleges today may look w1th pr1de upon the past ach1evements of Amerlcan women and gather 1nsp1rat1on to contmue m then' foot steps toward even greater progress Valedlctory Classmates As we look back over our twelve years of study we should never thxnk of them as wasted for through the pat1ent help and gu1dance of our teachers we have gamed knowledge Thls knowledge 15 v1tal to each one of us 1nd1v1dually 1n our pursu1t of happmess and prosperxty The past four years have been enjoyable ones on the whole We have st11d1ed together worked together and played together learnmg diferent lessons from books bw the same lesson of progress from small thmgs to greater ones Let us put th1s knowledge to good use Now we shall each go our own separate ways but all perhaps w1th the same end 1n mmd to acqu1re prosperlty Most of us w11l never become r1ch or famous m the sense we know It today but we shall all contrxbute 1n some small way to the progress of th1s nat1on and Progress 15 Prosper1ty OFFICERS OF THE CLASS OF 1953 Pres1dent George Maclver V1ce Presldent Jane Colby Secretary Sylvla Wanhatalo Treasurer Susan Cewall Student Counc1l Dav1d Crowell Adv1sor Mrs Kathleen Platt Class Class Class Class Motto Flower Colors Marshal Eleanor Pe ck Progress IS Prospenty Red Carnat1on Red and Wh1te 1ll1am Wh1tney 3 I ' l 1 o 1 . , V ' . ,. . . . . . - 1 1 ' ' . . . . . ' . . 1 s ' ' . . . .. . . , . . .. - U . , , 1 1 . 1 ' . . . 0 . . ' 1 1 1 9 . . . H, , , ,,.,x. . . 1 1 1 -- . 1 1 1 i ss . - -Q .-..-..- - ' ......--. Q-...... - .-.....-... O - ....... .

Page 20 text:

Woman s Place m American Progress We hold the se truths to be self evldent That all men are created equal that they are endowed by the1r Creator wzth certa1n unal1enable r1ghts that among these are l1fe lmberty and the pur su1t of happmess For many years after th1s statement was wrmtten mto the Declaratlon of Independence th1s equahty was not beheved to extend to women G1rls were not allowed to attend school nor women college They could not enter profes s1ons such as law and med1c1ne and above all they had no vo1ce 1n the government exther nat1onal or terr1tor1al As years passed however women came to take a more pronnent pos1t1on 1n Amencan llfe When the country schools of the Un1ted States developed g1rls were gwen the same 1nstruct1on as boys At Troy New York Emma Wmllard after undergomg r1d1cule and persecutmn es tabllshed a c1ty endowed school that gave women the same educat1onal advantages as men W1th1n a few years Oberlm College opened 1ts doors to both men and women The effect was natlon wlde Even before the C1v1l War women were workmg hard for the 1mprovement of cond1t1ons 1n our country On a March mormng 1n 1814 Dorothea D1x V1S1ted the House of Correctmn at East Cambrxdge Massachusetts and went home that mght so shocked and terr1f1ed at what she had seen that she could not sleep What had shocked her so was the ghastly cond1t1on of the msane at the Ja1l They wore shackles the1r cells were dark a1rless and unheated and the walls shxmmered w1th frost Many wardens beat the mmates 1n order to obta1n sllence research she took her f1nd1ngs to the members of the Massachusetts leg1slature When con fronted wxth the shockmg evmdence they quxckly prov1ded for the f1rst hosp1tal for 1nsane patlents at Worcester From Massachusetts she went to Rhode Island Mame and then made her way throughout the Unlted States workmg unceas1ngly unt1l the phght of the mentally 1ll was vastly 1mproved On January Z1 1901 one of the most sensat1onal women 1n Amermcan h1story walked down the streets of W1ch1ta Kansas smgmg Onward Chr1st1an Soldlers She had a hatchet 1n her hand and when she reached Jlm Burns saloon she rushed 1n through the swmgmg doors As customers fled and the bartender ducked Carr me Nat1on threw beer bottles at the mlrrors and smashed 1n the heads of whlskey barrels w1th her hatchet In a few m1nutes the place looked as 1f xt had been struck by a cyclone By her f1ery and spectacular crusades she helped arouse the 1nd1gnat1on that made nat1onal proh1b1t1on posslble seventeen years later Dorothea D1x and Carr1e Natxon are but two women 1n a f1eld of thousands who have been and are workmg 1n the f1eld of soclal reforms Jane Addams as head of Chlcago s Hull House and Clara Barton founder of the Amer1can Red Cross devoted the1r 11ves to th1s cause day a vast number of women are employed 1n varlous flelds of welfare work The Umted States has produced many great wr1ters among them several women Harrlet Beecher btowe became natlonally famous for her 1nsp1r1ng novel Uncle Tom s Cabm whmch dep1cted slave llfe Everyone has at one stage or another read one or more of Loulsa May Alcott s books descr1b1ng the lxfe of average Amerxcan of the day These and a host of contemporary wr1ters have helped put our country on the hterary map , -O O . . ,, . . . Miss Dix set out immediately to better the condition of these mentally ill. After much , , . . . . . . 7 Y . . ,, . . . .,, E. . , . . . , . , . . . i To- . ' - - ' so Q ' 19

Page 22 text:

Salutatory Address Parents Teachers Fr1ends and Schoolmates I welcome you he re torught w1th mtxed emot1ons Whlle I feel very much elated and proud on th1s my last day 1n h1gh school I also feel apprehens1ve as to what l1es ahead As 1n the past four years your unfa1l1ng a1d parents and fr1ends w1ll help us over l1fe s many p1tfa1ls On behalf of the class of 1953 I w1sh to take th1s opportumty to thank you for your past and future ass1stance A Few Suggested Steps For Progress As we leave Hale H1gh School we should not only be 1n a joyful frame of m1nd but we should go forward resolutely It does not take a soothsayer to foretell the d1rect1on 1n wh1ch the world 1S travelmg Determmed and consc1er1t1ous leaders w1ll be needed to help the world to avert the many catastrophxes wh1ch threaten and lt 1S our fervant W1Sh that we may 1n some capac1ty do our share toward th1s end As can be gathered from the da1ly per1od1cals the world today 1S 1n a truly perplexed cond1t1on Not only IS lt affl1cted w1th the gr xevous burden of war but also w1th a complex soc1al orgamsm 1n Wh1Ch there 1S much room for 1mprovement It IS the duty of us the leaders of tomorrow and you the bellwethers of today to r1se above petty dlfferences 1n an attempt to create a peaceful assoc1at1on between all people of var1ous faxths Much progress has already been made 1n th1s f1eld as w1tness the co operat1ve efforts of the leadmg re11g 1ous bod1es workmg on a nat1onal scale Yes that should be the theme on th1s our commencement We should str1ve w1th d1l1gence and s1ncere appl1cat1on to correct the many 1lls to wh1ch we have become accustomed In every d1ct1onary 15 a word that should not be necessary to the Engllsh language That church party belxef or OPIDIOH Rel1g1ous and soc1al d1scr1m1nat1on IS a ser1ous eV1l that can spread l1ke a cancex when It IS planted 1n the hearts of men by cruel and mlsgulded fa nat1cs Let us pray that there w1ll always be a place 1n the Un1ted States where the Negro Jew and Gent1le may l1ve together 1n contentment and fel1c1ty One more cond1t1on 1n the world as lt ex1sts today Wh1Ch I trust the progress to be made 1n the next fxfty years w1ll zmprove IS the ex1stence of slums To refer once more to Noah Webster a slum IS a th1ckly populated street or alley marked by wretched l1v1ng cond1t1ons Even m my 1mmatur1ty I can see that there 1S no place 1n a well ordered commun1ty for Vtretched l1v1ng cond1t1ons St1ll another appall1ng c1rcumstance 1S the current nat1onal crlme wave Th1S very moment much lawlessness 15 tak1ng place The youth of Amerlca should do all 1n 1tS power to avert the threat of a completely cr1me r1dden country Of course these are only a few of the maladles wh1ch must be cured lf we are to surv1ve m a peaceful world If we survey the matter carefully we see that self1shness 11eS at the root of these and many other human d1ff1cult1es Perhaps 1n the next few years man Wlll progress to a po1nt where he w1ll be a l1ttle more concerned Wlth others and a l1tt1e less w1th self The words used by Abraham Lmcoln 1n h1s Second Inaugural Address seem to express the sum and substance of the proper attltude wh1ch I trust man w1ll attam as he progresses through the corr1dors of txme I I . I : - 3 I Q ' I I I . . , . . . , , . I ' Y l I I I . . , - . . . - , . word is bigot . Webster defines it as one obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his own , Y . , . . .,, . . . . . . . . . . , 0 . . . y , . P . . . , . . u ' It ' ' ' ' ' IO , . . . . , . . v Al Y ' ' ' ' I1 I ' 7 , , . . :