Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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year and a half later. What a wealth of old romance lives in the history of New England, — and especially Essex County. Vis- ions of grim, painted Indian war- riors, stern, dark-cloaked Puritans, blue-coated rebels and red-coated British ; the first law-makers of our country — the signers of the Decla- ration of Independence and draf- ters of our Constitution — all these are brought to the mind of him who would delve into the early history of our country — and a surprisingly large proportion of this history can be attributed to our own part of New England — Essex County. In the words of Joseph Hodges Choate, himself a famous lawyer and son of Essex County — “He is an unreason- able creature, who, having Ameri- ca for a country, Massachusetts for a state, and Essex County for a home, is not satisfied.” CLASS PARTS CLASS HISTORY Frank Raymond In June of the year 1925 about seventy pupils, the majority of which now constitute the class of ’29 were informed by the teachers of the Junior High School that they would enter Manning High in the following September. Upon entering high school, we were given programs to fill out up- on which were stated the subjects and the recitation room of each. These programs were of little aid to us, but we managed to arrive at class even though a little late. After a few weeks had passed and we had adjusted ourselves to our new surroundings and acquaint- ed ourselves with our new class- mates from Rowley, we held our first class meeting. We elected tem- porary officers and in January elect- ed our officers for the year as fol- lows: Stanley Machaj, president; John Roper, vice president; Barbara Damon, secretary; and William Marr, treasurer. Our first event of note as a class organization was a social in Novem- ber. Everyone had an enjoyable time being initiated into the intri- cacies of seven-in and seven-out and other games, except for those who took refuge among the settees and behind the doors. Stunt night be- ing the next social event of inter- est, we decided to show our talent by putting on a doll show. The dolls may have been there, but the talent was missing. Time then passed uneventfully until one June day when Mr. Whip- ple, in accordance with a time hon- ored custom, read points in chapel. Those of us who had weathered the gales of the freshman year heard with elation our names read for three points. Thus were we reas- sured of our dignified status as sophomores. Upon returning to school in Sep- tember, we took our places as such and turned with eagerness to see the freshmen initiated, forgetting that it had been only a year since we had submitted to the mysterious and solemn rites ourselves. Of course, we took no part in the ad- ministration of these rites. Our class officers — Dorothy Dunn, president; Norman Baxter,vice president: Ruth Beals, Secretary ; and William Marr, treasurer, were elected, and the first weighty problem which presented itself was whether or not we should invite the junior or senior class to our annual social. The girls seemed to have more friends among the senior boys. Consequently, the seniors were invited. This social proved more enjoyable than the previous one had been, mainly be- cause there were no wall flowers. Following mid-year examinations we once more contributed our bit to stunt night by performing in a pro- fessional manner, “The Waterloo of Bluebeard.” It was indeed a 18

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across the Delaware the night be- fore the battle of Trenton. “Old Ironsides,” — the “Constitution” — was built in 1797, and oak timbers for her stout beams were cut and hauled from Georgetown. Theo- polus Parsons, one of Essex County’s most prominent politicians, had much influence in rejecting the con- titution of the colonies as it was first framed, and also in its rejuve- nation under President John Adams. Essex County has been a leader also in the development of public schools and other great educational movements. Dummer Academy, in Byfield, established in 1763, is the oldest academy in the country. One of Dummer’s famous graduates was Commodore Preble, or “Peppery” Preble, as his friends called him — the outstanding figure in the Amer- ican navy during the war with Trip- oli, when the “Schoolboy Captains” — Decatur and Bainbridge — made history with their naval exploits. Mary Lyon, a pioneer in the field of higher education for women, who founded the Ipswich girls’ seminary in 1806, and who was also the founder of Mount Holyoke College, attended the Byfield Seminary, which was the first one of its kind in America. At the present time, Essex Agricultural School is one of the finest in the country. In the field of literature, Essex County has two famous poets. Anne Bradstreet, the first woman poet to gain recognition in this country, came to Ipswich with her family in 1635, and lived here for eight or nine years. It is pleasing to note that she did practically all of her writing during her residence in Ips- wich. She was typical of the pion- eer women of America, and though her poems are not read today, they stand out from the stilted, pedantic writings of her time as expressive of true poetic instinct. The other poet whom Essex County can claim is John Greenleaf Whittier, whose pastoral “Snowbound,” is familiar to nearly everyone. He was a na- tive of Haverhill, and lived much of his life in Amesbury. His simpli- city and sincerity rank him among the foremost poets of America. Per- haps our greatest pride in literature is Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose novels, particularly “The Scarlet Letter,” will undoubtedly live for ever in the annals of literature. He was born in Salem, “the witch city” — and the greater part of his life was spent there. No American au- thor excels him in character analy- sis. In 1623, three years after the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth, there was a small but flourishing settle- ment at Cape Ann — a settlement of people who lived by fishing. Fish- ing was the first industry to be es- tablished in New England, and Gloucester and Rockport at Cape Ann, are today great fishing and ship-building centers. Later the textile industry began to gain a foothold in New England. The first textile mill in America was built at Rowley in 1643, and here the towns- people took their homespun cloth to be “fulled.” This process smooth- ed and straightened the fabric and took off any loose threads. For contrast, we might compare the mills at Lawrence, which, at one time, were turning out 500 miles of cotton cloth a day. The manufac- ture of shoes has long been an out- standing industry in New England, and Haverhill and Lynn have long been leading shoe centers, employ- ing hundreds of workers. The first machine for making wooden shoe pegs completely revolutionized the industry, and pegs were then sold at the amazing price of two dollars a bushel. Salem, in the time of the clipper ships, was a large seaport, and many a square-rigger would leave old Derby wharf, never to be heard from again till it returned, laden with teas, silks, and spices from the glamorous East, nearly a 17

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breath-taking scene when “Ding- foot’’ snatched our youthful maiden Dorothy Dunn and carried her gent- ly ( ?) from her perilous position to safety. Passing on to the junior year we anticipated a busy time and in prep- aration we elected an efficient corps of leaders with Norman Baxter, president; David Williams, vice president; Mildred Mansfield, secre- tary; and William Marr, treasurer. We had no more than accustomed ourselves to school routine, however when the schools were closed for a period of five weeks because of infantile paralysis. Much as we de- plore such an epidemic, it was an ill wind which blew us good in giv- ing us Jimmy Merson, who would otherwise have been a member of the Class of ’28. With our return to school after the epidemic we found not only ex- tra school work to be done but the junior promenade to engineer. Class colors, blue and white, were chosen and the date was set for the big event. Preparations were going smoothly when someone — it must have been a girl — conceived the brilliant idea of a grand march. However, this was not favorably re- ceived by our bashful he-men who disdained to enter because they be- lieved a grand march to be degrad- ingly effeminate. After much con- troversy the motion was carried al- though the bashful element still held out and refused to abide by the decision of the class. The girls were thus forced to use their charms in recruiting partners from the se- nior class. So the march was “grand’’ after all and added greatly to the program. The decorating committee of which Pete Mansfield was chairman outdid themselves and the prom proved to be a suc- cess both socially and financially. The only other event of the j ear worthy of note was a play present- ed at a social. Baxter as the bash- ful hero screwed up his courage to propose, only after the heroine, Bar- bara Damon, frightened by bats and the dark fell into his arms. With the arrival of the senior year we gravely sensed that our parting time from Manning was not far distant. At our first class meet- ing our officers Norman Baxter, Gertrude Ciolek, Barbara Damon, and William Marr were elected. In November we provided enter- tainment for an assembly period by acting “The Courtship of Miles Standish’’ which was read by Bar- bara Damon. William Geanakakis made such a “hit” as an Indian tliat we were forced to repeat one scene in order that everybody in the au- dience might get a good look at him. Much credit is also due to Dorothy Dunn who designed the im- promptu Puritan costumes worn by the boys. Merson and Miss Dunn were also very good in the principal roles in spite of their inexperience in marriage ceremonies and Chester Wile was convincing as the minis- ter who performed the ceremony. In keeping with tradition we pre- sented a three act play in the town hall in February. This y ar it was “The Amazons” by Pinero. In spite of Merson’s backwardness in the ab- stract quality of love, he showed improvement since November and made a “hit” as a lover. I might mention that he has progressed so rapidly since in the art of lovemak- ing that he and Barbara Damon were elected class lovers. No ac- count of the play would be com- plete, however, without the mention of our inimitable comedians Gaffney and Poor, neither of which has con- fined his comic actions to the stage. After the senior play was over our thoughts then turned to prepa- rations for graduation week. The last weeks have been busy but hap- py ones, as have all our school days. It is not, therefore, without a feel- ing of regret that we look ahead to the days of separation. We shall 19