Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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LITERARY FROM THE FALLING LEAVES OF A SKETCHBOOK A store-room of musty old books does not seem the proper birthplace of a mysterious romance. The closet where ancient school supplies were kept in the Man ' ning School, however, yielded, in 1935, a curious little 4J £ ” by 6 J 2 ” sketchbook with covers fray- ed and pages loose. A single word, “DRAWING,” had been penned in uncertain lettering upon the front cover. A perusal of the contents of the book is more pleasing. It holds a series of carefully executed pencil drawings, dating from 1877 to 1880, of Ipswich scenes, some unfamiliar scenes, and portraits of former citizens — portraits which have an air about them of being excellent resemblances of the people whom they represent. The modest creator of this delightful work left no name upon it. Somehow, the book found its way onto the bookshelves of Room 10, and was taken out and admired once or twice yearly. “What a shame it is” the admirer would say, “that a person with such a gift never rose to fame. (For the draw- ings show a definite technique and great talent.) The sketchbook moved with the rest of the high school regime to its new, shining quarters on Green Street in 1937. There, ashamed of the contrast of freshness with antiquity, it seemed to retreat to the depths of a bookshelf, until it was brought forth last May to be shown to some Latin students who were interested in art. It was in this capacity that I was fortunate to view the work; and was allowed to keep it for a weekend. I looked forward to the joy of inspecting it at my leisure, and I secretly expected to solve the mys- tery of its authorship. A hasty once-over showed me that there was indeed no name attached to the skilled work; but beneath a drawing of a man ' s back were three initials; G. W. F. G. W. F.! There was a clue that fairly bubbled over with pos- sibilities. If it had not been after hours, the town clerk ' s office would have been besieged immediately. An analysis of the subjects revealed the artist to be a man, for he drew a clock, the rear platform of a train, boats, factories, houses, church steeples, animals, woodland scenes with figures of men in them, and about ten men ' s portraits to two of a woman (undoubt- edly the artist’s mother.) What woman’s mind of that period would have run in those directions? 17

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EDITORIAL O N first entering the new Ipswich High School, we as bewildered young freshmen, had little knowledge of the true value of a high school educa- tion. We attended school daily more as a matter of course than because of ac- tual foresight into the future. Little did we realize that some day we should be very sincere in expressing our grati- tude toward the same teachers who handed out the long homework assign- ments. This thorough training has helped to develop our minds to act in accordance with our growing bodies. It has enabled us to think and act more quickly, to reason more thoughtfully, to converse more intelligently, and to accomplish our work more thoroughly. At present, the opportunities for use- fulness are greater as far as the high school graduate is concerned. For those persons wishing to further their education, the prospects are favorable. There is in this country a definite need for trained minds. As for those per- sons who are not planning to attend higher institutions of learning, there has not for several years been such a boom in employment as there is at the pres- ent time. The country needs skilled workers also. Now that we have passed this phase of our life which was almost wholly directed for us by our parents and teach- ers, we are finally out on our own. Pre- viously the teachers did our planning for us — they outlined exactly what we wiere supposed to do; however, at this period of our life we must begin to make our own decisions. Above all, we must not be deceived by the present boom in employment into believing that the road is all straight and easy ahead. Born out of war preparations and defense needs, the sudden demand for workers represents an unhealthy growth. It is for us rather to look beyond the dark uncertain days im- mediately aLead an|d to work for a world where all men are engaged in peaceful pursuits and where justice and human brotherhood are supreme. 16

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My next impulse was to show the sketches to our artist friend, Miss Har- riet D. Condon. She would have known that period and would undoubtedly be interested in the signed record of a layman’s artistic development. She was. She even recognized the locus of a tree by a sketch of it (the most carefully and wonderfully made of them all) and other scenes of Ipswich Basin and Water Street. But the people she did not recognize. She said, during the course of our conversation, that in some of the pic- tures she was reminded of the technique of the fine artist, Arthur W. Dow. She had taken some lessons from him and learned that his policy was to strive mainly for composition. He w ould draw a simple pattern, she said, on a square or oblong piece of paper and fill in trees, animals, or people wher- ever he felt that they were needed. Could G. W. F. have been a pupil of Mr. Dow’s? And who could G. W. F. have been? “George Farley’’ was the reply, “but he was not gifted in the line of art at all.” Perhaps he had hidden talent of which this book is the only record! I was sure that it was George Farley. The mystery was solved at the end of a pleasant evening. Racing home, I showed the book to my father who had been away, and I made no comments as he went through it. Telling the solution of a mystery before one has been acquainted with the mystery itself is no way to arouse a person’s interest! But before I could explain my luck, he said , “Do you know, this picture bears a strong re- semblance to Arthur Dow. His picture is in the frontispiece of Mr. Arthur Johnson’s life story of him. Perhaps it is a picture by Mr. Dow of his father.” We eagerly brought out the life of Mr. Dow. Indeed, the man in the sketchbook had the same short beard but a broader chin than Arthur Dow’s. He had the same penetrating eyes. From that moment dated our supposition that Mr. Arthur Dow himself was the artist of the sketchbook! We dismissed the initials G. W. F. as a sketch of and not by Mr. George Farley. Arthur Wesley Dow — the man who was proud to be a native of Ipswich. He graduated from Newburyport High School, studied art in Paris and Japan, became an authority on Eastern Art, a painter of wide fame, author of a universally popular book upon com- position, a teacher at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and head of the Art Depart- ment of Columbia University until his death. Yet essentially, he remained a native of Ipswich, striving to portray truthfully in bis paintings the spirit of New England as he knew it from his life in Ipswich, leaving his studio site on Bayberry Hill as a park for the Town of Ipswich, and, through the 18