Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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EEBE QECQlEV!lEMEEBltElQlXltElEEINMEBlQ father by being elected to Phi Beta Kappa and chosen All-American end for 1917. This was not enough. He liked to act in the Y.M.C.A. plays, and it was there that Eugene O'Neill spotted him for the lead in The Emperor Ionesf, But fate took another turn, and the boyis ineptitude for whistling caused the script to be changed to singing. The most valued of his talents then was given to the world and a star was born - Paul Robeson. T Hilda Simms craved knowledge and education, but her mother's illness madewahollse for her return' Bentley Came back l it impossible for her to finish her four years at the University of Minnesotag so she took the position of instructor of aesthetics at the Phyliss Wheatley Set- tlement House. There she spent all of her spare hours reading or attending other classes, but it seemed once more, that she would never Hnish her educa- rr tion, for she fell in love with a profes- sor and married him. But God helps those who help themselves, and she was finally able to earn her diploma by teaching English with her husband at Hampton University, Booker T. Wash- ington's alma mater. Her theatrical in- terests were as great as her scholastic ones, and she had been doing bit parts since the age of fifteen, when she finally was put in the American Negro The- ater's Anna Lucastaf' in which she made a smash hit. and a mother sat where she was a The night was dark in the little log cabin slave trying to calm her sick baby. It was the coughing of in the drear days 6 liltifgtlllililglmtilfglglmlgki33.53QKILZIZTIKEXIQQQ of the Civil War, and a raiding army was on the march. Horror struck her as her master flung open the door and grabbed up her other son crying, Run, Mary - the raiders are comingf' But she was not quick enough, and she and the baby were carried away. Her loss was as the loss of a member of the family to Moses Carver, and when lic heard of a bushwhacker named Bent- ley who knew of her whereabouts, he offered eight-hundred dollars of timber- land and a three hundred dollar race 'with news that she had been shipped to Louisiana but had left the baby with two women. I'll take the horsef he said, as he pushed a bundle into Car- rveris hands. Here's the baby - I guess rit's alive. Such was the beginning of George VVashington Carver - one of the Nation,s top research scientists and educators. Because of him, thousands of his race who could not read sign- posts to know where they were going now can read and because of their edu- cation have followed his seven-league steps to fame. The Negro blues singer we cheered in Till the Clouds Roll Byv started in New York iirst as a chorus girl and then as a soloist with a band. Though she couldn't afford an extensive education, she had the will to get ahead in spite of the feeling against her color. She chooses songs for their words, claiming her personality to be far better than her voice. but thereis no one today who can sing that favorite of all American music

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Rllgldllgllillgllxllgllxliillgllilillglmlmlkillldliillr-'llbillxllllllrflwirilktllidlziilxlfri El!lxklillBllgiliixllgllgllllwliiilmlxlllfikllllllliillxllxllxkiildllillwMlgillil THE DANDELIONS Dandelions are very rude, They do not seem to know The rules of floral etiquette, The thing to do - and so They come into the garden, VVhc-ther they're asked or notg They get in the beds of the choicest blooms And ruin thc garden plot. They never come by ones or twos. But simply by the dozens. I think they must be country folk They have so many cousins. - Ann Czegka, '50 Graduation Essays THE VALUE OF NEGRO EDUCATION By Anne Barry HENEVEB the question of Negro discrimination comes up, someone is sure to say, The Negro needs edu- cationf, And someone else will contra- dict, Has any Negro ever made use of an education?,' In an affirmative answer would lie the basis of an argument which can help to solve one of the most seri- ous problems confronting our nation to- day. Guiseppi Boghetti was weary of music and musicians, he had had a long day's teaching and did not want to hear this nineteen-year-old choir singer, even if she was recommended by john Thomas Butler or had been taught by Mary Patterson. But her high school princi- pal was so insistent that the fatigued old teacher consented to listen to the shy girl with the soft brown eyes. As her mouth opened, he relaxed and his soul was filled with rapture and ad- miration, for here in the twilight was a tall, calm girl who sang Deep River , and made him cry - Marian Anderson. Later, he entered her in a contest, which she won over three hundred others. But everywhere she met the phrase - Too bad she's a Negrof' Discouraged, she left the United States and had her first concert in Germany. It was the last one that ever cost her money. Success and acclaim were immediate and swift when she returned to her country, and when the D. A. R. refused to lease her Constitution Hall in Washington, Mrs. Roosevelt resigned, the press and clergy protested, and Heifitz and other musi- cians declared that they were ashamed to appear there. A Methodist minister sent his son to Columbia, and when the boy presented him with a card of seven A,sS' and a asked him to account for the KB. The young law student appeased his 5

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MEIEEEIQ EEQWSBEIELSJBIMJEJ EIlElEl3JElElMl53lLiilEiJBlE?llZlflCMlKlI!JWE21L1EBIMMEJM as she can. She wants more than Holly- wood stardom, she wants the Negro to be portrayed on the screen as is any other American, voting at the polls, do- ing the dishes, or eating a sundae at the corner drug store. She has only one fault - she is an introvert and cannot project her personality beyond herselfv - so says columnist Elsa Maxwell, but Lena Horne is still tops on our billing. The auditioning room of the Juilliard School of Music was silent. Paul Wag- ner was auditioning the eight-year-old daughter of a Port-of-Spain concert pian- ist. The child was to play Rachmani- noffis Prelude in C sharp Minorf' She seated herself and began. Wagner heard sixths played instead of the octaves fre- quent in this selection, then realized the child's hands could not reach the octaves. He was so impressed by her talent and ingenuity that he helped her career, and at twelve she was soloing Tschaikov- skyis Piano Concerto with the Juilliard orchestra. As she grew older and a necessity came for her to raise money, she began working in a night club doing her own arrangements of the classics. With her excellent education and train- ing she is at twenty-five one of todayis top entertainers. Lately she gave a con- cert, all the funds of which went to help a young girl whose legs have been am- putated. Her name? Hazel Scott. Then, the educator, Booker T. Wash- ington. When the teacher asked the ragged black child from the coal mines his name, he aimed as high as he could and said it was Washington. And in- deed he became the father of his peo- ple. For after working his way through Hampton University, he was recom- mended as principal for the training school for which a white merchant and a skilled Negro Workman in Alabama had raised two thousand dollars. Arriv- ing at Tuskegee, he asked where the school was. There isn't any - yet, he was told. But he was not discouraged, and Tuskegee was to see before many years a big and beautiful school, Tus- kegee Normal and Industrial Institute, which Washington raised money for, built, and taught. It was a co-educa- tional Negro school, teaching mainly oc- cupational training. Great honors came to Booker T. Washington, whose insti- tute has since taught three-quarters of a million black children the way to het- ter living. Few have done as much to help so many on their way. Let us remember his words, No matter how poor you are, how black you are, or how obscure your present position, each one should remember there is a chance for him, and the more difficulties he has to overcome, the greater can be his successf, And thus it seems with these seven famous Americans, they all had a hostile world to face. But they did not lack courage and made their way to fame. It was the hard Way, the long way. When we see what people can do un- der such hardship, against prejudiced opposition, we wonder what they could do if they were given encouragement and help -- if schools like Tuskegee 7