Lincoln High School - Lincolnian Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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THE LINCOLNIAN 25 year, the juniors’ reception to the seniors. The enjoyment of the evening shall be long remembered by all that were present. Thus closed the year for the greatest junior class that ever graced Old Lincoln by their presence. Autumn came ; once more we find the faithful few entering Old Lincoln, they hope, for the last time. Following up the precedent established in our junior year, our club was organized at once, with Edward Baker as the executive head, and we begun to advance not step by step, but by leaps and bounds. In our Virgil class there were more pupils than were in all of the other pre- vious classes combined. Eleven is our present number ; this single fact, like scores of others, speaks volumes for the ciass of ’09. Another fact is that no other class can boast of so many sterling athletes. On the ever-victorious football team seven members were of the class of ’09, five of whom were regulars. No other class can boast of so large a number. Another singular fact is that we are the first senior class to possess all of the qualities that a senior class should have, and some that We shouldn’t have. Fol- lowing up the precedent of our previous year in the way of programs rendered, we rendered one that will be long re- membered, the celebration of the cen- tennial anniversary of the emancipator and martyr, Abraham Lincoln, February 11, 1909. By the way of showing the faith that the faculty has in us, we will relate the following: About three weeks before the date, Prof. Crisham informed the class that he would like for them to have a program on Lincoln’s centennial. No sooner had the words fallen from his lips than we began to prepare, and on the appointed day the program was ren- dered, which was said to have been the best program ever given by any class in the annals of Old Lincoln. This fact, like others, speaks volumes for the class of ’09.1 • It would take volumes to write all concerning the versatility of this class. Put we shall endeavor to give you a few r facts concernig this great power. We have some of the most brilliant array of talent ever presented in twenty-eight graduates. We have among our mem- bers pianists, .a violinist ot rare merit and whose technique and tone qualities are not to be surpassed, a musical com- poser, Miss Mary White, whose setting to “Nearer, My God, to ' t hee ' ' is, to our minds, more beautiful by far than the original setting; orators, of no mean de- gree of eloquence ; would-be dramatists and actors, vocalists and writers whose simplicity of style could rival that of an Irving; writers whose range in depth of thought is almost Miltonic. Last, but by no means the least, is our class song, which is held sacred in the heart of every member of the class. For the words we are greatly indebted to .Mr. James F. Browne, and to our own j. Gerald Tyler for its tuneful music. Another tact of no little degree of im- portance is that the class of ’09 is the first class to give a play, on class night or any other night, written entirely by themselves, and to have the nerve to present it. This year marks the organization of the S. G. R. T., the senior girls’ club. The meaning of the name we mere boys have been unable to ascertain, but not- withstanding this we can say that the S. G. R. T. (what that means) is the first and only sorority in Old Lincoln; not only that, laut it has the distinction of being the only real literary society in school, not excepting the seven other or- ganizations. That’s a pretty bitter pill for a Tan Sigma Sigma to swallow, but nevertheless it is true. It has been said that the class of ’09 have a good opinion of themselves, the truth of which statement we make no effort to deny. The fact of the matter is we are trying to give our patrons a true account of our four years in Old Lincoln. We know that others should do the praising, but we all have our faults. Then, again, if you would suc- ceed in this world you must let the pub- lic know something about you. We have not always been free from petty strife and enmities, but there is not one of us that is not willing to forget all of our grievances toward one an- other, join hands and meet on a com- mon level to bid to Old Lincoln and her concomitants our best goodbys, with minds ever resolved to “Follow the Gleam.”

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24 THE LINCOLNIAN becoming too monotonous, in our civic classes, towns and villages were incor- porated ; great murder, slander and stealing cases were tried, in order to give the pupils some idea of how cases were dealt with in our everyday life, and incidentally to give the verbose members of the class an opportunity to exercise their vocabularies and to show how little they really knew about such affairs. In our English classes the pupils were allowed to write their autobiographies, in which exercise everyone tried to make himself as illustrious as possible, and in their efforts to surpass the others some lives were read wherein the inci- dents could rival those of “Opie Dill- dock.” When the time came for us to re- enter school as “Sophisticated Sophs” we were given a pleasant surprise in the shape of a new school building, with new teachers and added departments. The honor of being the first sophomore class to enter New Lincoln was greatly appreciated, and for this and other rea- sons no steel band could have been made strong enough to incase our fast swell- ing heads. W eeks went by and someone sug- gested class organization. A day was appointed, we met and a club was or- ganized. All officers were girls. The boys then begun to think of some plan by which they could overthrow this state of affairs. They thought if a boy could only become president the rest would be easy. A conspiracy was formed, out of which grew the first triumverate, the ob- ject of which was to bring about an- other election of officers and by sheer force place a boy in the president’s chair. The triumvirs were Hockaday, Doug- lass and Williams. Like the great Ro- man triumvirate, each man had a differ- ent function — Hockaday for leadership, Douglass for eloquence, and Williams for ornament ; in other words, he just accompanied these other gentlemen. But, alas ! like all other great tri- umvirates, all came to naught. The summer months rolled by ; we entered schol not as “Verdant Freshies,” not as “Sophisticated Sophs,” but as “Noisy Juniors.” In despite of this true, but misleading, name, we had the dis- tinction of being the first class in school to organize ; not only that, but we were the richest club in school in talent, whether musical or otherwise, and in finance. Nor was this year without conflict. The girls held the balance of power ; the boys felt that they should receive more privileges ; a declaration of independ- ence, demanding a square deal, was drawn up, signed by every boy in the class and presented to the club. At first it was not considered and this was the beginning of the famous Tau Sigma Sigma, Lincoln’s first and only Greek letter fraternity. The estrangement be- tween the boys and girls was short lived ; they were united once more, and things went along smoothly ever after- ward. But the Tau Sigma Sigma had come to stay. The presidents of the class throughout the year were James E. Williams, Amanda Leonard and Lula Shelby, in the order named. By this time it had been whispered that we were not only the premier class in school, but the best junior class that ever walked the corridors of Old Lin- coln. It was this year that more students took up Cicero than in any of the pre- vious classes ; thirteen was the number, and all stuck together throughout the en- tire year, and all passed. Unlucky num- ber, did someone say Well, hardly, for at the end of the term Prof. Dawley served the members of the class with ice cream. Now, would anybody call such a treat unlucky? It was this year the class of ' 09 brought the “Noise,” a strictly junior class paper, to such prominence. In the way of programs rendered we were never surpassed. Two members appear- ing in as many programs shall ever re- main fresh in the memories of all who heard them. One was the burlesque on the class of ’08, by Herman Hockaday, in our junior farewell program; the other was the response to the class of ’08 by Edward Baker, last class night, which was undoubtedly one of the best ever given by a junior class. Then came another treat. Prof. Wal- den, our roll call and physics teacher, entertained the entire class at his resi- dence. We were fast becoming the elite of High school society. Last, but. by no means the least, came the cul- minating feature of such an illustrious

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Lincoln High School Sewing Class.