Mansfield High School - Hornet / Green Years Yearbook (Mansfield, MA)

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Programme of Class Night Exercises PRESENTED BY THE CLASS OF 1928, AND COMMEMORATING Heer LE LE CEA INN GY ESAs ei eeu Es MANSFIELD HIGH SCHOOL SelectiGme er Le ee High School Orchestra RZ STORY LOGUE (Arranged by ALICE GRAY) Cast in order of appearance: Alice Gray, 1928 Albert Nickerson, 1928 James Coad, 1928 Annie Crowley Howard, 1878 Marjorie Schools, 1928 Beatrice Cobb Huston, 1891 Gilda Julian, 1928 John Gaffney, 1913 Kenneth Sherman, 1905 Marion King Wheeler, 1918 George Robinson, 1928, Class Prophet George Syat, 1928, Class Testator Class of 1928 Class of 1878 Annie Crowley Howard Mary L. Dunham Eva Harding Spooner Alice Scholes Shepard The history of the Mansfield High School by a semi-dramatic presentation is set forth in the Storylogue. 28

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Mansfield High School Faculty SKK EVERETT W. ROBINSON, Principal Dartmouth, B.A., Boston University, M.A. Mansfield, Mass. History FRED H. HADLOCK Dartmouth, A.B. Mansfield, Mass. Mathematics WINNIFRED C. LYMAN Smith College, A.B. Southampton, Mass. English MRS. GERTRUDE F, OLSEN Boston University Mansfield, Mass. Commercial Subjects MRS. MILDRED M. WHITMORE Framingham Normal School Mansfield, Mass. Domestic Science PV EEYNeAgHIEL Bay Path Business College Keene, New Hampshire Commercial Subjects OV Ea Sic la Boston College, Ph. B. Dorchester, Mass. English and Athletics MIPDREDSO JONES Middlebury College, A.B. Mansfield, Mass. Latin ‘THEODOREIC. “SARGENT Boston University and Dartmouth, S.B. : St. Petersburg, Fiorida Science FLORENCE: L.-COX University of Vermont, A.B., Radcliffe, M.A. Woodstock, Vermont French

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The History of Mansfield High School 1878—1928 By ALICE GRAY The year 1928 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first graduation of pupils from the Mansfield High School. The school was started in the upper room of the Number Four Schoolhouse with sixty pupils in January, 1872, during the long winter vacation of the other schools. Rev. A. F. Frost was principal. In 1873 the school moved to the First Parish Church, which then stood on Union Street, just below the cemetery. Mr. John Berry, a young man who had a few years before conducted a private school in town, was hired to succeed Mr. Frost, who had resigned. Until 1877 the school was ungraded; pupils of all ages came and stayed as long as they pleased. Asa matter of form, entrance examinations were required. ‘The story is told that on one occasion Mr. Crow- ley, then one of the school board, was so sympathetic for those who did not pass that he told them that they, too, might enter with the exception of one overgrown pupil, who, in reality, belonged in one of the lower grades. Many are the anecdotes told of Mr. Berry’s regime. The pond behind the church offered a handy ducking-pool. On one occasion two boys had a dis- agreement, resulting in the immersion of one. Unfortunately for the boys, Mr. Berry soon discovered this and both felt the sting of his rod—one for ducking, and the other for being ducked. The anteroom was the judgment hall, where, on other occasions, culprits waited in suspense, never knowing whether to ex- pect a slap, a punch, or a severe shaking. A variation was to send offenders up the long rough road to Mr. Crowley’s house, in the west part of the town, to confess their crimes. The journey was the hardest part of the punishment, for Mr. Crowley was a lenient disciplinarian. “This was years before the advent of the cigarette; the boys smoked genuine pipes after lunch, which they ate in the schoolroom. ‘The resulting disagreeable odor caused Mr. Berry to forbid the practice on that floor. Subsequently the boys evolved the idea of descending to the cellar and blowing the smoke up through the cracks. At the end of four years Mr. Berry, at his request, was transferred to the grammar school. He was succeeded by Mr. Frank M. Copeland, who imme- diately introduced a system of grades with the incentive of graduation. In 1878 the first class, consisting of eight girls, received their diplomas, the exercises tak- ing place in Lovell’s Hall, now used by the Odd Fellows. Although it was the twenty-eighth of June, and hot, the girls all wore woolen dresses of black, som- ber blue, or other dark, practical colors. The room was without ventilation, so the windows were opened. Consequently the sound of the timid voices was carried through the windows, and proud parents and friends were unable to hear a word. ‘The program was furnished not only by the graduates, but by brilliant members of other classes. Although they doubtless deserved their diplomas, tests and examinations were not required, neither was perfect attendance. In fact, one girl who lived 29