Merrimac High School - Yearbook (Merrimac, MA)

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Teachers: To you we owe more than we can ever repay for it is through your un- tiring efforts that we have been armed with a good, solid foundation which will help us in the years to come, For this foundation, and for the many other numerous ways in which you have helped us we wish to extend our deepest and most sincere thanks, Schoolmates: The time will soon come when you, too, must venture into the world?-Your days in high school will soon be over, They are the happiest days of your life, so make the most of school, your studies, your friends, We have enjoyed our associations with you and wish you the best of luck in the future, Classmates: The time has come for us to part, to go our separate ways, This is probably the last time that we shall all be assembled together, Always remember our good times at M, H, S, and the many friendships we have made there, We sincerely hope that each of you will attain your chosen goal and live a full and happy life, The class of 1952 bids you all farewell, George Duncan Larkin 12

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Valedictory Four years ago forty boys and girls permanently laid aside the carefree days of youth and shouldered the responsibility of individuals beginning a new walk in life, Through the progression of the years at M, H. S, the studies became increasingly difficult but have been mastered only through diligence, Some succeeded, some fail- ed, Tonight these boys and girls are taking another step forward, wiser in the know- ledge of what life expects of them, Because of their education they are well equipped and more fortunate than many others struggling to survive in this world, Now they are ready to depart from the safety of the protecting walls of Merrimac High and are enter- ing a world where the survival of the fittest prevails, Their loving parents and conscientious teachers have, for twelve years, instilled within their hearts and minds the essentials of character, The goal toward which these parents and teachers have jointly striven is at last reached, The responsibility has been borne by them until now and they have reflected a guiding light in the past and will continue to do so in the future, However, the responsibility has now shifted to each boy and girl on this stage tonight, These boys and girls must face life, And what do we mean by life, what does it hold? It means success, failureg peace, warg happiness, sorrow, love, hateg death and new life, These are the ingredients of life, the crossroads that each must meet, But one must not give in to life, one must struggle with it in order to triumph, Abraham Lincoln, born in poverty, contested life with its constant struggles and emerged as the President of the United States, He rose from illiteracy to the nation's highest position, The overcoming of obstacles by Lincoln is an example of life itself, It is comparable to the life that is reflected on the stage in plays, The immortal Shakespeare saidg All the world's a stage And the men and women merely players, These young people have been preparing for years for the time when they hear their cue and will enter upon the stage of life, They have been so carefully instructed that when the call comes we hope they will not be found lacking, Everyone is expect- ant, the stage is set, the cast is ready, the curtain will soon rise, The minds of these young people are proud and confident as they wait in the wings but nervous as -they await their summons, They will enter the stage with the knowledge that they must do their best and only leave at the call of their creator, Already they have attained the primary success and over the years they will continue to leave and to grow in knowledge, in faith, and in wisdom, There is no thought of failure in the minds of these individuals for no obstacle is too great to be overcome by one fortified with education, ambition, foresight, and willy endowed with the prayers of mankind, :fx rf: JI: :Zz af: xl: lf: :f: rf: rj: xl: rl: :jc :fc lj: 21: :Qc :fc rf: :fc JI: 21: Parents and Friends: Mere words are sadly meaningless when we try to ex- press our gratitude for all of the love, sacrifices, diligence and patience that you have showered upon us during our four years at Merrimac High School, We can only say, Thank you and hope that in the years to come we can make you proud of us, ll

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Salutcxtory Doctor Page, members of the school committeefparents, teachers, and friends: Once again as we gather together to pass over the threshold of graduation, fond mem- ories of the past years are recollected in our minds, Deep rooted in these memories are the guidance, knowledge, and understanding which you have given us, We extend our deepest gratitude to you and earnest hopes that we shall prosper by your wisdom, and that our paths will lead us on the shining road of happiness and success, RALPH WALDO EMERSON The momentous question of our time is whether a man shall control his own af- fairs or obey the order of some central authority, Since the Declaration of Independ- ence asserted that all men are created equal, no one has spoken more eloquently in defense of the individual than Ralph Waldo Emerson, His essays, published just one hundred years ago, emphatically urge that a man know his worth: A true man is the , very center of the universe, Government, society, and nature itself revolve about him, In reading these philosophies of Emerson we know we have been on the heights, Gentleness, purity, idealism, and crystal sincerity shone through his personality to a rare degree, He was the most stimulating ethical teacher in America and one of the few great international forces in literature, Emerson was born in 1803 in Boston, where his father, the Reverend William Emerson, was pastor of the First Church, Among his ancestral inheritance were seven ministers, so it seemed that Ralph for Waldo as he preferred to be called,l would be destined to become a minister also, There were five other children and life was far from easy for the family, Nevertheless Emerson worked his way through Harvard by running errands and waiting on tables, After graduation he taught school before enter- ing the Harvard Divinity School to study for the ministry, He had not been in the pas- torate long before he realized that the Unitarian theology, a doctrine of God in one per- son, was too limited, He began to think of God as a completely personal, moral force pervading the world, a spiritual truth transcending natural law, Our age is retro- spective, he began, While the foregoing generation beheld the world face to face, we see it only through their eyes, Why should we not also enjoy an original relation to the universe ? There are new lands, new men, new thoughts, Let us demand our own world and law and worship, Self-reliance is the first lesson Emerson drew from this philisophy, He told men -- The world exists for you, All that Adam had, all that Caesar could, you have and can do , , , , ,Build therefore your own world, Although Emerson himself was a voluminous reader of all literature, the scholars he portrays will not rely primarily upon books for knowledge, Their influence is that of the past, Real education begins where formal education leaves off, The true scholar is no cloistered bookworm, Experience is his language, Life his dictionary, This way of self-reliance is not an easy one, Poverty, neglect, even the hostility of society are the common penalty for those who dare to be themselves, Emerson, therefore, might not wonder that he seemed to stand alone, All men aspire to the high- est, and most of them spend their lives seeking money and power only because they see nothing higher, There lies the scholar's duty, Wake them and they shall quit false food and leap to the true, 13