Midwood High School - Epilog Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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M Tl-HSISA BY THE PEOPLE 1 AND EOR TI-IE PECPLE QV, Govmxmmr V W or mt PEOPLE I HAVE A GOODLY HERITAGE lPsalm xvl. 61 I have a goodly heritage. I share my heritage with millions of other Americans. That heritage includes freedom of speech, free- dom of religion, freedom of writing and freedom of assembly. Well, you may ask, what do all those freedoms mean to a man who hasn't enough food to eat, a home to sleep in, clothes to wear? And you are right. Those freedoms aren't enough. They are half way toward our ideal of comfort, freedom and education for every individual. We have an even more precious heritage--our idea of progress. We do not live in a static or finished society. 4

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W. V! HAT BLESSED HOPE fTitus 2:31 It was Sunday, and we took the car and went for a ride in the country. fThat was in pre-war days.J 5 gg I noticed then how beautiful the .A , world was. The lanky buildings looming out of the mist of a foggy morning- Narrow streets bordered with overflowing carts of colorful goods, And the shops with their carefully planned displays, Mothers pushing baby carriages, crowds strolling to church And, as we left the city, the myriads of color that frolicked in the wind, So were they all beautiful. We rested in a lovely spot where tiny white flowers grew profusely. I felt content, almost smug, for there was nothing to disturb me. But wait, there was a rumbling, it increased alarmingly, And then it burst forth in all its untrammeled fury, Unmindful of children, indifferent to beauty, spurred on by hate. It was here! War was here. Suddenly it came. It ruined the buildings, ruled out the smell of nature with the stronger odor of death. Destroyed the narrow streets, the carts, the shops, mothers, babies, churches, people, It was all the same to them. When it was all over, we went back to the field with the lovely white flowers. They were gone. We expected them to be. We walked around the field searching for some glimmer of the past. And then we found the flower, a tiny white one that had remained. We looked upon it with an exhilaration we had not thought we could feel again. We cleared the ground, and planted more from this one blossom. And they sprang up and spread throughout, and it gave men heart. They built new buildings, planned new lives, nature stirred, And the world was beautiful- Then we heard the rumbling again. PRISCILLA WEINSTEIN 3

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Every year may see us nearer our century, the century of the common man. And once having named it, such it will be, for hope and aspiration have risen in the breast of common men the world over. However, just as many of us have grown callous at the suffer- ing and pain, the desolation and poverty of Europe, so have we forgotten our heritage, or have been deflected from it by those who fear a century of the common man. We must make our heritage the heritage of all humanity. How- ever, since many Americans have forgotten our ideal, or been prop- agandized to scorn it, the unscrupulous traitors of our country may band together men who will be dupes for those who wish to prevent the betterment of mankind. That will be a great tragedy for we will find that post-war planning will be taken out of our hands. I have hopes that this will not happen. In every high school of the country, boys and girls are rediscovering our heritage. They are aware of the forces molding the world today and they are forming their own ideas of what they expect the future world to hold for them. As the twig is bent so is the tree inclined. And we have been bent to the proposition that all men are created equal and therefore each man has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit Of happiness. FLORA MURASKIN .-- 64 la N 4 9 X-'Xl .IT-C' ' f.? '-I QR I Q ' .F 'ml 5