Murphy High School - Mohian Yearbook (Mobile, AL)

Page 17 text:

MID-YEAR SOPHOMORES September found 120 mid-year sophomores entering their fourth semester at Murphy and looking for- ward to the end of the term when they would be juniors. President of this group was petite and pretty Nancy Martin. Her fellow officers were I loward Park, vice-president; Elzine Rudd, secretary; Deane Saun- ders, treasurer; and Doris Pressley, council representative. They chose for their sponsor witty Miss Edna Olson, English teacher. Sailed—Marlin, Min Olson; standing— Par%. Pressley, Rudd, Saunders. SOPHOMORES As the majority of the 1150 reg- ular sophomores had spent their freshman year at Vigor or at Bar- ton, their first assignment was to get acquainted with one another and with Murphy. Coming from schools where they had been the ruling class, they had to adjust themselves to being subordinates again. Presiding over this largest of classes was an evenly balanced group of two boys and two girls: Douglas Ferguson, president; |ohn McGowan, vice-president; Carolyn Newlin, secretary; and Peggy Ann Farmer, treasurer. Sponsor for the sophomores was Mrs. Inez Perry Langham, capable teacher in the commercial department. Standing—McGowan, Mrs. htnghani, Fer- guson; seated—Mewl in and Fanner. FRESHMEN Murphy freshmen, numbering twenty-eight sections of 935 stu- dents, were quartered at Barton Academy and Yerby because of crowded conditions at the high school. Class officers were also stu- dent council officers, or vice versa. Stanley Carpenter was president; Leonard Knodel, vice-president; and Peggy Martin, secretary-treasurer. Miss Mildred Ellisor was sponsor, ably assisted by sponsors of various committees. One of several fine projects promoted by the freshmen was “Courtesy and Good Manners. Carpenter. Martin. Knodel. MO III AN f 13

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 Out of the summer s pleasant vacation time, Out oj the Ninth-month heat and the hurricane. . . From the myriad classroom experiences. . On the same day that the sun entered the sign of Libra, the Scales—that is to say, on Monday, Sep- tember 22—more than three thousand Mobile boys and girls streamed into Murphy to enroll for the 1947-1948 school year. Two postponements ac- counted for the unusually late opening date. The session had been scheduled to begin on September 8; and loyal Murphians, forsaking all hope of a miracle, had prepared reluctantly to exchange bathing suits for school togs, leisure for learning. Then the glori- ous news arrived! Necessary equipment hail been de- layed. We were to have ten more days of joyous vacation time—ten whole happy days of swimming, sailing, and sunning at the (Julf! And then came the hurricane, shattering windows, toppling trees, ripping off roofs, unnerving residents—and delaying school for three more days. Finally, however, classes began, with the usual back-to-Murphy bustle and routine. Once more we dutifully filled out the fa- miliar information cards—yellow, blue, orange, and white. The first days passed pleasantly as we greeted old friends and met new ones. Soon the first quarter was in full sway . . . We missed the “verdant freshmen,” who had been trans- ferred to Barton Academy, and noted that the sale of elevator tickets had considerably dwindled . . . On November 12 eighteen Student Council mem- bers with Miss Baxter and Miss Noel left by char- tered bus to attend the SCO A convention in Corpus Christi, Texas. They returned enthusiastic about the trip, excited over a visit to Mexico, and triumphant over securing the convention for Mobile in 1948 . . . MURPHY HI TIMES launched its annual cam- paign with another hilarious Jamboree starring mem- bers of the football team . . . MOHIAN staff mem- bers organized 771 seniors for their visits to the studio and sold their quota of twelve hundred an- nuals . . . We Seniors began to wear with ease the cloak of responsibility that to us as underclassmen had seemed so impressive and as juniors so enviable. We felt a challenge to add our bit to the tradition that is Murphy. We anticipated a year of varied achievements that would end in happy memories. Also anticipating a memorable final year at Murphy was Mr. J. W. C. Brown, beloved member of the faculty for twenty-three years, who was to retire at the close of 1947-1948. To a few Mr. Brown may he merely the quiet, kindly, handsomely - graying math teacher who has charge of the locker office. To most of us, who have been lucky enough to attend his classes or to assist him in the locker office, he is much more. He is, of course, an excellent teacher, making clear the mysteries of math to even the slowest students. He is also one of the kindest, most human persons we have ever known. His bright smile, his merry sense of humor, his weakness for bright (to put it mildly) ties, and his funny little habit of appropriately quoting witty lines of verse endear him to every- one. As our formal tribute we have- borrowed part of Mrs. Marie Foote’s excellent compliment to him in the M. E. A. News: “11c is at his best now. Tolerant, genial, liberal, sym- pathetic, he has captured into his soul real values—love of people, in- terest in world events, respect for God's laws and mysteries, the deep joys of home, and a delight in the beauties of nature . . . We salute Mr. J. W. C. Brown.”

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MURPHY HIGH SCHOOL Murphy High School, the only public high school in Mobile, enrolled about four thousand students during the 1947-1948 session. Senior, junior, and sophomore students, accommodated at Murphy proper, numbered thirty-one hun- dred. This enrollment did not include the vet- erans' classes or the adult classes held at night. Principal of this large organization with in- numerable administrative problems is Mr. Ray- mond (». Wilson, who is now in his third year at Murphy. Mrs. Louise K. Hamil is assistant principal, in charge of veterans' classes and the night school for adults. Mrs. Grey Gibson Devilbiss is registrar. Ixlt—Mrs. Hamil, Mrs. Devilbiss, Mr. Wilson; Right—Mrs. Rolls ami Mr. Stapleton. BARTON At Dl MY Barton Academy, century-old cradle of Mo- bile’s public school system, with adjoining Yerby school, is familiarly known as Murphy Annex. It is headquarters for Murphy’s fresh- man class of 935 students because of crowded conditions at Murphy. Mr. W. C. Stapleton is principal of this freshman unit, with Mrs. Eloisc Rolls as assistant principal. , Though students remain at Barton for only one year, school spirit is strong, and students assume many responsibilities after they arc trained. Barton believes that a democracy is the ideal form of school government but that a democracy without trained leaders is not a democracy. Accordingly, great effort is made from the beginning to train students for re- sponsible positions. The school runs smoothly and happily because there is such close coopera- tion between sponsors and committees and the administration