North Carolina School for the Deaf - Clock Tower Yearbook (Morganton, NC)

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Class Autobiographies q aie Ermine Mary Stanley I was born early one Monday morning in the spring of 1917. The day was the second of April, only four days before the United States entered the World War. The place was New Smyrna, Florida, a pretty town on the extreme east coast of the state about fifteen miles south of the well- known Daytona Beach. It was there that I spent my early childhood. How well I remember the orange trees, bend- ing down with golden fruit, the gray Spanish moss hanging from the oak trees, the sweet-smelling magnolias, the stately palms, and at Christmas, the beautiful poinsettias that grew far above my head. Most of all I remember my old home, the sea-shell school building and the little brown brick church where I enjoyed going on Sunday mornings. My father and mother were both North Carolinians and when I was in the fourth grade my family moved back to North Carolina. We had moved once before, but this time we were to make the O.d North State our permanent home. I started my fifth year of school at White- ville, where my home is at present. I successfully completed my grade and was promoted to the sixth. I felt very proud because I thought I would have only two more years in grammar school. But then, I did not know what the near future would bring. A little more than two months later, the first of July, I was taken seriously ill and carried to the James Walker Hospital, in Wilmington where I underwent several operations. In the fall of that year, as a result of my sickness, I lost my hearing. Attempts were made to restore it, but all failed. I was in bad health for several years. Knowing that I was deaf, I knew that I could not attend public school again. Mother and Father had heard of the School for the Deaf at Morganton and since I wanted to go to school, they decided to let me come here, so after missing six years of school I started again and in such a different place. At first I thoroughly disliked it and wanted to go back home. Seeing the girls signing, made me feel like a foreigner in some distant land. This feeling soon left me, for I found that the girls could talk to me and understand what I said. After being with them a few weeks, I felt like one of them. This is my fourth year here and not a day have I regretted that I came. I think that I have been greatly benefitted by coming as have many others who came before me and as will be many others who come when I am gone. A great deal of credit, I think, should go to the teachers for nowhere have I seen teachers who were so interested in their pupils and so willing to help them. I think that we were very lucky to have Dr. Goodwin for our superintendent so long and lucky again to have his son-in-law, Dr. Rankir succeed him. Dr. Goodwin’s life work was teach- ing and helping the deaf and as a result of his work many a deaf person’s life has been made brighter and more useful than it otherwise would have been. When I leave school I expect to be a dress- maker or take up beauty culture.

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Class Superlatives aie (BeStaltOO KING) 0 Paul Crutchfield Pretiiest eG)... anon =. Carrie Morgan IWOstINLeliCci ia 0) ————— ——— Paul Crutchfield Most JileliceniG)) Ermine Stanley LOSERS TUQIOUS =D 0) a Grover Fordham Most Studious Gul 2 ee irminew taney WLOSt RL OPULI= 50 Paul Crutchfield WV OStePOPULGAG Ermine Stanley WVWosiA thieiic, D0) Guy Stevens IMOSTRALILE LIC“ GI) a .. Nelda Rozzelle WititestaP 0 Guy Stevens Witttest: G17) mane ee ee ee ATIC my OCU cnn WVEOSteINGUSII 201 56.0) Waverly Hood WV OSpelnausli10SaG 1) 2 Carrie Morgan WMO AW TE WOO oe . Edgar Newnam Vi OSieA mile Gt) en . Nelda Rozzelle DES BIDE S COnD.0 ne . Edgar Newnam Bests Dressed Gl). a eee Carne wv 01 gan Tallest Boy Tallest Girl iota ee ee Edgar Newnam ee Nelda Rozzelle

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Waverly Thomas Hood I was born on a farm near Goldsboro on July 27, 1918. When I was a baby, I was very ill. I was sick all summer. While my family were out at work on the farm, my sister nursed me. My family was worried because I was very ill. I almost died but finally recovered. When I got better, my relatives spoke to me again and again, but I did not speak. They found out that my illness had caused me to become deaf. When I was six years old, my family moved to Wilson where Daddy had a position. He wondered where the school for the deaf was, so he went out to talk with the people to find out about it. One of them told him that Gordon Pace, whose father lived in that town, used to go to this school. Daddy met him and talked about sending me to school. He decided to send me here in the fall of 1926. At the age of eight I entered school. I had never seen any deaf children before I got on the train. The signs were strange to me. When I arrived here, I did not know where I was. One of the older boys led me to Goodwin Hall. I was shy and afraid of the children there, but after awhile I was all right. I made many friends and played with them. The next morning after I came, Miss Joiner, our principal, put me in the preparatory class. Miss Katherine Walton was my first teacher. Our class consisted of ten pupils, six boys and rour girls. One of the boys looked like me. Many teachers mistook Walter Diggs for me and scmetimes me for Walter. Carrie Morgan and I have been classmates all the years and we have been promoted regularly for twelve years. When I was transferred to Main Building, I was eager to play games and take exercises to keep my bedy in good condition. My favorite sports are football and swimming. I have been playing football for three years. I have been learning carpentry and have worked in the carpenter shop for four years. I have learned a great deal under Mr. Smith who has been my instructor. My ambition is to get a position in the hosiery mill at my home when I am through school. Carrie Mae Morgan It was in a little green and white house on a farm in Penrose, North Carolina on March 20, 1919 that I was born to deaf parents. When I was in my third year, I lost my hearing from an attack of influenza. My father being a farmer, I spent most of my life in the country. I have a hearing sister older than I and a younger brother who can hear. I can very well remember when I first came here. I wore a red silk dress and a blue hat. My mother had attended this school and she had explained to me all about the school so I did not feel bad about coming although many of the new children cried and cried. The next morning after my arrival, I was put in Miss Katherine Walton’s class. Of this class Waverly Hood and I are the only ones who will graduate together. I enjoyed school and my stay at Goodwin Hall and have many precious memories, which I treasure, of my life there. When I first came to Main Building, Miss Kate Walton was our matron. I was a mis- chievous girl and most of my escapades ended up in standing in the corner or a spanking with a hairbrush. Nevertheless I liked Miss Walton and tried harder to do right. Best of all, I was glad to have Miss Katherine Walton teach me again. She taught me three years. Of all the sports, I have enjoyed swimming, basketball and hiking most. I like tennis also. Reading and collecting articles for scrapbooks are my hobbies. I am fond of sewing and cooking. My chief aim in life is, of course, like any other girl’s, to have a nice home. I know that as I graduate, I am facing a very hard world and hope that I shall be able to earn my bread and butter and not be dependent on any one.