Oakfield Alabama High School - Oracle Yearbook (Oakfield, NY)

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W k,,L. 3 lg s I I , K .. -f 'dugg ,.-I N' of C flu.: DED!CATION The right to own and operate a business by an individual or a group of individuals is known as free enterprise, This right is one of the resaons our freedom-loving country is so great. From 1825, when a farmer digging a well near Five Corners discovered an in- teresting soft white stone - a mineral introduced into this country from France as a fertilizer by Benjamin Franklin and by him called land plaster - and stimulated the opening of the first gypsum mine and mill for grinding this sbustance into fertilizer again in 1892 when Stephen Olmsted using a farmer's feed kettle and a paddle found out that gypsum could be made into plaster of Paris and established here the first calcining mill in New York State right down to 1952 the fiftieth anniversary of the consolidation of several small area companies into the now famous United States Gypsum Company it has been private enterprise all the way that has improved the methods of mining and processing gypsum and has found various new uses for the product Today not only does the gypsum industry provide employment for a goodly number of area workers but it also pays a large share of the local school tax 2070 of it, in fact It is private enterprise that is sending gypsum products from Oakfield into the forty eight states and all over the globe Because we have observed what free enterprise can do to make a community a bigger and better place in which to live and at the same time develop a fundamental natural re source to make the world more comfortable and enjoyable we have chosen to dedicate this issue of the Oracle to this typical American system free enter pI'1SC In making this dedication, the staff sincerely hope that their generation and all posterity may be given the wisdom to continue the practice of this American system, without undue government restriction, for the betterment of all man kind W'-.

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I ,. fi. f , - fairy, - f FGREWORD The theme of the 1952 Oracle is not new - in fact, it's 350 million years old. At that time a great sea covered this area, as the land was re-elevated, inland seas, containing much gypsum in solution, were formed. The climate then being arid, these seas evaporated, leaving a deposit on the ground much as scale is formed in a teakettle when the water boils away. Through the years geological formations have occurred, so that gypsum is found here about 75 feet below the surface. Since gypsum had played such an important role in the development of our fine community, we have chosen it as our theme. iftv Gypsum has not only helped to build Oakfield and provide jobs for many area 'lim by T i workers, but has also made Oakfield unique in Genesee County, in that ours is the 1 only mining community in this county. Because of the many positions that have to gggg. be filled at the local gypsum plant, many respected, intelligent people have come to . live in Oakfield, thus enriching our society. 5, we f,,,,, T '3L This natural resource and its concerned processes correspond so closely to our ,fr school and its activities that our theme fits easily into the pattern of the Oracle. The Board of Directors and the supervising heads of the gypsum company corre- . N--+-- spond to the Board of Education and school administrative personnel, their engine- g st y i ers parallel our teachers, the gypsum being mined, processed, and marketed may f do Q' be compared to the knowledge and skills gained in the lower grades, further .... 1 developed in the upper grades, and put to use by the graduating senior to build his life. The practical application of gypsum to its many uses is much the same as putting talents and skills learned in school to use on the athletic field, in a ' ' , musical concert, or in public speaking. ...A With these thoughts in mind we, the Oracle staff, proudly present the -f 1f T 1952 Oracle, l .-4 -'W A-1-,S f ,,,, .aw 'Qs FQ- M 4 A ,v ' '- 4 hp A

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