Plainfield High School - Hermiad Yearbook (Central Village, CT)

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The Hermiad 7 The lion's share of the credit in making Plainfield High School a successful school belonged, he said, to Mr. Chapman and Miss Armstrong. Hr. Henry A. Tirrell of the State Board of Education gave a short address in which he emphasized the fact that the real value of the building lay not in the dollars which it cost butin the sacrifice and long' vision of those who built it. lr. Grenier in his presentation speech called attention to the unity of purpose with which the School Board had worked to realize its end. Mr, Bessette expressed his pleasure at accepting so splendid a building in behalf of. his fellow citizens and in closing voiced the hope that the young people of the town would make good use of the facilities provided for them. Q-,1-1 LINCOLN ESSAY On November 5, 1923, a letter was received by Mr. Chapman from the Illinois Watch Company of Springfield, Illinois, which read in part as follows: In view of this city being the former home and burial place of our martyred president, Abraham Lincoln, and desiring to en- courage the study of his life and character, this company without selfish motives has decided to present annually, to a student in the senior class of each High School in the United States a very hand- some medal of Abraham Lincoln.. . . . .... The obverse side of the medal will contain the head of Lincoln together with his name and the dates of his birth and deathg the reverse side to be suitably decorated, proper space being provided for engraving the name of the winner and the date presented. Every member of the Senior Class wrote an essay and the class by ballot selected the three that they considered the best. These were submitted to two impartial judges and to the writer of the following essay they awarded the medal. . ABRAHAM LINCOLN Cboris Bishop-1920 'Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time. Who. of all the nation's greatest men. as they have closed their earthly careers, have left behind them deeper or more noble footprints on the sands of time than Abraham, Lincoln 2 A As a barefoot boy he trudged the lonely miles to the little. rude school. house, when, occasionally, it was possible to secure a teacher. While, hg

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6 The Hermiad the heat for thebuildina. Power driven fans may be operated by means of which the air in the building may be changed in tive minutes. This does away with the necessity and danger of cold drauzhts from open windows. up-ii DEDICATORY EXERCISES AT PLAIN!-'IELD HIGH SCHOOL On the afternoon of Saturday. March 1. the new Plainfield Hizh School was open for public inspection. Visitors were made welcome by represent- atives of the Alumni Association who conducted them through the building. In the evening appropriate exercises were held in the auditorium. A very large number turned out to show their interest in the new school and it was difficult to find even standing room. The following well arranged program was given: Overture ......... ....... Le sch's Orchestra Invocation ......... ........ R ev. FH-. J. E. McCarthy Address of Welcome ...... ...... , ....... S upt. J. L. Chapman Harp Solo ................ . . . Miss Gladys Wilbur, P. H. S. '18 Description of the Building . . . . . . Hr. Thomas T. Towner, Architect Violin Solo , .............. . . . Miss Florence Leach, P. H. S. '24 History and Reminiscences ............ Mr. Clark Denison, P. H. S. '16 Vocal Solo . . ........ . ............... Miss Alice Salisbury, P. H. S. '22 Address , .... , ...... Hr. Henry A. Tirrell of the State Board of Education Selection ........................................ Leach's Orchestra Presentation of Building to Town , ............................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lr. E. F. Grenier, Chairman Town School Committee .Acceptance ..... . .............. Mr. Henry A. Bessette, First Selectmen Selections ................,...................... 'Lea.ch's Orchestra The following made up the committee on dedication :- For the School Committee, Hr. E. F. Grenier. lr. Clarence Reid, lr. J. L. Chapman. For the Alumni, Mr. Frank E. Tyler, 1914: Mr. Harry Denison, 1921: Miss Theresa Sullivan, 1911: Miss Hildred F. Healey, 1920. Mr. Chapman, in behalf of and for the town of Plainfield, welcomed the large number present and expressed the hope that the building' would be more than merely a school but would in time become the center and soul of the life of the community. Mr. Towner, the architect, gave a description of the building, calling attention to the remarkably low cost per cubic foot at which it had been erected after which he expressed his thanks to all those who had helped to make such a splendid building possible. Mr. Denison's reminiscences were of great interest. He sketched the history of the school illustrating his talk with word pictures from school life. .al

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8 The Hermiad p worked and played his way from boyhood to manhood, climbing the hills of difficulty with the patience and firmness of character which so marked him in his later life, he never failed to win the love and respect of all with whom he came in contact. His life was saddened by the early death of his mother, so deeply saddened that the sorrowful faraway look which crept into his eyes, remained throughout his life. At this time there were sown in the heart and character of Abraham Lincoln the seeds which steadily zrew and blos- somed into the gentleness and kindness, patience, fortitude and perseverance, and above all the great and unbounded love for mankind. which caused his name to be deeply imprinted in the heart of every true American and pre- pared him for that maznificent work which it wasordained that he should do. When Lincoln reached manhood he received his reward for the years of patient, earnest study. His great ambition was realized when. in 1837. he passed his examination for admission to the bar. Believing- that he would best succeed in practicing his new profession in Springfield, he moved there and it was there he met Stephen A. Douglas, then a rising young poli- tician of opposite political views. whose after life with its rivalries, its hit- ternesses, and its nnal loyal friendship was to be so strangely interwoven with his own. Lincoln was not yet experienced in his profession but he understood human nature and in time lt came to be known that no lawyer gained more readily the conhdence of a jury or won more verdicts than honest Abe Lincoln. ' The lawyers of that day were chiefly politicians and consequently Lincoln's interest in politics increased as his influence among men new wider. In his campaigns he met all sorts and conditions of men. interested himself in their affairs, and discussed with them ques- tions of government both national and state, always displaying in his opin- ions a rare and sound judgment. A At this time Stephen A. Douglas was becoming a prominent factor in the slavery question and the friends of slavery chose him as their Democra- tic leader. Anti-slavery men organized a Republican party and decided upon Lincoln as the man to represent their interests. Lincoln and Douglas because of their leadership were constantly pitted against one another, the one declaring' that slavery was a moral wrong' and demanding that it be kept out of the territories. the other silent with rezard to the moral issue but insisting that the people of the territories be allowed to decide as they saw lit. Having made up his mind that the slavery question must be brought home to every voter. Lincoln challenged Douzlas to a public discussion of the question. Lincoln believed that a series of debates in which he and Douglas should speak from the same platform to thc same people' would give him an opportunity to reach many of the Democrats who would not come to the Republican meetings, and would keep the people alive to the seriousness of the situation. Douzlas accepted the challenge and the debates were ar- ranged in such a manner that one was held at each of seven places. The two men were equally matched. Each had had a lifelong training in public- speaking and each was perfectly at home on the platfonn. Quick to take ad. vantuc in the discussion and ready to meet any attack however savage. It