Presentation High School - Presentation Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

Page 66 text:

September 26 The 720 girls attending Pres- entation grew accustomed to knocking on doors from the INSIDE before opening them. They became seasoned novi- gators of subtle perils in the shape of low scaffolds and tangled drop- cloths that blocked the corridors. .i FIRE. Dante had his lnfernog Presenta- tion rivalled it with the gym fire. But whereas Dante's was a purely spir- itual fire, Presentation's was disturb- ingly physical. What Presentation girl can forget the 'Fire's results? A damaged gym and stage, smoke-blackened theater and corridors --all these resulted in a three-month ban on the use ofthe gym, theater, cmd Western Heights -western arcade areas. F .

Page 65 text:

5- inf 8. NIE 1959 M 'r w 'r 1-' s I 2 5 4 fi 6 8 9 10 ll 12 I3 15 I6 I7 l8 H120 22 23 24 25 26 27 29 30 . . . . . . . . ll'.S'l!llVY 7 14 2. I 7 0 - 28 3 1.

Page 67 text:

1 fi 'S Charred walls and blackened drapes are only one memory of the fire, another, far more preci- ous, will linger over P.H.S. After the fire, deep- seated loyalty and intense school spirit were reflected . . . in the sympathetic expressions of those who sped to offer their help while the traces of smoke still hung over the building . . . in the tear-stained faces of those who walked through the gym that next Monday morning . . . in the serious countenances of those who trod the corridors in silence rather than disturb the painters . . . in the clasped hands of those who knelt in the chapel thanking God that lives had not been lost . . . in the joyous exclamations of those who admired the newly restored Gothic beauty of their Little Theater for the first time. A fire of destruction, yes, but it enkindled a warmth of loyalty and gratitude.