R J Reynolds High School - Black and Gold Yearbook (Winston Salem, NC)

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.28 THE BLACK AND GOLD grade that our entire class was organized, for you know there were two groups of us, I replied. 'lYes, the commercial students and the Latin students, and oh, how we hated each other, how we Latin students looked down upon the commercial students, and how the commercial students thought they were something because they could use the type- writer. It was in the ninth grade, wasn't it, that we had such a tussle with algebra, and in the conHict, lost many of our com- 73 rades? It most assuredly was, I replied. The next year we lost others in the fight with geometry. 'A straight line is the shortest line between two points.' Do you remember? Yes, and those awful originals. What tears we girls shed over them, Mary answered, smiling. 0ur dread of geometry originals was turned to mortal terror at the thought of physics problems, I said. To every original there is an equal reaction in the opposite direction, Mary gave as answer. 'cDespite all of that we were happy for we were Juniors at last. We had reached the point where we might have class parties. And entertain the Seniors, cried Mary. Oh, that reception to the seniors! What a time we had planning for it, trying to keep everything a secret, working be- fore school and after to make it the best party ever given in our old High School. And it was the best, too,-at least we thought so, when tired and happy we bade each other good night about eleven- thirty that night. This was but the beginning of many such good times, for the next year was marked by parties galore. Between parties and jollifications over base ball victories, planning for our Shakespearan play, having our pictures taken

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THE BLACK AND GOLD 27 grade, you remember, was considered High School when We Were members of it. It Was in the seventh grade, she continued, in a reminis- cent Way, that We were introduced to the departmental system, for there were so many of us seventh-graders that it took three teachers to keep us busy, or rather, I suspect, it was We who kept the teachers busyf' VVhat a time We did have, laughed I, in those early days of departmental Work, in the seventh and eighth grades, testing the different teachers, seeing how far We could go With this one, learning that We had to study for that one, that the other one couldn't make us behave, if he kept us in every recess. We didn,t mind staying in at recess. In fact, it was much nicer, We thought, spending our recess in a comfortable class room than breathing the air of a stuffy basement or prome- nading up and down Cherry street. ' Just then the maid came in With hot tea and sandwiches. Though very different, laughed Mary, 'I this four o'clock tea reminds me of those afternoon receptions the teachers, espe- cially the men, used to insist upon our attendingfl . How indignant We felt that Juniors soon-to-be should be treated so childishly as to be kept in, I replied, 'fespecially on bright afternoons When automobiles Hevv by our Windows, street cars Went clanging by, and the happy voices of more fortunate companions sounded from the Y. M. C. A. corner or the tennis court just beneath us. The expression you've used brings back that 'set-down' feeling We had When upon entering our Junior-year, as We thought, We found that an Eleventh Grade had been added to our High School course and that for another Whole year We were to be nothing but Sophomoresf, 'fThe news was stunning indeed, at first but it was soon forgotten in the excitement of getting our class organized, choos- ing class colors, and buying our pins.', 'f0h yes, I do remember that it Was not until the tenth

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THE BLACK AND GOLD 29 for the annual, and getting up the Senior number of the Black and Gold, there was little time left for studying, but in some mysterious way we managed to reach the longed-for goal, grad- uation night and diplomas. VVhy, must you be going? Do come up the next time you have to wait between trains and let us renew our youth again talking over the days that are no more. Emily Griffith. .i-...1.l-i Gllaan Hrnphvrg Q44 lo since that never-to-be-forgotten Commencement Q' , Day when we bade farewell to the old High - School? How little we dreamed on that day, We two, who were so near and dear to each other, that for years the broad Atlantic would separate us, that you, the lassie so de- lightful, would bury yourself in the heart of Africa among the heathen Bakubas, that I, so fitted, as everyone thought, to make some man happy, would spend my days in single blessedness. Y DEAR MAMIE: 'Vi Rf' Can you realize that thirty years have rolled by i I fffv i. But there are compensations in every walk of life. You in your chosen work among the heathen have won the respect and love of thousands of black ones, I, with my turn for homely tasks, have gained a reputation here in Chinquapin Cove for cakes and pies, for jellies of every kind. Indeed, it has been my custom ever since I located here to exhibit at the annual County Fair specimens of my culinary skill that are the wonder and envy of housewives far and near. Owing partly to my success as a winner at the County Fair, and partly to the fact that she wished to make a little extra pin money, Janet McNair-Blumendale-Henderson,-you remember I wrote you that our old friend had buried two husbands and