Robert E Lee Institute - Rebel Yearbook (Thomaston, GA)

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jlze 75fA .fdnniuemarg 0 Our .SZ 00 The bell at the Thomaston Female Academy rang! The pupils went into the one-story wooden building that morn- ing in the middle 1800's to take their places under one of the two teachers. Little did they know that so great a school would take its place. But the old Male and Female Academies had their day and ceased to be, for in 1875, ten years after the W'ar Between the States, a new high school was born. This school, chartered seventy-five years ago, was named for General Robert E. Lee, that matchless and noble leader of the South, with the thought that his name would inspire the pupils to lofty ideals and fine, moral character. The first senior class to graduate from R. E. Lee had only three members! The Board of Trustees having de- clared the course of study for this institution, and three of the scholars, Miss Mattie Gibson, Mr. Frank Oliphant tSee Illus.l, and Mr. W. C. Cunningham, having completed the course, they are declared to be entitled to a certificate of graduation. Professor Harrison in his dear address paid them high and deserving compliments. ' But what would those three graduates have thought had someone told them that later, in the seventy-fifth year of the school, there would be one hundred fifty-two graduates! Those three graduates went to school in the old Female Academy building which was in the next year replaced by the first R. E. Lee Institute building . . . a two- story wooden structure with a chapel on the second floor which served the school until an auditorium was completed in 1901 tSee Illus.l. This building stood about fifty yards south of our present main building. Would those three students have been amazed if they could have looked into the future and seen the large plant that we have today- a two-story brick building, an auditorium with a sating capacity of 800, a sixteen room annex, a 590.000 lunchroom, .fi tt. a gymnasium, a military building, plans for a 580,000 science building, a student body of 750, and a faculty ot forty! What fun they must have had back in the year of '75! The few pupils, many of whom had walked for miles to school, gathered at the call of the bell which was rung violently and heartily by the professor. The little old stove must have had many a frostbitten hand hovered over it those cold winter mornings, and the old oaken bucket must have quenched many a thirsty lip those hot May days. But the old bell that the principal rang has been re- placed by electrically timed gongs: the smoking stove, by a gas automatic heating system: the old oaken bucket. by sanitary iced drinking fountains: the scratchy slates, by typewriters, mimeographing machines, and fountain pens: the mud-covered boots and horse and buggies, by school busses and automobiles: and even the tin pail, which faith- fully held cold biscuit and sausage, by a cafeteria, serving hot balanced meals. Yes, it's been a long time since those good old days. but the Spirit of Lee still shines down upon the school, guiding us forward to new achievements and upward to higher ideals: and the search for knowledge and the mastering of language and science, the dominant goal of the students of 1875, is still the dominant goal of the students of 1950. We students of the Diamond Iubilee class are apprecia- tive of those who, in the long, long ago, laid the foundation and helped to make our school what it is today. We are also indebted to those fine citizens and teachers who have contributed to the growth and prosperity of our school in recent years. By SARA THURSTON :QPY I .-f.- 1 . , Q3 Gif 1 ....g . Ev A Ali? Q gg SMA .stil st ,tsgg fffwrwi tag... .G . f ff we.. ltrf F 5 ., 'i'i -' 2 .,.. ,...., -W ',..- 1 'YIVQ .,.:1: 1 .. .,-,'A-v.-, t,.....1 i1f?1,,j.1gmff.1 :1-:r.1':.:rrMfN , erm 2 rr MR. FRANK OLIPHANT The first R. E. Lee lnstitute MRS. LEE BETHEL First graduate of R. E. Leep building. the oldest living graduate later principal and presi- dent: then president of the Academy for the Blind in Macon, Georgia. of R. E. Lee. ll-lOLSTUN, GORDON R., A History ol Education in Upson County tllnpublished Masters Thesis, Alabama Polytechnic institute, Auburn, Alabama, l'94OJ, citing an editorial in the Middle Georgia Times, lune ll, l88l.

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rsrxf-r f-l,Qrsf-n-rr-rrrs onlll ni -..1-las rrl-nKo ,435 ,fs ' r rr 'Y ,w,HKQ: Sylvia Reeves, vice-president: Nell Webb. secreiaryg Bennett Hancock. president Barbara Canlrell, treasurer. 451 J Sh- Mascot Mascot Debbie Sanders Sieve Shqddix 14-