Smith Academy - Echo Yearbook (Hatfield, MA)

Page 28 text:

26 PURPLE AND WHITE ECHO Freshman Class First Row, left to right: Evelyn Szewczyk, Mary Sheehan, Joan Bangs, Victoria Zawacki, Edward Lapinski, Marie Goeller, Velma Omasta, Gertrude Petrikoski, William Mullins. Second Row, left to right: Mr. Bristol, Shirley Betsold, Shirley Labbee, Marie Korza, Jennie Cackowski, Carolyn Rosier, Ruth Zuroff, Nellie Korza, Stella Sadoski, Virginia Carl, Mrs. Muller. Third Row, left to right: Stanley Pinkoski, Champion Dickinson, Robert Pelc, Laurence Stoddard, Barbara Tobacco, Pauline Widelo, Shirley Eberlin, Phyllis LaMountain, Charles Kuzontkoski, Bernard Kacenski. CLASS OFFICERS EDWARD LAPINSKI, President MARIE GOELLER, Secretary VICTORIA ZAWACKI, Vice-President VELMA OMASTA, Treasurer MRS. MULLER and MR. BRISTOL, Faculty Advisers

Page 27 text:

SMJTH ACADEMY 25 Sophomore Class First Row, left to right: Martha Osepowicz, Tessie Sikorski, Jean Bryant, Gladys Maciorowski, Robert Mullins, Eleanor Kugler, Margaret Osepowicz, Chester Prucnal, Betty Zapka, Laura Sadowski, Stella Slivoski. Second Row, left to right: Mr. Larkin, Frances Lizak, Tessie Michalowski, Helen Pashek, Evelyn Vachula, Dorothy Skoczlas, Dorothy Kochan, Betty Wilkes, Rita Godin, Mary Lovett, Miss Connelly. Third Row, left to right: Robert Shea, John Besko, Clyde Gallant, John Skarzynski, Adolph Ciszewski, Helen Zawacki, Annie Zima, Bill Wendolowski, Charles Havilier, Clifford Roberts, Albion Galenski. CLASS OFFICERS ELEANOR KUGLER, President CHESTER PRUCNAL, Secretary ROBERT MULLINS, Vice-President MARGARET OSEPOWICZ, Treasurer MISS CONNELLY and MR. LARKIN, Faculty Advisers

Page 29 text:

SMITH ACADEMY 27 Honor Essays PHILOSOPHER OF FREEDOM This year when we are anxiously await- ing war news, are agitated by affairs at home, and are looking to the future with real concern, is the year which marks the two hundredeth anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson. The observance of this anniversary has given us an oppor- tunity to review the life and times of a man who has been called our one timeless statesman. His wisdom, his humanity and hi 5 statesmanship, are indeed timeless. His thoughts and deeds were important to his time; they are vital to us today. James Russell Lowell said that Thomas Jefferson was the first American man and the best thinker of his day. Woodrow Wilson thought him immortal because of his atti- tude toward mankind. And the world at large has always regarded him as the em- bodiment of American democrati: idealism. The subtlety of his mind and the complexity of his character have made him the most wide-ranging intellect of his day, and at the same time the champion of democratic rights. A gentleman of wealth and position, he became the revered leader of the com- mon people. The most su:cessful political figure of his generation, he never made a political speech. A party leader of match- less adroitness, he had almost no personal contact with his followers. As a political leader, he was indirect, firm, soft-spoken, but uncompromising. A wily strategist, he outmaneouvered his opponents and left them floundering in angry helplessness. Above all these qualities, he was as Am- erican as his background, and that was quite American. He was born two hundred years ago on the frontier in western Virginia, on land which his father had personally clear- ed, in a region where there were practic- ally no white settlers. Jefferson was thus a frontiersman, and not a mansion-bred aristocrat, (although his mother came from an eminent family) as is commonly supposed. The frontier where he spent his childhood and youth had a basic influence upon his mind and character. It taught him the virtues of self-reliance, common sense, and above all a deep respect for the other fellow. The frontier helped to mold him into an American democrat. As such, cruelty and violence filled him with ab- horence. A man like Napoleon Bonapart, the Hitler of his day, revolted him. He looked upon the conquerer of Europe as a maniac and a bandit as the very worst of all human beings . . . having inflicted more misery on mankind than any other who had ever lived. More fully than any other American — more fully perhaps than any other fig- ure in history — Jefferson formulated and gave a coherent philosophy of freedom. Underlying the Jeffersonian philosophy is the idea of the inherent goodness of men. Jefferson knew that without such a belief, democracy was an impossibility and self- government a travesty. Goodness meant also mutual respect and impartial justice. To Jefferson the dignity of any individual, regardless of origin or status, was sacred. Mutual respect was the foundation for any worth-while civilization. Without it, there could be neither liberty nor the pur- suit of happiness. He believed that men were able to appreciate the truth, if the truth were presented to them fairly and honestly. Consequently, he fought for a free press. In his philosophy is also the faith in progress and in man ' s capacity to learn and to improve himself. He knew that nothing was more fatal to freedom and human dignity than ignorance. So he devoted years of his life to the advance- ment of public education, for he knew that no foundation could be devised for the preservation of freedom and happi- ness without education for the common people. In Jefferson ' s philosophy of freedom was the belief in the control of government by the people. He was afraid of the potential power of government. He saw how in Europe, governments invariably were op- pressive, brutal, and ignorant. He knew that all government, in sessence, was a monopoly — a monopoly of powers over the lives and consciences of the citizens — and