Southwest High School - Roundup Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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I-IE BUILDED BETTER Tl-IAN I-IE KNEW CEFHCYSOHD BY DOROTHY KRUEGER All things must have a beginning. Yet very few busy Southwestern- ers know just when or how our Alma Mater got its start. Why not use this page as a crystal ball to look back at the first ten years of our school? The cornerstone was laid on December 10, 1936, and our 3,800,000 build- ing of sixty-five rooms was ofiicially opened on September 7, 1937. Stand- ing majestically above its main entrance are five statues sculptored by Fred Morie of St. Louis. Taken as a whole, they represent Youthful Leadership . Individually, they symbolize Exact Sciences , Social Interests , Youthful Leadership , The Liberal Arts , and Athletic Ac- tivities . Almost 1,200 eager students entered through the main door be- low them on that sunny morning, to inspect the modern classrooms, survey the well-equipped lunchroom, marvel at the quiet library, and enjoy the artistic auditorium. Mr. Harry H. Seidel as principal, Mr. Norman B. Dee as assistant, and forty-one teachers were on hand to launch the good ship Southwest. In January, 1938, Mr. Seidel was recalled to his duties at the Board of Edu- cation oflice, and Mr. Harold Sackett became our captain and steered us through the trying years of organization. Of the forty-one teachers who formed the original faculty, death has claimed five, and ten have gone to other fields of endeavor. Mr. Dee, too, has left and is now principal of McKinley High School. No graduation class marched down the aisles of our beautiful audi- torium until June, 1939. Mr. Kelbaugh sponsored this class of 119. At their Class Day program the following year, the graduates of June, 1940, presented, for the first time, a gift of books to the school. Since then, each class has followed this example. Southwest has been the recipient of several generous gifts. One of her prized possessions is the electric organ, presented as a gift to the school by the late Mr. Walter Wilcox To promote a taste for and an appreciation of good music . Our library, too, has benefited by his generosity. The American flag was presented to the school by The Sons of the American Revolution. On the lawn of the school stands a hawthorn tree, and a gran- ite marker bearing the inscription: Dedicated to our Southwest boys who served in World War Two . This was presented in a dedication service on April 30, 1943, by the Southwest Parent-Teacher Association. As our school is a democratic institution, the student body had a part in naming it. Various names were proposed, but the students wanted Southwest because of the location. Accordingly, the Board of Education acceded to their wishes and so named it on November 8, 1938. Green and Gold, our colors, were selected by a majority vote of stu- dents after seeing posters of color combinations which were submitted by Miss Lodwick's art class. These colors signify beauty, youth, peace, and endurance-ideals for which Southwest High School may strive. Contests gave us the names PIONEER, ROUNDUP, and STEER. Southwest's newspaper, the PIONEER, issued its first edition on Octo- ber 7, 1938. We are proud of the paper, and under Miss Murphy's guid- ance it has become one of the outstanding high school papers of the coun- try. It contains Southwest sports, clubs, fashions, editorials, and cartoons. Its circulation has grown from 1,029 to 1,820 subscriptions. Our yearbook was first published in 1938. The first five issues were sponsored by Mr. Rosencranzg the last five issues have come out under the direction of Miss Mclntire. Our grads tell us that they have no possession which is prized more highly than their four yearbooks, which record their stay at South- west. Our STEER began in 1944 with Miss McKinney as moderator. It is a handbook which has proved to be of great value to our incoming freshmen. Now that we've had a look at the past, let's shelve our crystal ball. Although we are still very young in actual years, we've established many traditions to be honored and continued by the classes still to come. Ten

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emoriam Sunset and evening slczr. And one clear cull for znef And may there be no moaning of the bar, W'hen I put ou! to sea. -Alfred Tennyson. H. H. Seidel fl-First Principal of Southwest High Schoolj R. S. Howlett fCharter Member of Facultyb Edward Gibson Harley Hammerman Philip Beiser CHead Engineerl Nine

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