St Johnsbury Academy - Lamp Yearbook (St Johnsbury, VT)

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The Academy Student 1943 SCRAPBOOK STORY The rain was beating against the windows of the Alumni Office. A . sleepy day and dreary. All was quiet, save the rain. The rain was beating a rhythm, nineteen forty-three, nineteen forty-three----------------- Today something musty and old permeated the whole building. Suddenly the rhythm changed. Eighteen eighty-three, eighteen eighty-three--------- A rustle of skirts, a soft murmur of voices. A bevy of girls in long dresses came gliding down the corridor of Academy Hall after leaving North 10 and passing Principal Putney’s office. Meeting a group of mustached young gentlemen, they nodded stiffly and went on. The boys were talking among themselves. A tall dark boy named Jack was speaking. “I say, did you fellows hear about Johnny Bean? They say that he went to the theatre last Tuesday night and was apprehended. They’re going to separate him from school. It’s his sixteenth demerit. Too bod, but he always was a trifle unsteady. Say, are you going to the Senior Exhibition, Bud?” “Of course, 1 have to speak. I’m going to give an oration on “Purposeless People.” “That’s an excellent subject for you. Bud.” Jack laughed. “Do you know what the discussion is going to be?” A younger, studious looking boy was speaking. He was very conscious of a small blond mustache on his upper lip, and kept stroking it to see if it was still there. “The discussion is going to be “Was England Justified in her attack upon Egypt?” And it’s going to be interesting. Your presence is needed to make it a success; so you had better come, Jeb.” “I rather think I shall, old man,” and with this parting remark he sauntered off to meet another boy coming down the stairs.......... Emma walked hurriedly home alone. Madame Marie had been severe in French class again today because Emma had not understood her verbs quite thoroughly enough. She thought about last night. She had had a splendid time at the Adelphian and Athenian exhibition. The programs had been lovely, pink and silver, green and gold. Her essay had gone off quite well. It started to snow. “How lovely!” she thought. “The sleigh ride to Littleton will be a happy occasion if there is enough snow.”.......... An odor of fresh paint in Academy Hall. Early spring vacation over. After school was dismissed one day, Emma and the other girls of the senior class went shopping. “We must keep our purpose secret, else there will be no jest in classes on the morrow,” said a tall, thin girl to the others in the group. 8

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 November 5, June 7, 1943 The Acad emy Student 1943 ..- ■ ...IS3EH m.SfiE . - retires after having taught at the Academy for twenty-six years, the longest period of service of any instructor to this date. 1942 The addition with the tower of the new Colby Hall is dedicated. Commencement exercises are held for the Centennial Class with Dr. Ernest M. Hopkins, president of Dartmouth, as the speaker.

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 The Acad emy Student 1943 Of course!” tliey all acquiesced. They stepped daintily into a store on Main street, 1. C. F letcher Co., dealers in dry goods, carpets, crockery, fine boots and shoes, wall paper and window shades; each girl ordered some pink cambric and some lace. I hey chose pink because it was the senior class color. 1 hat night they labored hard, and finally the pink cambric and lace were transformed into dainty aprons. Loitering in the hall-way before morning prayers, they put the aprons on-fat aprons, thin aprons, large aprons, small aprons, but all pink. Then the girls went upstairs to prayers. Filing through the door they attracted much attention. But alas, when one young lady arose to change her seat, someone cruelly unpinned her apron and it dropped beneath her chair. She was much chagrined, but bore it bravely, nevertheless! Some egotistical males of the class, at the Senior Masquerade about a month later, wore pink breeches. It is said though that they did not make them themselves!............ I he grass was green in front of Academy Hall. Sober looking young ladies and gentlemen paraded up the aisle in the chapel to receive their diplomas from Sir I haddeus Fairbanks himself, now nearing his 90th year. Emma felt very proud to have passed four years of her earthly life at St. Johnsbury Academy. When she went to receive her diploma she smiled shyly at Sir Thaddeus, and he gravely smiled in return. She had sat through some very enlightening essays, the Salutatio in Latin, of which she had understood almost every word, and the Valedictory. The music was superb! She thought the Howard Opera House Orchestra very uplifting. The past week had been a busy one. The Student was completed, ready to be sold after the exercises. She could picture the groups clustering around, after it was sold, comparing notes and talking over incidents which had happened in classes and which some witty soul had written up in a pleasing manner. Emma really thought that Tuesday and Wednesday, with public examinations. had been the most fatiguing days. Soon the graduating exercises would be over and then they would walk sedately home for lunch, returning at 4:30 P. M. for Class Day exercises. With these, the school year of 1883 would be terminated........... Sun glistened through the rain-spattered windows of the Alumni Office. The rain rhythm had di£d. A fresh, clean smell broke through the air. There was a clatter of feet on the stairs and the sound of laughing, happy voices. The soft, hushed voices of 1883 had faded with the clouds, and the hurried lilting voices of 1943 had returned with the sun. NOTE: The material which furnished the facts and inspiration for this story may be found in a scrapbook replete with programs, clippings, and mementoes of the school year 1882-1883. recently donated to the alumni office by George Leonard of the class of 1883. loanne Hamilton ’45 !t