Tarrant High School - Wildcat Yearbook (Tarrant, AL)

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II I NT III! V F HISTORY is a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events as steps in human progress, then it becomes my work as historian of the Senior Class of 1952 to record events which have been significant in the school life of this graduating class. A majority of the members of our class had their freshman study in Fairmont, Pinson. Springdale, Say re ton, Lewisburg, and Palmerdale; but there were 117 freshmen in Tarrant High School. Our class is the first to graduate from a four-year period in Tarrant High School. We are also the first to graduate with three years of participation in student council work. When we entered as sophomores, the Federal Vocational Building opened its courses to our student body. These courses have gradually increased to a total of ten. Entering the second year of high school, we acquired the name, “Lowly Sophs;” but as one of our members, Francis Marlin, was later chosen “Miss Popularity,” we rose to a higher standing in this strange and confusing school life. We lost some time and energy in learning to use our greater freedom in clnss, library, clubs, and general assembly profitably. Having cut our wisdom teeth in our sophomore year, we returned to Tarrant High School as juniors with a self-satisfaction never before experienced by anyone. Although our number had shrunk to 183, we assumed our responsibilities as juniors. Some of the highlights were the Y-Tecn dance and the Junior-Senior prom. We worked with sufficient diligence to reach the goal of becoming seniors in September. 1951. During the summer the racetrack around the school and the iron fence in front were removed, so that the architectural beauty of the building became apparent. The grounds were leveled, lights were placed at the corners of the building, and interior improvements were made. We entered as seniors on September 4, 1951, ou rnumber being 130. In a short time we had organized our class, ordered rings, decided to publish an annual, joined clubs, and got down to studying with enthusiasm. We supported our football team by rooting at all the games and pep rallies, trying to yell louder than anyone else, just to show that this was our” football team. Cupid shot his arrows frequently during the summer of '51, for at the beginning of the school year three were already married. Since that time nine have been added to that list. One boy has withdrawn to enter the armed services of our country. 1 have assembled a few facts useful and frivolous about our class: Fifteen have been fortunate enough to make the course in eleven years. Some have had to go thirteen years. The total number of years of attendance in school by the whole class is 1,213. About 87r' of us have received our entire education in the state of Alabama. This graduating class has held membership in 305 clubs in the past four years. Our ambitions range from housewife to nurse, from electrician to mortician. Others include certified public accountant, swimming the English Channel, secretary, trained engineer, salesman, photographer, and veterinarian. Eighty-one frankly admit that they flirt and, in spite of being dignified seniors, chew 233 packs of gum a week. To offset these frivolities, they study 799 hours per week out of school. As we approach the close of our high school life, we wish that we had been more diligent in our studies and more serious in our attitude, but these characteristics we can attain only by experience and maturity. Barbara Spearman.

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Seniors MINNIE GLADYS WOOD Redwood Motto: Today well lived, make every tomorrow a joy. Monitors' Club, Future Business-Loaders of America Ug. • . v i v x I) It A DIE HELEN YARBROUGH Jersey” MOTTO: There is no soap that can wash out the soil of dirty thoughts. Future Business Leaders of America DEAN WA CLYDE HOLMES Graduation day Each day we toiled for four long years, Foreseeing this hour with hopes and fears. At last our day of triumph’s in sight; Our hearts soar upward with pure delight. Sweet mem’ry holds a tender past. True friendships bound by ties that last. The lessons learned will surely guide Our steps in paths of success and pride. As we draw near to graduation, The day that marks our separation, Each task well done in fullest measure Fills deep our cup of youthful treasure. With outstretched hands we seek to clasp The glorious future within our grasp. Jean Godfrey

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ON DERING what had happened to the graduating class of 1952, I visited a swami who, fortunately, was an old classmate, Billy Panned. As he seated himself by his crystal ball, a mist filled the room, then cleared. I saw a lonely village. A man crying, Old rags for new!” approached us. We recognized him as Eddie Creel, and his associate as Rosemary Crumbliss. We saw nurses, Ellen Shiver and Gloria McDowell, going into a hospital. Behind them was their patient, Franklin Mahaffey, a sufferer from melancholia, brought on by failure to attain l oretta Goddard's skill in fan dancing. On another street lay Betty Jo Moon, who had been struck by a bus driven by Gene Wills, The Hot Rod of the Bus Lines.” Others injured in the same accident were Betty Jo Ogles, Marion Burgin. Gail Stone, and Shirley McIntosh (who were imitators of movie stars at the Duce Night Club). In the club I saw Eugene Daniels, a bartender. The swami passed his hands over the crystal ball and through the mist we saw the corner of Fourth and Grand. Harry Farris and his Fumblers—Carlton Crane, Ed Cowgill, Jack Swindall, Alton Watts—were giving a wonderful band performance. The feature singers with his band were Minnie Wood, Mavis Vaughn and Helen Yarborough. As the mist cleared, we saw a science laboratory from which emerged Margie Mullins, Dorothy Poe, and Jewel Poole. They informed me that they were working on a secret atomic project. In the same laboratory an experiment in child care was being conducted by Carolyn Thornton and Sarah Scalf Miller. Nearby Bill Wear and Derward Washburn were doormen in a dance hall. Nelda Acton was hat check girl. I recognized the dancers as Mary Jane Bowers and Joe Bradley. Their dancing was followed by the “Great Flop, a magic act performed by Robert Abney. Through the mist we beheld a stadium where Clyde Holmes and Jimmie Ray Glenn were playing the University of Alabama under the coaching of Earl Layne. Their opponents. Bill Foote and Cecil Hudson, coached by Harry Johnson, were playing for a school called Not-A-Dame.” Sue Edwards, with a baby carriage filled with triplets, was at the game. She told me that she was going to work because Arnold Manning, her husband, had broken his working bone. The next sight was a candy store, operated by Virginia Kennedy, a real sweet girl.” A cloud formed, then cleared, and we saw a softball field in which the Married were playing the Singles. The Marrieds were Betty Kinney, Sue Levens, Peggy Hayden, and Margaret Philyaw. The Singles, winning, two to one, were Edith Hill, Mable Higginbotham, Nell Hairston, and Jean Holmes. Robert Gosnell was the sportscaster and Jewel Grigsby was the dispenser of the free chewing gum from his own factory. On the corner we saw Charles Mulling campaigning for president. Running on the same ticket was Jerry Humphries. Through the mist we saw Tarrant High School. Entering the building, we met Donald Weeks and Cartis Black, who were still working to get a diploma. Linda Smith, Billy Roddam, Mary Satkins, O. C. Moon, Martha Watkins, and Barbara Turrentine were members of the faculty. They had replaced former teachers—now retired—Miss Jones, Mr. Vines, Mrs. Smith, Mr. Mitchell, Miss Hammond, and Mrs. Salter. The mist fell and again cleared. We saw Nell Odum. Jack Mitchell, Jean Peoples, and Billy Ryan swimming. A scream came from the water. When the lifeguard, J. P. Nelms, brought the girl to the bank, we recognized Francis Marlin. On the other side of the pool was Ruth Gilliam, winner of a beauty contest. Malcolm Sanders, a business man, and Patsy Adkins, his secretary, rode by in a limousine of foreign make. Their chauffeur was Dean Ware. Headlines in the Tarrant Times announced that Kenneth Stone had invented a mitt to catch a flying saucer. Tom Self was the reporter and photographer of this news. Jo Ann and Steele Harris made headlines also by winning a $10,000 contest in selling subscriptions to maga-