Waltham High School - Mirror Yearbook (Waltham, MA)

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THE MIRROR, 1936 ARTHUR NEWELL BURKE ' The one sad note this year amid the pleasures of graduation comes with the knowledge that ARTHUR NEWELL BURKE, principal of Waltham High School for the past twelve years will retire at the end of the current session. MR. BURKE is beloved by all the thousands who have attended Waltham High School since he has been there, and all will feel many regrets at his leaving. , Although being principal of a large high school has its many worries, says MR. BURKE, there are many humorous incidents which will give me many pleasures with the completion of my school career. One of these that always comes to my mind happened when I was a class advisor in my first year in Waltham. One day a sophomore came to me and asked me what I suggested for a subject in which he would be able to do good work. Knowing that the student was interested in science, I told him that I thought he would enjoy Physics. The next morning the student returned with a note from his mother, saying that she could not allow her son to take such a course for the family had always been, and intended to remain, devoted Christian Scientists. With the exception of thesehappy occurrences, however, our Principal has had a very hard and sometimes rocky road to travel, this being especi- ally true in his earlier days. He was born a year after the close of the Civil War, on March 16, 1866, in Norwich, Connecticut. He attended Norwich Free Academy, which served as the high school for the town youths. Only the better of the students attended high school then, for a twelve-year education was con- sidered even more important than a college de- gree is today. In spite of all obstacles, however, Mr Burke attended college. He went to Wesleyan, situated in Middletown, Connecticut, having only enough money for one year. He was forced to work his way through his last three years of school, and he tended furnaces, ran errands, and delivered news- papers in order to have the opportunity of finish- ing. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts de- gree. At college he joined the Phi Nu Theta frater- nity, and in his senior year he received the honor among honors which can come to a college stu- dent, for he was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa, an honorary fraternity throughout the country. After he graduated, he became a teacher at Westfield High School, where he taught Physics and Geology for two years, and resided directly across the street from former Governor joseph B. Ely of this state. Being offered a better position at Monson Academy, also in Massachusetts, he joined the faculty of that school in the capacity of sub- master, and later became principal, an office which he held for six years. In 1898 he attended Harvard University, study- ing Physics in Graduate School. The following year he came to Waltham High School, where he has been for the past 37 years, One of the first examinations he gave at Wal- tham, while teaching, was in a Physics class. One of the questions he .asked was: What is a vacuum? On one paper came this reply: A vacuum is a great empty space where the Pope lives. Im- mediately Mr. Burke realized that he was to en- joy life in Waltham. He conducted classes for twenty-five years dur- ing which time he established courses in Astron- omy and Geology. Upon the death of Willis Eaton in 1924, Mr. Burke was elected principal, this event taking place in April. Thus for over twelve years he has served as the guiding light for Waltham's younger manhood and womanhood. During these years he has graduated over four thousand students, and during this time almost seven thousand have attended the High School during one time or another. He served as faculty manager of football from 1903 until 1924, and

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Arthur Newell Burke fl? ,Mn 73u1fke The greater the man, the less need be written of his deeds-who does not know of them? The greater the man, the less need be written of his personality-who is not familiar with it? Mr. Burke needs no eulogy. When at this time we pause to praise, no words can How, for they would be entirely superfluous. Thus simply, but with the sincerest gratitude for all his services, we now dedicate this, the year's most significant issue of the iiMIRROR,','fO our beloved principal, ARTHUR N. BURKE.

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THE MIRROR, 1936 also led 4 delegations of twenty or more members of the senior class in an educational tour through Washington, D. C. in 1905 to 1909. In 1919 Mr. Burke married Miss Gertrude E. Mayo of Brookline, Mass. He has made ten trips to Europe since the turn of the century, visiting every country on the continent, and taking over two thousand pictures of his travels. Twelve hundred of these have been made into lantern slides, and one of Mr. Burke's joys comes in showing some of these to various organizations and clubs. When the World War broke out in 1914 Mr. Burke was in Switzerland. He was detained there for several days, and then started for home, going through Germany. After he retires he intends to continue his travels in Europe, as well as to visit parts of the United States. When our Principal does not go to Europe dur- ing a summer vacation, one may find him by the ocean at Pigeon Cove, Rockport. He intends to spend many more happy summers at this resort. Mr. Burke still has his mother, who encouraged him through his hardships during youth. He also has a good friend in Guy B. Dolbeare, who is now President of one of the largest savings banks in Connecticut. These two loyal friends see each other at least once a year. Under Principal Burke's administration the school has risen high in scholastic standing, with a large percentage of the graduating classes at- tending institutions of higher learning. Many of these have followed Mr. Burke's precedent, and have been honored with Phi Beta Kappa Keys. Mr. Burke is a member of the Congregational Church, where he is now serving as deacon. He is also a member of the Isaac Parker Order of Masons, of which he is a Past Master. Mr. Burke's hobby is nature study. He has gone into extensive research in the study of flowers, and while in high school, he wrote up Flora , a catalogue of flowering plants of his native town, Norwich, Connecticut. The one thing which he would like to see start- ed at Waltham High, is the establishment of a National Honor Society chapter. This corresponds to the Phi Beta Kappa in college. This Society has chapters in the leading high schools of the country, and may start in Waltham at some early date, mainly through the efforts of Mr. Burke. Thus ends a brief study of our beloved Princi- pal, who is soon to leave the school, but who will never be forgotten. The city owes Mr. Burke a stirring vote of thanks for all he has done, and we all wish him luck in the remaining years of his life. May they be many and happy. The graduating class of 1936 will be the largest one which Mr. Burke has seen leave the walls of the school, which has been enlarged mainly through his undivided effort, and will be a tribute to our honored Principal, who is known lovingly among all graduates as Mucker. FRANK JAMES GAZIANO.