Weaver High School - Portal Yearbook (Hartford, CT)

Page 11 text:

We Honor Our Fighters for Freedom We Hear Firsthand of Deeds for Freedom IS A CHALLENGE. Every real American of Weaver ' 44, and every man and woman whose spine tingles to the Stars and Stripes must meet it. One will say that our goal is unattainable. Yes, unattainable to the selfish and unthinking! Sometimes we, too, might believe so, because it is we who shall have to educate the ignorant and bring light to their warped minds. That is no easy task. Trying to convince the selfish that an Indian Untouch¬ able, for an example, is entitled to the common necessities and basic lux¬ uries of the typical Britisher, so that he may have the same chance to succeed as the average American is a colossal proposition. That, however, is exactly what lies ahead of us. We must throw aside our hates — class, political, racial, and religious — and make our neighbors see that a loaf of bread may bring physical relief, but a fair chance for a clean home and a restful week¬ end are the things that set our minds right. And it is true that we shall be fighting a mental battle. When all this will be realized and everyone ' s son and daughter will receive at least a high school education, we feel sure that there will be a little more thinking, a little less selfishness, and a lot more co-operation in this world of ours. . . . Only through co-operation shall we attain everlasting peace. 7

Page 10 text:

We Buy Out Bonds ioi Freedom June, ' 44, and the third wartime class leaves the portals of the beautiful school beside the park . . . To What Shall We dedicate the Book ' 44? To the Things We Defend ' ' as did ' 42 with Pearl Harbor? To the Weaver Gold Stars as did ' 43 with North Africa? Or shall we go one better than our predecessors of the past two black years? Shall we dare to look ahead to the post-war world? . . . And shall we dare to say — The Portal of ' 44 is Dedicated to Everlasting Peace? . . . ... We take the dare, for what could be more fitting and prope r than to dedicate our Portal to the ideals for which all humanity is searching? Ever¬ lasting peace! There is splendor in those words, and there is drudgery. To dedicate the Portal to everlasting peace is to dedicate it to a job, the most arduous and formidable problem that God has given man to solve. IT 6

Page 12 text:

PRINCIPAL FRANK H. BURKE F. H. Beta” . . . Weaver never offered us any Greek, and since Beta ' s the only Greek letter we know — well, we would do anything to make Zeus ' s representative for Connecticut at home! . . . can toss a wee bit of Spanish around, too . . . also hep” to football jargon (ever see him at an HPHS game?) . . . will be remembered most in our three years ' stay for untiring work in prepping” students for wartime America . . . will never forget his deep, bass voice, his clear enunciation, and his man to man” talks (euphe¬ mism for What ' s the cipher for?”; ■ • • always listened to both sides of the story ... a gentleman and a scholar, tolerant and amiable, we ' re proud to have known Mr. Frank H. Burke. 8