High-resolution, full color images available online
Search, browse, read, and print yearbook pages
View college, high school, and military yearbooks
Browse our digital annual library spanning centuries
Support the schools in our program by subscribing
Privacy, as we do not track users or sell information
Page 20 text:
“
Je jj Class History A history of the Class of June, 1909! What an incomplete thing it will he! It cannot describe our feelings when we entered, our strivings and disap- pointments while we toiled through what now seems four short years, and can much less portray our sorrow at leaving the High School which we all have learned to love. There were over one hundred and fifty of us when we entered in September, 1905. One hundred and eight have persevered and are about to receive their diplomas. This forms a very high per cent. Now what shall I write of first and what next, as Virgil says: “Quae quibus anteferam? Before I relate some of the achievements of our class, let me explain to the world our unique position. We are the first class to enter West High School as freshmen and to be graduated after pursuing a four years course there. Other classes have been graduated before to be sure, but we are the first class which has had all of its preparatory training in West High School. We are the artists’ proofs, so to speak, from the West High School studio and we are determined, by making those proofs worth something to the world, to bring honor and glory to our Alma Mater. In our freshman year, the class of June, 1909, was a somewhat extraor- dinary organization. We were alive to say the least. Our first class meeting was so well attended that standing room was at a premium. And our meeting was so enthusiastic that we gained the notice of the dignitaries of the school. Our meetings have become more orderly in late years, that is true, but our old freshman interest and spirit are still there. In our sophomore year we started doing things. Before the year was over, everyone realized that the Class of 1909 would have a bright future. Evidences of strength and prowess were not only exhibited on the athletic field but such stars as Root and the Kennells were beginning to show their possibilities in the class room. And that is wherein the Class of 1909 is a characteristic West High output. It is well balanced and well rounded. It is not a class of grinds, nor a class of one sided athletes. It is a class of America girls and boys who can work while they work and play while they play. An this spirit of wholesomeness whether in play or in work is but the following out of the principles and precepts which our teachers have ever taught. For
”
Page 21 text:
“
in West High School from the principal clown, all the members of the faculty seem to believe that their duty is more than the single teaching of lessons, they believe that the directing and molding of the students’ lives are important requisites in pedagogy. Moreover what is far more helpful to the student, our instructors have reflected their teachings in their own lives. Well you can see I am not a historian. I make too many digressions, but yet I am trying to put content into some of the form of my story. It was in our junior and senior years that we shone. First we had a successful Junior Prom and then gave a farce worthy of the school. We also commenced to figure as winners in interclass series, and for awhile 1909 was written on every championship banner. In this, our last year, we have been well represented on the various teams. Uderitz. Gumming and MacDonald starring on the football team, while Mac and Stahlbrodt have upheld our honor on the track team. Thus I might go through the list. For a climax I can mention our representatives on the debating teams. On the girls’ team this year there were Miss Leonard, Miss Howard and Miss Sheridan, all 1909 girls, and ones of whom the class may be pretty proud. On the boys' team Gumming and Spin- ning ably upheld not only the honor of the class but of the school as is shown by the retaining of the Amherst Alumni cup. There are still other members whom I would mention, those who. though less prominent in school affairs, nevertheless have been doing their duty as loyal West High students, and deserve their allotment of praise. I said at the beginning this history would be incomplete. ow I will give a reason. A history of a person to be a finished product must relate the events of a lifetime. So of a class, the history should not only narrate of its infancy but of its manhood and old age. For the writing of such a history 1 am handicapped. The class of 1909 is but in its infancy. Four years do not even constitute an era. And what historian takes up a history in periods shorter than decades? If asked to write this history thirty years from now, I could write more fully and completely. And yet in the main it would have the same tone, that of just pride in the achievements of the class and of endorsement of the spirit and character of its members. Still I hope this history may serve a purpose in pointing out to future classes just what a West High School class should stand for and accom- plish in four years. John Milton Colt, Historian.
Are you trying to find old school friends, old classmates, fellow servicemen or shipmates? Do you want to see past girlfriends or boyfriends? Relive homecoming, prom, graduation, and other moments on campus captured in yearbook pictures. Revisit your fraternity or sorority and see familiar places. See members of old school clubs and relive old times. Start your search today!
Looking for old family members and relatives? Do you want to find pictures of parents or grandparents when they were in school? Want to find out what hairstyle was popular in the 1920s? E-Yearbook.com has a wealth of genealogy information spanning over a century for many schools with full text search. Use our online Genealogy Resource to uncover history quickly!
Are you planning a reunion and need assistance? E-Yearbook.com can help you with scanning and providing access to yearbook images for promotional materials and activities. We can provide you with an electronic version of your yearbook that can assist you with reunion planning. E-Yearbook.com will also publish the yearbook images online for people to share and enjoy.
