Westfield High School - Prospectus Yearbook (Westfield, NY)

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DEDICATION In this age of dynamic living we all too soon forget those who leave us to join their old friends. Some there are, however, whom we shall never lose from our treasure chest of pleasant memories. Such a person was “Westfield’s Grand Old Man.” For many years the civic virtuosity of our community was greatly enriched by the numerous benevolent activities in which he participated. Many of Westfield’s boys in the services are better men today because of the regular Sunday School class which Mr. Thompson made so interesting. The editor of the Westfield Republican was truly a great man. Unlike most people, he lived, day after day, the simple ever¬ lasting type of existence people love and admire most in a man. We are honored, therefore, in dedicating this issue of the Porta-Via, treating the history of the town he so dearly loved and which so cherishes the memory of him, to Hugh William Thompson. 8

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and in this capacity it is still used. The present Westfield High School was completed in 1901, placed carefully in a beautiful setting. But there is a very interesting history concerning the site where our school now stands that cannot he overlooked. ears before, sometime in the 1860’s, the Holt mansion occupied that same location. Made of brick and stone with an elegant cupola towering above the roof, and supplemented by a coach house and stables, (which now house the Vine City Dairy) the mansion was at that time the show place of Westfield. Mr. Holt, who undoubtedly must have been a connoisseur of beauty, took much pride in his estate. At the front of the house he planted three beautiful trees, all of which are still standing; one is a graceful old copper beech, the other two are Japanese Ginkgos. The Japanese Ginkgo is a tree of long life and, geologically speaking, is said to be one of the oldest kinds of plants known to man, fossils of its leaves having been found which date to prehistoric times . A cir¬ cular drive led to the front entrance of the house and in the broad expanse of lawn between the drive and the street stood a graceful old fountain, fed by clear spring water which was carried through hundreds of feet of piping from natural springs far out on Academy Street. During the Civil War the Holt Mansion served as an underground railroad station for slaves escaping into Canada. It was the last stopping place between Dunkirk and the border and it IS not difficult to imagine tbe hundreds of black men, in constant terror of being dis¬ covered and returned to their southern masters, making their way slowly to the welcoming Holt stables and finally to the shores of Lake Erie where boats awaited them. There remains today a memento of the massiveness and in¬ terior beauty that the Holt residence must have con¬ tained—the exquis¬ ite mirror which now graces the high-ceilmged foyer of Eason Hall, and from which several feet had to be re¬ moved before it could be placed there. Under the guiding hands of long- remembered principals such as P. K. Pattison, Almon N. Taylor, G. Fayette Dickson, and our own belov¬ ed Professor Eaton, the school has ex¬ panded greatly in Its curriculum. Early in the annals of tbe high school, debating teams be¬ came a chief source of interest to the student body. Debating teams drilled by Professor Pattison, Rev. Alexander Thompson, Rev. George McClelland, and others won many a debate from such schools as Jamestown, Erie, and Lockport. The Rush-Rhees trophy, much coveted by all Western New York schools, was won by the silver-tongued youths of West- held more than once. The Delphic and Amalathean Societies sponsored all debating and writing activities. A school paper, “The Stylus,” later revived as “The New Stylus” in 1928, contained much material dealing with the literary attempts of the early nineteen hundreds. In more recent years, the early enthusiasm for debating has died out until now there are only the heated discussions on current topics in Social Studies 12 class and the annual D. A. R. Panel Discussion in active existence. Due to war conditions, the publica¬ tion of the “New Stylus” was omitted in 1943, to be continued later. For years before the hrst World War it had been the pleasure of the senior classes to make the annual trip to Washington at Easter time. Those trips were discontinued during the im¬ mediate years of war, but were again resumed after the war. From 1921 to 1941 the senior classes enjoyed trips to our nation’s capitol and other points of interest. Again, because of war restrictions the senior classes have faced the needed conditions and, accordingly, have changed their plans. The class of 1943 con¬ ceived the happy idea of editing an annual. As pioneers in this work they accomplished an excellent start. The “Porta-Via” has come into being and through the united efforts of the Class of 1944, the faculty, and alumni. It is sincerely hoped that all succeeding senior classes will further the idea until the yearly publication will become a tradition. 7

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Harry M, Eaton PRESENT PRINCIPAL John S, Fosdick FIRST PRINCIPAL