Whitehall High School - Yearbook Yearbook (Whitehall, MI)

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Whitehall High School T H E C R Y S T A L Nineteen Thirty-one Valediciory PROGRESS E are exceedingly fortunate to step out of school life at the most interesting period of the world's history. There has been more progress made during the last hundred years than there was from the days of Caesar to the beginning of the nineteenth century. There has been a complete transformation in every phase of life within the span of a single generation. The whole life of the human family has been transformed as much as the change from the oxcart to the express train and airplane. Young people who are starting the struggle of life now should realize that they are missing most of the real drudgery that characterized all ages prior to this one. American inventive genius has entered every field of human endeavor and has lightened the load in nearly every walk of life. Human hands and minds direct machinery and the forces supplied by nature furnish the power that drives it. Up to the beginning of the nineteenth century supersitition had such a strong hold on the human mind that inventions were almost synonymous with the black arts, and the struggling genius had not only to contend with the natural laws and the expected diliiculties that hedge the path of an inventor, but had also to over- come the far greater obstacles of ignorant fear and bigoted prejudice. When we consider these facts we cannot help but feel the great amount of progress that has been made in this short time. A labor-saving machine was looked upon askance as the enemy of the working man, and many an earnest inventor, after years of arduous thought and painstaking labor, saw his cherished model broken and his hopes for- ever blasted by the antagonism of his fellow-men. But with the twentieth century a new era dawned. The legitimate results of inventions have been realized in larger incomes, shorter hours of labor, and lives so much richer in health, comfort, happi- ness, and usefulness, that today the world delights in honoring such men as Thomas Edison, pioneer master electrician of the world. Our forefathers traveled into the western wilds on crooked trails cut through the forests, with all their possessions on oxcarts which moved a few miles a day. Today the United States air mail goes over the same territory on a regular schedule of more than a hundred miles an hour. A trip to Europe in the past meant several months of danger and distress. Today a passenger air ship sails around the world with relative safety. Two generations ago nearly every home was a miniature factory where cloth was woven and all the family garments were made. Rest or recreation were seldom thought of, for it required constant effort to keep the wolf from the door. Now steam driven machinery does the work of hundreds of hands while two-thirds of the day is spent in rest and pleasure. We have changed from the little red school house to the splendid educational institutions that we find in every city, village and country community. Every school has books prepared at great expense by the great educators of the world. So, my friends, we are glad that we begin our active careers in the light of the twentieth century. Young people with the proper training are forging ahead in every field of human endeavor. W'e expect to go out from this school and play honorable parts in whatever field we enter, realizing that we have come upon the scene at the most opportune time in the history of the world. Dorothea Erickson Page Fourteen

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I I l Whitehall High School T H E C R Y S T A L Nineteen Thirty-one Salu+a'I'ory FRIENDS: We, the class of 1931, are very happy to have you with us tonight, your pres- ence being necessary to make this a successful occasion. To you this is just another commencement program and has little significance, but to us it is an important event. For thirteen long years you, our teachers and parents, have cooperated success- fully to bring about this, one of our largest moments. It is you who have taught us the importance of an alert mind, a healthy body and a perfect attendance and we want to take this, our last opportunity to show our appreciation as a class. We are very sad as well as very happy tonight. We are happy because we have just com- pleted our flrst great task in life, and sad because this is our last gathering together as a class. This night marks the beginning of a new life for us. This is the springtime of our lives and we are like seeds which have been care- fully nurtured, trained and cared for by our parents and teachers, the gardeners. Now, in the springtime, we are ready to be transplanted into a big garden, the world. Great botanists, when they find a rare plant, shake all of the natural soil from its roots and transplant it in a foreign ground. T hey are then put to a test to see if they will thrive or die. We, too, are going to have everything changed for us. We are no longer going to have the help that we have been used to and we must learn to adapt ourselves to the change. So we, as well as these rare plants, are also put to that test. The question is XVill we survive? Equipped as we are with this wonderful start we are going out there and make of ourselves something you will be proud of. Until now we have had no real grave responsibilities to shoulder, but from now on, everything will be changed. Classmates, until now, we have not known the desolation in saying good-bye forever as a class. We have always assembled the next day to exchange some greet- ing or word of cheer. Tonight we are parting to meet as classmates no more. We must realize that we must work hard and be as successful in all our undertakings as we have been in getting the first part of our education. It will be hard, I know, but do not despair- as our motto says, we are 'launched but not anchored - so do not despair because we are only starting out. Let me quote the motto Dr. Collier gave us: Despair makes a despicable figure, and descends from a mean original. 'Tis the offspring of Fear, of Laziness, and Impatienceg it argues a defect of spirit and resolution, and oftimes of honesty too. Do not DESPAIR, even if you think you see your misfortune recorded in the Book of Fate, signed and sealed by Neces- sity. If we remember this and keep on trying we will surely succeed. Virginia Ralph Page Fifteen