Woodward High School - Treasures Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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REMINISCENCES OF THE CLASS OF IO3 EDITOR'S NOTE-Thc following letters and articles were received in reply to notes from the editor of the present Annual Staff to members of the Annual Staff of ,03, asking for remin' iscences in connection with the publishing of the 157m Annual, and of the Woodrumd of that day. The editor was very much gratified by the large and cordial response which came in answer to her request, Miss Louise Dohrman Editor, Woodward Annual. Dear Miss Dohrman: You ask me to reminisce as to the Woodward of my day. IITO you of 29 it must seem far away, To us of 103, it was but yesterday. Shall I visualize for you the men and women, some now gone to their eternal reward, who gave of their lives that we might carry on; these patient, sometimes in, dulgent, teachers, who somehow endured us? Taking them all together, no finer group of educators was given to any class. I must not mention names, but I can not pass over the kindliness of your present principal, Mr. Jones. No doubt the present Woodward is dear to all of you. To us the Old Woodward, with all its deftciencies, cannot be replaced. Something of charm permeated its old entrancegthe brick walks, the halls, class rooms, and auditoriums and the associations that go with all of them--ancl it will live as long as the last member of 1903 survive; Must I confess who it was that cut the wire that operated the clasa bells; who were the fellows who lItookIl cooking and Itcooked their goosesll or geese, as you will, when one of them threw a dish rag as the door opened, believing that a fellow class member was about to enter, and unfortunately struck the principal who came to visit, who it was that lighted the paper in the chemistry class during a KCLOH experiment and caused a panic; who threw the bottle of uChinese perfume under foot and then asked that the window might be opened to prevent suffocation; who it was thate but I must not go on or you will imagine that 1903 played its way through Woodward. Such is not the case. There were in the class girls them, women now, who, like springtime, called to the poets I, too, wrote poetry! There were young men, earnest, studious, able, who have gone on and up, who have taken and are taking their places in making this world a better place in which to live, inspired by Old Woodward, its traditions and history, and with your permission, save only the class of 1929, none has a right to a higher place in the sun than the class of 1903! EDWARD J. KENNEDY, Attorney at Law. bf? Miss Louise Dohrman Editor, Woodward Annual. My dear Miss Dohrman: It doesnt seem possible that it is twentyrsix years since we graduated from High School, so easily can I drift back into the activities of lkOld Woodward. I am once again the happy Senior of 1903, just as proud as I know the Seniors of 1929 feel today. Why not? It is quite an achievement to graduate from Woodward High School! When the memories of the happy times come crowding into my mind, I see so many of the faces of my former classmates, many I have not seen since the memorable night in June when we received our diplomas and really commenced our lifels work. Since my marriage in 1906 I have not had the privilege of living in Cincinnati. My home is in Mount Vernon, New York, just eighteen miles from New York City. Page Fourteen

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So it devolved upon a few go'getters of the Aimual Staff to do the job, and many and devious were the methods they used. Typical of these was the solicitation of an Optician, well known in those days, but no longer in business; The boy who called on him happened to be one of the few fortunate members of the clasgiif not the only oneewho had a seemingly unlimited expense allowance supplied by a. doting and wealthy mother. I remember distinctly that he dined on angel cake regularly at the noon recess, while most of us bought a penny Wiener sandwich at the gate This chap was determined to get some advertising space from the tight'hsted optie dam, and he did, but nearly bought out the store in the process. Before the contract was signed, he had purchased enough kodak supplies to last all summen But, try as hard as we could, it was soon obvious that the receipts would not be sufficient to pay for the book. Something had to be done So it was decided to give the Annual 3 beneiit in the form of a minstrel show. This was probably the hrst instance on record of financing a school publication through a theatrical LU performance, but the class of 503 was rich in originality and initiative, though short in cash. The call for histrionic talent brought out so many volunteers that, like most amateur shows, we soon had too long a program But no one who wished to take part could be slighted, and the audience had to suffer accordingly. After several weeks of rehearsal, the show was given and had to be repeated two or three times to accommodate the crowds. Every performance was played to a full house in the old Woodward auditorium, as the students found it much easier to sell tickets to a show than space in an annual. The receipts reached so high a figure that we not only made up the threatened deficit on the Annual, but had enough money left to buy an oEice clock for Major Van Dyke, the school principal. We did not admit it at the time, but the clock was, in effect, a peace oifering t0 the Major who was not so keen about the show, but suffered it to proceed because of the sheer financial necessities of the case. So the first Woodward Annual came into being while its sponsors heaved a sigh of relief, as every Annual StaE has done since and as every one will do in the future. Page Thirteen

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Will you be good enough, please, to extend a cordial invitation to all of my classmates, or I might say, to all of the loyal friends of Woodward, to come and see my husband and me? With kindest regards to all of my former associates and classmates and greetings and best wishes to the class of EL'29 , I am Cordially yours, LULU MOORE KEVAN, 641 Lafayette Ave, Mount Vernon, N. Y. 54V? Miss Louise Dohrman Editor The Woodward Annual Dear Miss Dohrman: t It is most thoughtful of you, Miss Editor, to think of us who twentydive years ago published the hrst Woodward Annual. The class of OS can also claim another honor, for we had a prominent hand in publishing the iirst Oracle. Thanks to succeeding classes, they both live and are better than ever. But to retrospect Picture the old building occupying only part of the block now occupied, the brick and pebble yard, the old iron fence where at recess the pretzel man furnished lunch at one cent per pretzel, and you could have all the mustard you wanted. There was the old yard that served first for a drill and parade ground for our two companies of cadets. We were iilmed once and shown at Keith s theater! Movies were new then and it was some thrill to be filmed. Then came football practice when every tackle meant a massage by those aforementioned pebbles and bricks. It is a wonder we ever had any skin on our faces, hands or shoulders. The gym was a separate building and after practice we removed the grime at an ordinary wash bowl in cold water. Showers and hot water were unknown. The entrance to the gym was our favorite trysting place and there I made my first date with a girl to attend a dance. Dr. P005, who preceded Dr. Rettich, invented a game called Poos ball 010w center balD and the intereclass rivalry was pretty keen during the series of games before the champions were selected. I would like to ask Rufe Maddux, Ed Kammeron, and Ed Kennedy if they remem' her Miss Neff's class in cooking for boys only Those basement walls could tell SOme good stories. Another favorite room was the hrst from the Sycamore Street entrance. It was never open on Monday, for we had a colony then. In the room were statues and figures of cones and cubes, and drawing boards and charcoal pencils. That same teacher is now your principal, and when I went to Woodward he did not have an enemy. I trust the same situation exists today. But years make changes, and many of those teachers, than whom none were better, are gone. Major Van Dyke, how he could make you like literature! Miss OIConnell, Miss Armstrong, Miss Stubbs, Miss Fillmore, Miss Mosbaugh, Miss Burnet, Mr. Brader and Iipap Paboclie. Miss Donnelly and Miss Diserens are still carrying on. Ask any former student and he will tell you that these teachers were in a class by themselves. I am just oldlfashioned enough to believe their system and methods were better than the present ones, and I bet we had a. lot better time, BROWN MCGILL, The R. F. Johnston Paint Co, Cincinnati. QJKZK Miss Louise Dohrman Editor, Woodward Annual. Dear Miss Dohrman: It was a great and glorious success, that 1903 Annualithat is, if you did not count the deficit that our management rolled up and which, like a bottomless pit, swale , lowed all of our monumental Minstrel Show profit. Page Fifteen