Ypsilanti High School - Ypsi Dixit Yearbook (Ypsilanti, MI)

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g TUE ¥YPS$4- BIX IT ie History of the Senior Class Being the plain history of its development, ancicnt, medieval, and modern. By- Vio... Horron Written originally with the advice and help of Wilber T. Best, Miss Carrie A. Hardy, and Miss Hazel Milks. Complete in one volume IN EFRODUCTION HE PURPOSE of this history 1s an attempt to tell, truly and clearly, in one continuous narrative, the whole story of the early beginnings and devel- opment of this, the Senior Class of 1931. ee . It seems absolutely necessary to present this knowledge to the public, for without it they can have no understanding of the class as a whole. Since the previcus class histories tended to give too much attention to recent events and too little to the remote past or ancient history, so that there was little chance of realizing the vital bearing of the past on the present, in this volume the author has attempted to remedy this situation. In the three divisions of this book, the ancient period will deal with those years extending from the first grade to the Junior High School, the medieval will comprise that portion known as Junior High School, and the modern will include that period of four years spent in high scholastic training designated as Senior High School. Thus the author respectfully concludes this introduction with deep thanks to the faculty advisers and other persons in the Ypsilanti school system who have given such splendid help in the writing of this volume. ANCLENSE BistoORY So far as we have been able to discover in searching through past records, this Senior Class of eighty-nine pupils, one of the largest classes in the history of the school, has with it but four of the original members who started as first graders in the Ypsilanti Central grades in the year of our Lord 1919. Their names are Margaret Morrison, Ruth Crawford, Junior Schrader, and Ross Robtoy. It is well known that in the early stages of life man could not write and so left few traces of his existence. And thus it was with the forerunners of this great and splendid class. They could scrawl but a few unreadable hieroglyphics, so we have no written records and must leave all to speculation. We did learn from their teacher, however, that even at this early age these four began to develop the tendencies that characterize them today. For instance, Margaret Morrison was even then a great talker, Ruth had started an eighteen-day diet which was to stretch into an eighteen-year fast, and Junior’s proclivity as a musician took form early, inasmuch as he always carried a brass instrument of some kind on which in his spare moments he would practice industriously. Oddly enough he named each horn in succession, Viola, while Ross’s talent as an artist became evident in the cartoons of teacher drawn on desks, walls, and sidewalks, and in addition Twenty-Nim

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THE YPSt” DIXIE his business ability began to show up, for he always insisted on passing out the papers. As was said before, information concerning the class from the third grade to the sixth has been very meager, though we do know that the size of the group was steadily increasing, in fact, during the fourth year the grade had to be divided into two groups. Because of the dearth of material upon which to base this history, we will leave the reconstruction of its memories and dreams to the mem- bers of the graduating class and bring to a conclusion the first section of the history of the Senior Class of 731. MEDIEVAL HistORY And now we come to that period known as the medieval and dealing with the years spent in Junior High School. This period can well be likened to the civilization of the Greeks and Romans, which, built on the foundations made by primitive man, reached a peak in culture, for here in the seventh and eighth grades the members of this class attained a higher knowledge that would have been incomprehensible to those people dealt with in the preceding part entitled Ancient History. Here, too, the author has had much difficulty in collecting facts. for many of the documents and the records of the achievements of the people through the years have been either totally destroyed or dimmed and damaged by age. but we have learned enough from reliable sources so that we were able to make out quite a complete account of the activities of the members of the class of ’31 who were then in the Ypsilanti Junior High School. First we had better state that at the opening of this epoch of history small groups from alien clans such as Woodruff, Normal, and Prospect joined the original group and thus swelled its volume considerably. These pecple were very peaceable and inclined toward obedience and acceptance of the regulations of their new surroundings, so they were heartily welcomed and harmonious relations were soon established. We find that the students began this period of their life with much trep- idation and uncertainty, for the new procedure of passing to a different class when a bell rang and having so many different teachers was upsetting, but being a brilliant group and very malleable, they readily adapted themselves to their new surroundings. It was here that the students began to develop initiative and the ability to do things on their own. Here, too, they took up such arts as sewing, cooking, and manual training and developed them to a degree that was surpassed only in modern times. | The greatest achievement, however, of these medieval times was accomplished when as eighth graders they undertook for the first time in the history of the school to put on a circus. Of course, it must be known, they received the aid of the seventh grade, which is now the Junior Class of °31, but it was chiefly through the effort and intelligence of the eighth grade members and its teachers that this circus was brought to its successful and gratifying conclusion. Also in this same year the group put on a class banquet, which was one of the most brilliant and talked of affairs of the year. In the spring of the year 1927, this class left for the last time the portals of that stately old building that had been the scene of its ancient and medieval history, but they left it with regret for in departing they had to bid farewell to their Thirty