Each year at this time we feature the Albion High School Class of 100 years ago. The Class of 1924 had 94 members; 39 were boys, and 55 were girls. Most of them had been born around 1906. It was the largest class of seniors that had ever graduated from Albion High School at the time. Class president was C. Ames Maywood, with Wendall Birdsall as vice-president. The valedictorian was Irene Porr, with Warren Bliss as the salutatorian. The Class motto was “Find a Path, or Make One.”
The Class memorial presented to the school board was a painting entitled “The Castle of the Maidens,” the ninth panel of Abbey’s Holy Grail series. Three other panels from the series had already been presented by previous classes, and were hung in the upper corridor of the new 1922 High School building which later became the west wing of Washington Gardner High School.
The 47th Annual Commencement of Albion High School was held at the Methodist Episcopal Church (as was the custom of those years because of its size) on E. Erie St. on Friday, June 13, 1924. The Commencement speaker was Paul F. Voelker, president of Olivet College, who spoke on the topic “The Master of Destiny.” High School principal William F. Head presented the diplomas to the seniors. Superintendent Donald Harrington (future namesake of Harrington School) presided over the commencement ceremony.
The Class of 1924 published the Breeze Annual yearbook, a grey soft-covered book with a gold letter “A” on the front cover. In addition to the normal topics and sections found in such yearbooks, this yearbook contained some fascinating “front of section” drawings/artwork by Albion High School students. The artwork editor was senior Ruth Gridley, who served on the Breeze Annual staff. From our Historical Notebook this week we present Ruth’s illustration for the inside front cover. Here are the names of the graduate. How many of our readers recognize any of these names, or are related to them?
Mary Abbott, Arvid Andrews, Mary Baker, Charlotte Baumgardner, Lela Beck, Ethel Behling, Harvey Biggs, Lawrence Billings, Wendall Birdsall, Warren Bliss, Ethel Boldt, Myron Boyd, Zelda Bramble, Ralph Brooks, John Bryden, Katherine Bullen, Martin Burgess. Ralph Callahan, Lois Carpenter, Gertrude Culkins, Ellen Curl, Nellie Davenport, Ruth Dean, Bernard Deyoe, Leona Van Diehl, Blanche Edwards, G. Wayne Edwards, Reginald Eldred, John Gilbert, Ruth Gridley, Eleanor Haggit, E. Dean Harrington, Letha Heathcock, Clifford Herzer, Josephine Hoaglin, Marjorie Hoffman, Marjorie Holben, June Housman, Margaret Howland, Marion Howlett, Laurence Jaggers, Darrel Johnson, Lucretia Juckett, Marion Kingman, Mary Klein, Wilbur Knack, Mary Knight, Marian Lamont, Ogden Landenberger, Burchard Ludlow, Helen Luedtke, Flora McGormley, George McKinney, Beulah Magnotta, Lyle Marsh, Julia Martin, C. Ames Maywood, Gwendolyn Miller, J. Edwin Minkler, Mary Morrison, Nordine Nagle, Mildred Noble, Darrel Norton, Margaret Osmun, Helen Ott, Llewellyn Parris, Irene Porr, John Quigg, Doris Rausch, Rachel Ray, Lucy Reed, Amy Richard, Margaret Roberts, Merle Robinson, Francis Russler, E. Marcelene Sackett, Kenneth Sanders, Ursula Sawyer, Harlow Stankrauff, Gretchen Stevenson, Marjory Sturtevant, Walter Taylor, Esther Thomas, Edith Trine, Kenneth Wallace, Laurene Warrick, Marion Weaver, Robert Weishar, Laurence West, Howard White, Theodore Winter, Glenn Yost.
