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This is the 1921 Rapahanoc, the yearbook from Fredericksburg High School.
Descriptions of seniors, like Mabel Virginia King, ran with photos. |
THOUGH it provides a glimpse of a different era, a Fredericksburg High School 1921 yearbook shows that some things never change.
The football team, made up
The senior photos, complete with artistic boxing, show graduates dressed far better than they ever looked at school.
And the same silly sense of humor that gives us the term "sophomoric" was present then, too.
Take this, from the "Jokes" section.
"Miss Rhea: Grafton, do you know about Shakespeare?"
"Grafton: Is he a senior?"
Or this cheer, which makes as much sense to me now as many
"Riggity, iggity, shaggety town! Who can pull old Fredericksburg down?"
And for pure pluck, you gotta love this one: "Boomalaca! Boomalaca! Bow! Wow! Wow! Chicalaca! Chicalaca! Chow! Chow! Chow!"
These and much more were in the annual, shared with me last week by former Fredericksburg Superintendent Richard Garnett.
It came to him and his wife, Ann, from her father, Arthur Schwartz, a teacher at the city's James Monroe High School for more than 30 years.
"Rapahanoc 1921" chronicles the adventures of the first graduating class at the Fredericksburg High School facility that opened in 1920 at what later became known as Maury School.
Today, the football stadium adjacent to the former school, at Hanover Street and Kenmore Avenue, is still known as Maury Stadium. The building has been converted into condominiums.
But back in 1921, it was a high school that graduated 34 seniors, with names like Rowe, Curtis, Goldman, Houston, Ninde, Purks, Stearns and others still found in these parts.
Flipping through the annual, it was hard not to smile at how much fun they seem to have had--both at school and creating the yearbook.
Each senior got their own description, like this one for Mabel Virginia King.
"Oh girls, have you heard the latest news? We don't need a newspaper when Mabel is around."
It continues, "although she likes to talk, she always stands at the head of her class, and her classmates always come to her for advice and information when they are tackling a difficult subject."
Or this, on Fielding Lewis Wilson, below the heading, "Ain't he cute?"
"Fielding would rather make you laugh than be President. He just can't help being funny."
It adds, "Fielding and his books are not very good friends until around exam time, when be begins to brush up an acquaintance, but he always gets through."
Of course, it's hard not to notice how small everything was then.
The faculty pictures, all 12 of them, take up just two pages. The junior class had just 20 students listed, though lower classes had more pupils, reflecting the fact that many students left school before graduating to go to work.
Most of the athletic teams had barely enough athletes to field teams.
And sports schedules included just a handful of opponents, like Alexandria, Warrenton, Culpeper and Sparta.
It was fun to find an ad from "The Daily Star" and "The Free Lance," as well as one for Bellman's Sanitary Grocery, Chichester & Co. insurance, R.G. Hilldrup "auto, livery sale and feed stables" and Goolrick's Pharmacy.
Getting back to the notion that nothing ever really changes, here's my favorite item from the senior class's last will and testament.
"To Mrs. Blake, we do will and bequeath 1) One yard of sticking plaster to keep Edith Janney's mouth shut and 2) One dozen bottles of "Neroine" to build up her frayed nerves after the class of '21 has contaminated her study hall for four years."
Sounds like the study halls where I drove teachers nuts--long
Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com
