100 years ago, on a June, day, the 17 members of the Williamsburg High School Class of 1924 were graduating. They were ready. As Charles Watling, the class president said in his Class Exercises welcome: “The Education which we have acquired here will be part of our equipment for conquering the obstacles which will confront us in the future.”
The members of the senior class, Richard Breckenridge, Mary Burke, Millie Dansereau, Donna Emrick, Fredrick Field, Alice Graves, Alma Graves, Eleanor Mansfield, Flora Manwell, Francis Manwell, Edward Schuler, Ruth Smart, Lucy Smith, Daisy Waite, Ruth Waite, Charles Watling, and Wenonah Webb were devoted to their school and to their classmates. As Watling said: “We know that we shall never regret the hours spent in faithful work or kindly service”.
When the class of 1924 arrived 4 years earlier, they were the largest class in the high school. The seniors had a school year full of extracurricular activities and events. They gave the October Halloween costume party for the school, and in May the Junior/Senior reception was given in honor of the Class of 1924. In between there was baseball and basketball, music, creative writing, debate, more dances, dramatic presentations, and the creation of an orchestra. The 1923-24 school year saw the first school newspaper, and of course the yearbook.
The 1924 “Tattler” yearbook was only the second volume. It was “…gratefully dedicated to Mrs. Helen E. James in appreciation of all that she has done for the Williamsburg School and Community”. The editors, 6 of whom were in the class of 1924, felt that the publication of a yearbook had passed the experimental stage and become a custom, so they put out “a much larger and … much better annual than has ever before been attempted …”. The “Tattler” had a long life and served every class until 1971, when the last Burgy High class graduated.
You can come into Meekins and look at every Burgy High yearbook, preserved in the Local History Collection. There are surprises in every issue. Too hot to venture out? Browse copies of the “Tattler” online via the Meekins website.
Take a look and see all the students who were in Burgy High in 1924. Enjoy visiting with every graduating class through 1971 and reading about their activities, as reported in the “Tattler” over the years.
Congratulations to all 2024 Graduates! Daria D’Arienzo, Meekins Archivist. #throwbackthursday; #tbt
Posted to Facebook 6/20/2024
