Norwalk High School Class of 1907 Front Row: Ruth Jenkins, Irene Eline, Irene Bragdon, Myrtle Woodruff. Second Row: Lillian Smith, Eugene Bloxham, Arthur Young, Carrie Spurrier, Harriott Wickham, Robert Venus, Ruby Hoyt. Third Row: Sarah Barnett, Fred Osborne, Nina Humiston, Earl Sinclair, Florence Davidson, Inez Adams, Stephen Young, Fred French. Fourth Row: Homer Beattie, Florence Bascom, Alice McCammon, Sheldon Laning, Edna West, Harry Holiday, Cleo Collins. [1]
After an evening of orations, essays, and music, the Norwalk High School Class of 1907 settled down for remarks by Superintendent A. D. Beechy. who gave “sound and wholesome advice concerning the members future.” I am sure the class took his words to heart.
Arthur Young
At the conclusion of his remarks, before introducing school board President J. R. McKnight, Superintendent Beechy called Arthur Young to the stage, and announced that as the most accomplished member of the class academically, Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware and Buchtel College in Akron, were offering him free scholarships to their schools. If he did not accept either of them, they would be awarded to the class member with the next highest record of academic achievement, and so on down the list.
Irene Bragdon
Did Arthur Young accept one of these scholarships? Apparently not. He attended Western Reserve University – in 1909, he was awarded the First Sophomore Oratorical Prize at that institution. [2] So who did get these scholarships? As we saw in a previous post, Irene Bragdon was second in grades. [3] But after graduation, she went straight into teaching at a district school, and spent her entire life as an educator in Norwalk, never attending college. [4]
Someone must have taken those scholarships. I just don’t know who – yet.
After announcing the scholarships, Superintendent Beechy introduced President McKnight, who read a brief address, and presented diplomas to the graduates, sending them out to “join those who are fighting life’s battles,” as The Norwalk Evening Herald phrased it. [5]
How did the Class of 1907 fare in life’s battles? From my research, I’d say pretty well. Most had successful careers. Many married well. Relatively few stayed in Norwalk.
That’s it for the last year of schooling for the Norwalk High School Class of 1907. It was a busy June. I’ll take a short break, and next month continue with a series of biographies describing the lives of these graduates, beginning with the class president, Arthur Young.
Footnotes:
[1] As I explained in my June 3, 2017 post Mystery Girl, missing from this photo is Gertrude Ryerson.
[2] Western Reserve University 1911 Yearbook, page 126, 1911.
[3] Firelands History Website post, Commencement Speakers – Best Grades in Regular Work, June 17, 1917.
[4] According to the Norwalk, Ohio City Directory (page 12; Publisher: The Williams Directory Company, 1900-10), in 1909, Irene E Bragdon was a teacher living at 23 Park with her mother, Sarah A Bragdon, a widow of Francis A Bragdon. Subsequent census records show the same up through 1930. I have not found any record of her death.
[5] Descriptions of the Norwalk High School Class of 1907 commencement program are from “Forty Seventh Annual,” The Norwalk Daily Reflector, June 13, 1907, page 1, column 3; “School Life is Ended,” The Norwalk Daily Reflector, June 15, 1907, page 1-2, column 6; and “Get Their Diplomas,” The Norwalk Evening Herald, pages 1,4.
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This post first appeared on Firelands History Website | "Sufferers' Land" Tale, please read the originial post: here
