A New Year
I don’t know why, but with the beginning of every new year I start thinking about high school graduations. Many young people will be completing their high school careers in May and it gives me pause for thought: “How things have changed,” I tell myself. Especially from the earliest days of Clinton High School when, in 1875, there was only one graduate: Peyton Parks. He would become a lawyer and be the first of what will eventually be thousands of people to finish their high school education here in town. It was not until 1879 that eight young folks graduated and it was considered a “class.” [And is usually considered the first graduating class.] Yet, it was not until 1897 that it officially became a four-year high school and it was at that time when it was accredited by the state.
One-hundred years ago, at the May 1923 graduation, a total of 1,070 students had graduated from CHS. There were 58 graduates in the class of 1924 and that year would be the fiftieth commencement as well. Some things have changed concerning a students scholastic experiences since then, not all of them good. But, in case you are wondering: the class flower was a violet, their colors purple and lavender, and their class motto was: “With ropes of the past we will ring bells of the future.”
Many of the things about the class were published about the 1924 class which we would not consider publishing today. For instance, the shortest girl in the class was Bonnie M. White and she was 4 feet 10 inches tall. The shortest boy was Robert Allen and he was 5 foot 4. He was also the youngest. The youngest girl was Hallie Henry, but she was also the tallest at 5 feet 10 inches.
Of those 58 graduates, only 19 were actually born in Clinton: 37 of them were born in Henry County and 50 of the 58 were born in Missouri. The remaining eight were born in California, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Texas and Oklahoma. Being 1924, and a time for progressive attitudes among young women (think “flappers”), it was pointed out that eight of the graduating girls had not bobbed their hair: and then the article lists those eight girls leaving everyone to go down the class roster and determine which girls had.
Individual characteristics and attitudes were pointed out: Robert Allen, apparently, learned “what few boys know: how to listen and follow directions.” Nellie Kinyon was gifted in both art and music, and Ellen Cameron was an “excellent student, but very quiet.” Apparently, Edwin Risk attended more schools that any of the other graduates, and had at one time won $10 from the Kansas City Star for a contest on the Constitution. Glen Sigler was already showing his aptitude for business and was president of the debate club. Billie Price was the most popular musician in the High School. All the students had something written about them – some quirky, some not.
So, here it is 2023 and another graduating class. 100 years have gone by. A new car was $265, a gallon of milk was 54 cents and a loaf of bread was 9 cents. Stamps were 2 cents. Sirloin steak was 40 cents a pound and bacon 37 cents; eggs were 47 cents per dozen – if you even had to buy them around here. The world has changed in many ways. Yet, another generation will be making its way into the world soon – no matter the cost of eggs.
