Was the speech about fossils? . . . dinosaurs? . . . evolution? Was it controversial?
Grandma graduated well after the publication of the Origin of the Species (1859), but well before the Scopes Trial (1925). If the speech was about evolution, how did she frame it?
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, April 20, 1913: Went to Sunday School this afternoon.
Raymond Swartz
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Three more days until graduation! Since Grandma didn’t write much a hundred years ago today, I’m going to continue to dive deeper into the information provided by her commencement ceremony program.
Six students, including my grandparents—Helena Muffly and Raymond Swartz— graduated from McEwensville High School in 1913. Both spoke at the commencement.
The title of Grandpa’s speech was Motion Pictures as an Educational Factor.
This was the era of silent films and lots of melodrama. When I researched this topic, I was surprised to learn that in 1913 many people thought that movies were a bad influence on young people.
According to Laura Wittern-Keller in her dissertation:
Movies with themes that challenged traditional values, shown in the dark to a mixed audience with larger-than-life figures, spawned a “moral panic.”
Hmm–Grandpa spoke on a controversial topic. He apparently took the side that his high school class mates would have approved of—but that their parents might have objected to.
How did Grandpa build his argument that movies were educational? . . . Maybe he argued that they enabled people in rural Pennsylvania to see “see the world” . . . or that some of the movies were about historic events. . . or that they were works of art. . .or . . . .
In my imagination, I picture his classmates giving him a standing ovation, while their elders tried to frown but their lips turned up in slight smiles of approval.
This diary entry raises more questions than answers for me.
Today we seldom see $2 bills—and they often seem special when we get one. Were they also unusual a hundred years ago—or were they readily available?
Why did Grandma say the gift was from her mother instead of from her parents? Why is her father so seldom mentioned in the diary? He was a farmer—and it seems like he should have been mentioned more often than he was.
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Thursday, April 17, 1913: Our exams are now entirely over. I think I passed. No more examinations at school to bother me.
Hundred-year-old textbooks ready to be returned to the library
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Yeah!—Grandma, it’s awesome that you’ve completed the final hurdle before graduation. You’re awesome!
But I’m feeling a little sad. I enjoyed reliving your high school years with you—the drama, the joys and the defeats. It was fun imagining you walking to school each morning; and I loved skimming hundred-year-old textbooks in search of perfect quotes to illustrate diary entries—but those days are now behind me.
I’m looking forward to learning more about your life after graduation, but I’ll miss your school days!
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Wednesday, April 16, 1913: We had three today. Think I passed all three of them. Was trying to work some problems this evening, but got stuck on some of them.
Recent photo of the building that once housed the McEwenvsille School.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Grandma –It’s a good sign when you feel confident that you passed the final exams. I bet you did well on them.
In the evening, were you trying to work problems that had been on the exam to see if you got the right answer? . . . or were you doing problems to study for one of the upcoming tests?
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, April 14, 1913: Nothing very much a doing.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Since Grandma didn’t write much a hundred years ago today, I’ll share two charming house plans that I found in the April, 1913 issue of Ladies Home Journal.
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, April 13, 1913: Went to Sunday School this morning. Took dinner with Carrie.
Source: Ladies Home Journal (July, 1911)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Which meal did Grandma eat with her friend, Carrie Stout?
I’m almost sure that it was the noon meal—but today it seems like most people are refer to the evening meal as dinner.
When I was a child growing up we always called the mid-day meal dinner. But, I’m never sure if other people understand what I mean when I say dinner–so my family eats breakfast, lunch and supper.
