By Gail Van Wettering Lund '63,Contributing Editor

July, 2007

(Click on the picture to see a full size version)

Chapter I - Introduction and Invitation to All Trumpet Readers

Little did I expect that a casual mention to Werner Feldhaeusser about my having an old copy of a 1930-something class picture would end up with my being asked to do a project! 

As it happened, he had a CD with many scanned pages of a 1932-1933 THS yearbook, and thought those pages and my 1934 class picture would make good source material for a Trumpet project.  I concurred, so he sent me a copy of the CD, and the 1930s Project was born. 

For me, it all started when I was sorting through my late mother's memorabilia a number of years ago and came across a reproduction of a THS class picture from the 1930s that had been published in the now defunct New York Daily Mirror newspaper. Upon examining the picture, I saw my mother, Rose Relay (THS '34), peeking out from behind the second row with a somewhat mischievous look on her face. This surprised me. Not that she hadn't been fun-loving at times, mind you, but I remember her more as a serious, efficient, take-charge type of person. Certainly not mischievous. But there she was, peeking out, the fact confirmed by the list of names at the bottom of the picture. (If you click on and enlarge the picture above and count 5 students from the left side of the first row, then up one row, you can see her head between the 5th and 6th students in the second row.) 

Looking back, I now believe that the seriousness with which she approached life as an adult was due in part to her having come of age during the Great Depression of the 1930s. 

Reviewing the photos and articles in the 1932-33 yearbook and knowing that the students were in the midst of the Great Depression at the time made me feel very proud of what our forebears had accomplished in their lives. They certainly set good examples for us to follow, and their virtues were many. 

This is the first of many chapters as we look back at the THS students of the 1930s. 

Note: The class photo (Class of 1934, apparently) posted above is from the 1932-33 yearbook, but it is the same as the printed copy I have except for the title and the names of the students that are listed on my copy. I was unable to scan my copy and get all the names to fit on the image, so I've posted the photo from the yearbook instead. I've listed the names on a separate page in the same order they were listed on the newspaper picture, starting from bottom row left. Click here or below for the list of names. 

Now, for the invitation:  I invite everyone to examine the class picture and the names list and let me know if you are related to and/or can identify anyone in this class. If so, and you would be willing to share information, I would be happy to post the information and/or do a profile of that person as part of the 1930s Project.

Please email me with any information, photos, memories, suggestions, or questions you may have.  I look forward to hearing from you!  

Stay tuned for Chapter 2....

1934 Class Photo - List of Names