Commencement Exercises in 1910

A historic graduation announcement proclaims, “The Class of 1910 of the Saratoga High School requests your presence at the Commencement Exercises to be held at Jensen Hall Thursday evening, May 19 at eight o’clock.” 

The gold embossed card continued, “Baccalaureate Sermon at Presbyterian Church, Sunday evening May 15th at eight o’clock.”

The class motto of the nine graduates was, “To him that o’re cometh, God giveth a crown.”

The printed four-page program is neatly tied to the cover with a blue and gold cord, representing the class colors of “blue and old gold.”

Listed in the program is the invocation, renditions of “Ehren on the Rhine” and “Twilight” by a trio, Salutatory and Valedictory addresses, presentation of “Just a Bit of Cloth, But It’s Red, White and Blue” by school choir, two orations “Launching Our Ships” and “Kipling,” piano solo, a contralto solo entitled “Roses,” the address entitled “How Shall We Educate Our Boys and Girls,” class prophecy and presentation of diplomas.

1910 class prophecy

With clean, crisp, precise, flowing penmanship taught in schools at the time, Anna V. Doggett writes the prophecy of her graduating class. Around 15 years in the future she discovered the following.

One night during my slumbers, ‘Old Father Time’ appeared to me and told me he would let me step ahead with him a goodly number of years. Then he suddenly disappeared and I found myself a worn out old maid school ma’am seeking another position. 

I was finally offered a position as traveling saleswomen for a large manufacturing company to sell facial cosmetics, false hair, fancy toilet soaps and perfumery.

I had always wanted to travel and as I was tired of teaching I accepted the position. It was 15 years since I had seen my old school-friends whom I had left at the time of my going to college. I was in hope that I would meet some of them in my travels. I was not to be disappointed for I met them all.

Florence had not married and operates an “Old Maids Matrimonial Club” in a small town in Kansas.

Anna H. is married and lives in Lincoln, Neb., in a pretty cottage with a beautiful lawn and garden and wants for nothing. She has twin boys.

Corinne resides in Tyndale, S.D. She played and sang for the illustrated songs in a 10-cent picture show. She had taught school for a number of years, but had taken up this work out of love for travel.

Alma is head matron of an orphan asylum in Anaconda, Minn. She had some child named after each one of her old school friends. Alma was also very fond of historical names. There was Napoleon, Nero, Portia, Cleopatra, Charlemagne, Caesar, Victoria and many other such names among them. She had attended college at Dennison, Iowa and then had taken up her life work of helping the poor.

Manford wanted to become a prized fighter, but had decided to become a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Bayhorse, Idaho.

Chas is principal and Latin teacher at a large school in Walcott. He is single and said he had been so taken up with his Latin that he had no time to think of matrimony.

Ruth was found to be an artist. She had always liked drawing, but had hardly expected to find her such a prominent women. Her three most important pictures hang in the art museum at Boston, Mass.

Nora, while attending college in Denver, fell in love with and married a widower with seven children and still resided in Denver. Her husband is 65 years old, sits by the stove smoking and suffers from rheumatism.

Concluding the eight-page handwritten prophecy, Anna D. wrote, “Just then, I awoke and found myself in dear old Saratoga, still a school girl.”