Decade of the `20s - Girls Preparatory School

Decade of the ’20s
O
n September 13, the opening day of the 1920-21 school year, students were faced with the daunting task
of finding seats, for there were many more students than in the past. Students hurried to claim the best desks and
most convenient hooks only to hear from Miss Duffy that they would be assigned these locations according to the
dates of their applications (and, of course, tuition payments). After she read the assignments, “Those of us who had
handed in our applications first thankfully placed our names upon the best seats and hooks, while less fortunate
ones took what was left.”
Decision Day occurred during the first week of school as the literary society
members --- the Pansophians and Thalians --- pounced upon new students
as they arrived at school. The group that first succeeded in pinning a flower
(white carnation for the Thalians and pink rose for the Pansophians) on a
newcomer claimed her as a member.
A happy beginning for the decade was the opening of the cafeteria/gym. In
each announcement of the opening of school for the next year during the
1920s, this declaration appeared: “Gymnasium and Out-of-Doors Exercises/
Building Well Lighted and Ventilated.” On days when the girls did not have gym or basketball, they walked an
hour—sometimes to Warner Park or the playground. A Hiking Club was founded to provide weekend exercise as
well.
The yearbooks indicate that students enjoyed the excellent food served in the attractive cafeteria. “Little Pearl,” a
favorite of the girls, had been part of the kitchen staff for several years. Miss Jarnagin told of Pearl’s asking if it were
“awful hard to educate girls.” When Miss Jarnagin asked why, Pearl responded, “Well I notices that when you gits
‘em out on the sidewalk to practice for May Day, they is about fifteen in the first year, but when the seniors come
out, they ain’t but six of ‘em.”
The streetcar remained the major means of transportation from the heart of town to the Palmetto campus. Miss
Whitaker noted, “Or if you lived virtually out in the country in Brainerd, you might travel out in a Model T Ford.”
During the 1920s enrollment grew to
132 students. Girls who failed a class or
dropped out of a class continued to be
termed “irregulars” and generally received
a certificate, not a diploma, at commencement. In 1925 all 23 received diplomas and
continued their studies in college.
When Mabelle Thompson entered GPS in
1927, she was the first second-generation student, her mother Sarah Holtzclaw Thompson having been a member
of the Class of 1909. She thus began the tradition of being termed a “granddaughter of GPS.”
May Louise Beckham, Mary Horner, Katherine Wright, Elizabeth Terrill, sisters Roxanna (later Lawwill) and Ulrica Whitaker, Mrs. John Clark, Grace Daniels, Mrs. R. L. Ramsey, Sarah Stansell, Ethel Childers, Mary Hannah
Tucker (the first teacher with a master’s degree), Rebecca Caroline Mathis, Isobel Griscom, and Mrs. William
Magill were part of the teaching faculty during these years. Misses Duffy and Jarnagin hosted faculty and seniors
at year-end May banquets in their GPS apartment with Miss Duffy serving as toastmistress.
Tuition was raised to one hundred fifty dollars in 1923 and to two hundred dollars with a ten dollar lab fee in
1925. When the founders opened GPS, they had formulated a catalog setting forth the classes, rules, and other
information about their school. Each year as they prepared for the next term, they added to the catalog, generally
published with a blue binding. Then in 1927 the entire catalog was blue, and the publication was called the Blue
Book. Through the years students have relied on this Blue Book, now part of the GPS web site with the information online, as the official record of school rules and activities.
The 1921 yearbook dedication was made to Rebecca Caroline Mathis, “our friend and teacher” while the 1923 Kaleidoscope was dedicated to Roxana Whitaker “who has taught us the true meaning of friendship and co-operation
between teacher and pupil.” The 1925 annual honored Elizabeth Terrill, “an inspiring teacher of mathematics,”
while the 1927 and 1928 yearbooks were dedicated to Sarah Stansell and Grace Daniels.
Katherine Spears Clark ’22 noted that most girls wore middy blouses and skirts to school during the early years
of this decade although a few appeared garbed in silks and satins. In 1924, however, a group of mothers proposed
the adoption of a uniform, and a mothers’ meeting was scheduled to discuss the matter. The vote in favor of the
proposed uniform was overwhelming; even mothers who could not attend sent in their votes of approval.
Thus, the uniform tradition began with one-piece linen dresses, each
with a large black bow, two pockets, pleats, and tucks. Varicolored
linen dresses would be worn in spring and fall with winter dresses of
midnight blue wool crepe. The uniform was worn with lisle or wool
hose and low brown heels. In 1929 it was determined that a winter
uniform might be of any solid color, while black and white shoes
might be worn in addition to the brown ones.
A local newspaper of 1929 included an article about the fad of
“young women appearing on the street without stockings or wearing anklets.” The matter was addressed in a GPS assembly, and the
older girls determined that they would continue to come to school
in their stockings.
The gym uniforms consisted of long stockings, tennis shoes, “voluminous bloomers, and dirty middy blouses.” The girls kept these
uniforms in blue bags inscribed with “G.P.S.” in black letters; these
bags were hung in the hall on hooks under coats. Evidently the
narrow halls and gym bags made passage quite challenging.
An assembly opened each day, complete with the recitation of Bible verses and a prayer. Sarah Houston Baker ’29
said that she had never forgotten the passages and prayers that Miss Jarnigan required the entire group to memorize. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, the day ended at 3:20 p.m. after an assembly in the study hall with
Dorothy Orton, music director, leading some hymns followed by “fun” songs.
Seventh graders were “initiated” by appearances before the seniors’ Sacred Council and Supreme Court; many
cases were “tried” before this group with a senior judge presiding. When the trials ended, the accusers and accused
joined in the joy of balloons and refreshments. The initiation of new students had long been called “Rat Week”;
seniors came to be called “cats” to match the “rats” designation already given to seventh graders.
Seniors began a tradition of “Baby Day,” a spring day when they came to school attired in infant or “little girl” wear.
The 1927 Kaleidoscope noted that the seniors were clad in frocks with “bloomers to match (for which everyone
should have been grateful, for, otherwise, we are afraid that someone might have been shocked at the brevity of our
dresses).” The Class of 1928, however, went against this tradition and on the assigned “Baby Day” came to school
dressed in civilian clothes. “Instead of losing our dignity, we seniors decided to add beauty to it.”
May Day typically was held in Jackson Park with the entire student body dancing in
flower costumes made by mothers or dressmakers.
Drama was quite important during this decade. The Glee Club became noted for its
operettas; in 1925, for instance, The Crimson Eyebrows was presented by a cast of
nine at the Little Theatre, and Cinderella, directed by Grace Divine, was an especially
popular operetta. Each class was responsible for a play, typically held in the GPS
study hall, and a major production was given by the Kaleidoscope staff. A newspaper
account of the staff ’s 1925 production, A Lost Bet Won, presented at the courthouse,
stated, “A large audience witnessed the production which represented weeks of work
on the part of the participants.”
GPS students supported the Red Cross during these years. Encouraged to raise the
money by their own efforts, some girls had their individual projects. A few, for instance, were paid for taking the
place of a sick janitor for two days. Notes from these years indicated that the girls played “Dare,” watched a circus parade
in September, enjoyed a 2:30 Friday dismissal time, shopped at the Annual Board
store, and experienced the combining of the two literary societies into the “PanThalian Literary Society” which presented programs every other Friday. This society
included every girl in school, and each student participated in a program once during
the school year to gain practice in public speaking. A Debating Club was organized
“to give drill in prepared and impromptu debates and familiarity with important current topics.”
Margaret Wheland Cate ’49 has recounted some of the memories of her mother,
Martha West Stewart Wheland ’26. One involved the “Shifter’s Club.” It seems that
an upperclassman in need of quick money formed this “organization” and charged a
one-dollar membership “fee”; in return, the new member received a safety pin! Then
someone made the mistake of asking Miss Duffy to become a member; that day in chapel Miss Duffy called an after-school meeting of
the Shifter’s Club—they met several days . . . after school. Mrs. Wheland also remembered instruction in penmanship, taught weekly by
“Uncle Dudley” Wiley.
The founders’ tradition of giving wedding and baby remembrances
to graduates began in this decade. Until their retirement Miss Duffy
and Miss Jarnagin sent each bride a silver cheese plate with her initials engraved on the back and celebrated the birth of the first child of
an alumna with the gift of a silver baby spoon.
Bringing sadness to these years were the losses of Evelyn Carter
’27, who died in May 1927, and Mary Jane Edwards ’31, who
died in December 1927. In fact, the death of Evelyn, a senior
and victim of influenza, brought about a rescheduling of both
Class Day and Commencement.