January 1929 |
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Dear Graduates:
You are the first class in the history of Thomas Jefferson to
be graduated in the morning. By noon of Thursday, January 31,
1929, the words will have been pronounced that terminate your
formal connection with Thomas Jefferson and send you out into
the world as graduates. The morning ceremonial is symbolic of
your careers and a good omen. You, too, are in the morning of
your lives. You are nearer the rising sun than the setting
sun. But the day's end will arrive, inexorably enough, and it
will come all too soon. In the meantime, you and I will
continue to be fascinated by the glorious adventure known as
"life."
What are the things that matter in life? Even great
sages are not in complete agreement. Let me put down for your
consideration what I regard as worth-while. These are the
things by which I set great store:
Faith in God and in the ever-ascending place of man in His
scheme.
The chance to do good on a small scale or on a large scale--a
justification for one's life in terms of some achievement for
humanity.
Culture, another word for efforts at complete adjustment with
the best thought and the finest contributions of man in the
arts, in literature, in science and in the difficult art of
human relations.
Abounding good health, a joy in living, the possession of a
machine that hits buoyantly on all cylinders and keeps going
until it must stop.
When the sun finally sets below the horizon for you and me,
may we meet the unknown with no regrets. Perhaps, to our
surprise it won't be night at all over there, but another more
beautiful day.
Yours sincerely,
Elias Lieberman |
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June 1930 |
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Dear Graduates:
The writing of a semi-annual message to our graduates reminds
me automatically of the inexorable flight of time. Four short
years ago you were freshmen. Now you are leaving us to enter
colleges and higher institutions as well as the world of
business and industry.
What has Jefferson done for you? What have you done for
Jefferson? Can you look back upon a career of usefulness to
your fellow-students and to your school? Do you now feel more
able than you previously did to face the vicissitudes of
living? Are you habitually clean and well-mannered? Is your
speech that of a cultured person? Have you succeeded in
developing such powers and talents as the good Lord has given
you? Are you, at least, on the road to self-realization and
self-adjustment? Think these questions over.
We have tried to make Jefferson a school with a soul. Our
self-government projects have been encouraged in order to
develop your initiative. Our intensive art and cultural
activities during and after school hours were intended to
prepare you for sweet and happy leisure after the day's toil.
Is the impress of Jefferson upon you?
With best wishes and pleasant memories,
Your friend and principal,
Elias Lieberman
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Principal Elias
Lieberman
Thomas Jefferson High School
Brooklyn, New York
1929
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June 1932 |
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Dear
Graduates:
As these lines are being penned, I am looking forward to the ninth
consecutive year of life for our beloved school, a school that has
tried its best to be for all of us an Alma Mater. Frankly I
wonder, in a changing world where economic pressure to such a great
extent dominates thought and life, what the influence of even a good
school can be. Does a high school tend to fade in one's mind as the
years go by, along with its teaching and it's teachers, its
comrades, its friends, its multiform activities in and out of the
classroom? Or, on the contrary, is there for the rest of life a
Jefferson stamp on those who have lived within our walls for four
years?
Running through my mind frequently is the thought that I should like
my boys and girls to have the privileges according to the sons and
daughters of the rich. In small private schools throughout the
country every student is regarded as an individual to be developed
according to his strength or weakness. Here, too, in spite of the
fact that we have such a large family, we have not forgotten that
each is a person distinct from others. Now you who read this and are
about to graduate, or have been graduated, can check up on your own
achievements. We want you all to speak well in the manner of refined
and educated men and women. We want you to know how to behave in
good society and to make a favorable impression on people whose
opinions count. We want you to be facing by this time toward your
life work, not merely to have an idea what it is to be but of the
obstacles that must be surmounted and the steps that must be taken.
Also we hope that some time during these happy high school years,
you have made a few lasting friendships that will pull you up and
not down, that will hearten you in the hour of temporary failure and
cheer your renewed effort. If the school has succeeded in helping
you reach these objectives, it has not worked in vain.
May success, arm in arm with happiness, meet you smiling as you get
your diploma and never leave you thereafter.
Your friend and principal,
Elias
Lieberman
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