I am an American (1916)

I am an American.

My father belongs to the Sons of the Revolution;

My mother, to the Colonial Dames.

One of my ancestors pitched tea overboard in Boston Harbor;

Another stood his ground with Warren;

Another hungered with Washington at Valley Forge.

My forefathers were America in the making:

They spoke in her council halls;

They died on her battlefields;

They commanded her ships;

They cleared her forests.

Dawns reddened and paled.

Stanch hearts of mine beat fast at each new star

In the nation's flag.

 Keen eyes of mine foresaw her greater glory:

The sweep of her seas,

The plenty of her plains,

The man-hives in her billion-wired cities.

Every drop of blood in me holds a heritage of patriotism.

I am proud of my past. I am an American.
 

I am an American.
My father was an atom of dust,
My mother a straw in the wind,
To his serene majesty.
One of my ancestors died in the mines of Siberia;
Another was crippled for life by twenty blows of the knout;
Another was killed defending his home during the massacres.
The history of my ancestors is a trail of blood
To the palace gate of the Great White Czar.
But then the dream came
The dream of America.
In the light of the Liberty torch
The atom of dust became a man
And the straw in the wind became a woman
For the first time.
"See," said my father, pointing to the flag that fluttered near,
"That flag of stars and stripes is yours;
It is the emblem of the promised land,
It means, my son, the hope of humanity.
Live for it—die for it!"
Under the open sky of my new country I swore to do so;
And every drop of blood in me will keep that vow.
I am proud of my future.
I am an American.

Message to the students of Thomas Jefferson High School
January 1929, the first graduating class. From the class yearbook.

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 worthwhile. 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

From the June 1932 Yearbook

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

From the June 1930 Yearbook

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

Dear Graduates,

One after another, the lights of civilization, as someone said recently, are going out and a confusing murkiness obligates us to seek a citadel into which we may retreat.

During the dark ages, culture and civilization, belles lettres and the fine arts survived through the influence of the church. In monasteries, citadels of enlightenment, manuscripts were gathered and lovingly preserved. The process of learning within those sheltering walls went on steadily without interruption.

Where shall we retreat as the enemies of civilization press harder and harder? What eternal values must we preserve and how? The penalty for failure is complete chaos.

To begin with, we must continue to keep our country safe from the inroads of totalitarian practices, be they communist, nazi or fascist. We must work with citizens of every race, color and creed to protect the freedom granted us in our constitution. The enemy without may be recognized easily. It is much more difficult to identify the enemy within. Generally speaking, the person who incites race against race, creed against creed, nation against nation, class against class may justly be suspected of treachery to our democratic institutions. Our first citadel, therefore, is our country, a free democracy, by the Grace of God, under a constitution that has survived over one hundred and fifty years.

Our next citadel is the moral sanction which comes from the noblest teachings of the prophets and sages of all times. Every religion known to man, unlike the Neo-Paganism of Nazi Germany, is based upon a code of ethics, which in turn rests upon the Golden Rule. More than ever, because the world is so disturbed, we should try to practice neighborliness, kindliness and justice. Perhaps one day, we shall wake into a better world. In the meantime, let us without flinching hold the citadels of democracy and morality.

Sincerely yours,

Elias Lieberman