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Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.
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Morning Star, May 13, 2012, pg. 10 Every year at this time we feature the Albion High School class of 100 years ago. The class of 1912 was the second highest class of AHS at the time, with forty-eight members. It was the thirty-fifth class of AHS. Around twenty were boys, and twenty-eight were girls. The class motto in Latin was "Ne Tentes Aut Perfice," which although looks on the surface to mean "No Tent is Perfect," actually means "Either do not attempt, or either accomplish." The class Valdictorian was Charles M. Huffer, son of the local Presbyterian minister at the time. Salutatorian was Esther Barney. Class president was Charles R. Gildart. The commencement ceremony was held on Thursday June 6, 1912 at the Methodist Episcopal Church on E. Erie St., customary of the times. The speaker was Rabbi Leo M. Franklin of Detroit. His address was entitled "Living by Bread Alone and Living." The members of the Albion High School Class of 1912 were as follows: Ernest Aldrich, Frieda Arndt, May Baader, Esther Barney, Forrest Barr, Elsie Bishop, Helen Bliss, Clare Broxholm, Fern Broxholm, Winfred Burnett, Adah Cool, Nancy Culver, May Darrow, Lola Darrow, Mildred Davis, Elizabeth Deyoe, Earl Dupark, Sherman Ford, Leonard Fox, Ruth Franklin, Asen Gregoroff, Helen Gregory, Doris Hafford, Herbert Hart, Charles Huffer, Ethel King, Creighton Lane, Max Linn, Henry Manning, Blanche McCarty, Agnes Merritt, Stephen Mollica, Reva Morgan, Carson Noakes, Irma Nobles, Harry Osborn, Violet Rager, Orus Richardson, Eva Scott, George Slade, Fred Stem, James Thomson, Rush Thrasher, Arthur Tuchtenhagen, Milton Young, Earl Worthington. Looking at this list of names, I notice that several of the young men in the class eventually entered World War I several years later. A few other observations: Max Linn was a long-time employee of the Albion Malleable Iron Company. Arthur Tuchtenhagen was a local optician. Charles Gildart had a distinguished military career, serving in both World Wars, and in Korea. He retired as a Colonel. Carson Noakes was an area farmer and mail carrier. In my Albion History Archives I only have a copy of the graduation program for the AHS Class of 1912. In lieu of any class photograph, from our Historical Notebook this week we present a postcard of how Albion High School looked back then. See the small wing on the left? That's the only part of this complex still standing today at the Washington Gardner High School building. It is the old band room behind the auditorium. The top floor was removed in 1928 when WGHS was erected. How many of our readers knew any of the members of the Class of 1912?  Albion High School, circa 1912 Next: ALBION "COPPERHEADS" SYMPATHIZED WITH THE SOUTH DURING THE CIVIL WAR All text copyright, 2026 © all rights reserved Frank Passic | Artwork copyright Maggie LaNoue © 2026
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