The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-31
1872 HIGH SCHOOL
 CLASS GRADUATES Diplomas Presented to the
 Graduates Last Night DR. PETRIE SPEAKS
Auburn Professor Delivers Commence ment Address to Class of 115 Graduates-An Artistic Pro-
 gramme Carried Out

years ago-a diploma of gradua ton from the Birmingham High school. The programme last night concluded the week of commencement exercises of the city high schools.
 The graduating class of the high school met yesterday morning at 9:15 o'clock in the auditorium of the high school building and delivered the an nual papers Many of the papers showed exceptional ability and were well received by a large crowd of friends of the graduates.
 The programme last night began with music by the high school orchestra, followed by the invocation by the Rev. A. J. Dickinson. T. D. Cole. who was to have sung a baritone solo, was un- able to attend. and Miss Kathryn Fierce took his place with piano solo. Principal C. A. Brown then introduced Prof George Petrie, dean of the depart ment of history at Auburn, who dellv cred the annual address to the gradu- ating class Dr. Petrie Is very pleas ing speaker and although the hall was packed to the doors. many of the peo- pie standing in the corridors, his re- marks were listened to attentively. He said In part:
 Dr. Petrie Speaks
 "On such a peaceful and happy oc- casion as this 1t is hard to believe that we are living in the midst of a revolu- tion. I do not mean a religious one or a political one. mean a revolu- tion in education. It has been a quiet revolution; the changes have been made so quietly and peacefully that we do not realize their magnitude unless we stop and consider them carefully. If Julius Caesar were to return to life today he would. of course. be aston ished at the railways and telegraph lines and our wonderful mechanical de- vices. But I believe the thing that would strike him as most different from all that was familiar to him would be our tremendous educational system.
 This system is strictly a modern idea. Not only did the Greeks and Romans have nothing like it. but in its present form and extent 1t Is not as old as the youngest member of your graduating class. Your mothers and fathers will tell you that education has cndnged greatly since tne udyS or w ep- ster's Blue Back speller, when all the schools scientific apparatus consisted of a few slates and hickory switch. Today the tremendous changes are talk ing place, not only in the school build ings and their equipment but also In our ideas about education. We are liv- ing in the dawn of a new era and wish now to speak of some features of this new education which we can all ready discern as they assume more definite shape before our very eyes. Education Important
 "rhe first point about the new educa- ton is its importance. To my mind the most striking thing about education Is the importance we have come to attach to it. This is new thing in Alabama, for ex- ample, 1t was comparatively a small af- fair half a century ago. We had few colleges some private schools in our cities. few here and there in the country and practically no public schools at all. Today we are putting a schoolhouse and free education within the reach of every boy and girl in our state, and are plan ming to make the instruction suit their needs so perfectly that all of them will come and get it. More and more our people, old and young. are coming to believe in education and to believe In 1t strongly enough to make sacrifices for it.
 There was time when 1t was com mon thing to hear business men scoff at education as an idle accomplishment of little real value in practical life, but they don't talk that way today. In every line of business the trained men are showing more and more the value of good well chosen education. They are building our railroads and running our steam and electric plants. They are de- veoping our unused waterpower and re- organizing our great businesses because they understand the sciences In which they rest. They are improving our farms because they are discovering the secrets of nature. They are putting journalism upon a higher plane because they have learned to think of politics as the science of government and not as mere per sonal feud. Tn these ways and in hun dred others educated men are today everywhere showing the values of their training"
 Everyone Should Be Educated
 Dr. Petrie spoke at some length on the idea that everybody ought to be edu- cated." He told of how women should be given the same claim to an education as men. He said none were too old or too young to be educated. He told of the kindergartens and child work Gradually U or womans education 5> >ould never stop; that after college the lucaton should be continued and kept dlS in systematic and business-like way" he said. Cato was proud of the fact that as he grew old he learned something new every day Modern education is also adapted to everybody. The modern conception of ed ucation has not only upset the old theory as to who should be educated, but has also raised the question as to what It should be expected to do for them.
 Another article in OFT new educational creed Is that education is a matter that involves the whole community. We are dependent upon one another after all. The new creed puts us in touch with one an other. It leads us to understand and sympathize with each other. It must train us not only in the sciences of art on which our business directly rests but also in what I might call social science-the art in which the heart is trained as well as the mind If our new education would really fit us for life. it must develop in us an understanding broad enough to grasp the standpoint of other men and q heart broad enough to feel an interest in their cares and sorrows and spirit manly enough to lend helping hand. Unless we insist on this point, I do not know what is to become of our nation
 At the conclusion of the address Mrs Aileen Cotton Stephenson rendered a beautiful soprano solo. Principal Brown then distributed the diplomas to the large class After conferring the diplomas a reception to the graduates was held in the gymnasium. The list of graduates this year Is as follows:
 The Graduates