Russell High School's 25-member Class of 1932 was launched officially on the evening of Thursday, May 19, during commencement exercises that began at 8 p.m.
The class roster contains many familiar names --- and a few that aren't: Neal Pierce, Dean Wells, Hazel Price, Argie Risbeck, Nita R. Ashba, Dorn Andrews, Mabeth Jeffries, Clell Thompson, Ruth E. Bower, Glen Duckworth, Mary J. Clanin, Lynn Thompson, Ruth M. Roach, Maxine L. Bond, H. Lenore Goltry, Dorothy B. Davis, Roena M. Havner, Glenn L. LaFavre, Mildred E. Simms, Thelma Mae Gilbert, Phyllis Ann Buzard, Dorothy M. Linville, Harriet A. Swanson, Margaret E. McKinley and Dorothy E. Baughman.
The class motto was, "Honor waits at labor's gates"; the class colors, green and lavender; and the class flower, sweet pea.
Please note that the invitations that had been distributed to friends and family a few weeks earlier bore the image of an airplane --- perhaps an example of the latest technology being used to represent the aspirations of the graduates.
What the Class of 1932 could not have known when choosing the format for these invitations was that the morning after their graduation, on May 20, 1932, 34-year-old Amelia Earhart would set off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland in a single engine Lockheed Vega 5B.
Fourteen hours and 56 minutes later, after contending with strong winds, ice and mechanical problems, she would land in a pasture at Culmore, north of Derry, Northern Ireland --- the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic.
I'm guessing that when members of the Class of 1932 heard the news on Saturday at least a few of them said, "Well, we got that one right, didn't we?"
The invitation is from the Lucas County Historical Society collection.
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