Yearbooks during War Time

Among the personal effects of my Dad is his 1943 yearbook from Deering High School in Portland, Maine.  He was a freshman that year. Of course, this was the time of World War II. Besides studying the yearbook for its usual features and looking for references to my Dad, I was intrigued to find that the book that year was dedicated to the “Fighting Men” and its stated theme was “Portland at War”.

It is ironic that the name of Deering's yearbook is Amethyst as the spiritual meaning of the word is grounded-ness and tranquility when the world in 1943 was anything but calm.

“Suddenly in spring, 1940, war came to Portland, unofficially. We called it “National Defense” and prepared for the coming conflict. With the collapse of French resistance, all America awoke, and Portland stirred from sleep. In a few short months Portland built shipyards, machine shops, and dockyards. Thousands migrated from the farms, and the city swelled to bursting with defense workers.”

As you turn the pages, the story is told is small chapters carefully arranged between the individual and group photos. There are the Pathfinder mothers who meet to hear topics such as “Nursing as a Profession” or “Wartime and Education in a Word at War”. Many mothers are involved in Red Cross volunteer work and Civilian Defense activities. Many teachers entered the various branches of the Armed Forces.

On the field of friendly strife are sown the seeds that are on other fields and on other days will bring forth victory. 

                                        - General Douglas MacArthur 

Something that I did not realize about the nearest city to my birth, American destroyers, based in Portland, had been “waging war on U boats for many months before Pearl Harbor". I am amazed to be learning this information from a high school yearbook.

"Portland is doing its part in winning the war. On our streets we brush shoulders with the soldiers and sailors of all the United Nations. War-workers, fatigued, dinner pails under the arms, crowd the buses. Grim naval ships anchor among our fog shrouded islands."

And more thoughts expressed on the dedication page illicit grim images: “the sharp sophomore with the jazzy suspenders and bow tie who wrote you notes in study period is now on submarine patrol in the Atlantic. The shy senior who escorted you to your first junior prom was killed in action in Tunisia last month. Last year’s star basketball player is learning to dismantle a machine gun and use a bayonet at Parris Island.”

The stark reality of Deering's youth in 1943 was: Everywhere we turn we find Portland at war.

Source of the definition of Amethyst: https://meanings.crystalsandjewelry.com/amethyst/

Source of the American poster: https://unsplash.com/photos/o_ez64ErEbQ

Source: Deering High School. Amethyst, 1943. William Dodge, Ed.

Jack's School Days

As you know from an earlier post, Jack attended Morrill Day Nursery while his mother worked at the card shop in downtown Portland. He attended a few different elementary schools as the family moved a number of times. He attended West School in Portland for junior high then went on to Deering High School. He remembers walking three miles to school even in heavy snow as there were no school buses at the time. When asked what his favorite subjects were he replied:

Well, English and history were my worst but my best subjects were science, geography and math.  Those were always my best subjects and I went through school that way.

There were no organized sports in elementary school but he and his brother did participate in activities at the Portland Boys Club.  He played freshman football at Deering but soon after began working after school which ended up taking time away from school activities (more on Jack's early work days in another post). He also played tennis with his friends in his free time. Did you know that Jack's nickname in high school was Jackson? Take a look at his high school (1946) yearbook page:

While a junior in high school, Jack was offered an opportunity to attend the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine.  In 2007, he reflected on this experience as learning monotonous procedures such as cleaning your sink with a toothbrush or making your bed to utter perfection. It seems the training was heavy on routine at the expense of the normal high school life of attending classes and socializing freely.  In June of 1945, he received an honorable discharge as a midshipman from the academy and returned to Portland.

After graduating from high school, Jack enlisted into the Navy and began basic training in Bainbridge, Maryland in August 1946. His interest in science and math from his days of youth carried right into his choice of what he would end up studying in the Navy, and later in college. Upon initial entry into the Navy, he enrolled in Seabee School and studied in the electrician field later to work as a "construction electrician" at various posts in the Pacific and Alaska. Check out the little newspaper piece from Pauline's scrapbook:

The original Seabees formed the Construction Battalions (CBs) from World War II. The Seabees have been featured in a lot of popular culture including a John Wayne movie from 1944, and Ward Cleaver, the fictional father from Leave It To Beaver, was a Seabee. 
(Source for information and the Seabee emblem:  wikipedia.org)

When he got out of the service, he used the GI Bill to take courses at Portland Junior College and then enrolled at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) in a field that would lead to his career of life: photography.  The GI Bill was signed by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1944 and included generous provisions to fund education for returning servicemen. This bill had an enormous impact on American economic society in the 1950's.
(Source: http://www.loti.com/fifties_history/The_GI_Bill.html).

In this newspaper clipping (probably from the Westbrook American), Jack is being interviewed by the reporter on the street, again taken from Pauline's scrapbook:         
Click on images to expand them.

     Finally we see Jack's 1953 graduation book from RIT...