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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, June 5, 2022, pg. 4 Each year at this time we feature the Albion High School class from 100 years ago. The Class of 1922 consisted of 56 persons. The class valedictorian was Pauline Torrey, while the salutatorian was Frank Sanders. The class president was Sherwood Brown; vice-president was Virginia Taylor. Secretary was Edward Nass, with Victor Nagle as treasurer. The class motto was "Loyalty Brings Victory." The class gift was the copper cornerstone box and various contents that were placed in the cornerstone of the new high school addition being erected. Read the May 8, 2022 edition of this column for the details about that. In looking through the list of graduates, some names I recognized were Robert Pierson (1903-1987) who operated a neighborhood grocery store at 711 W. Cass St. for many years, and was a leader in our local black community. Another person, Leslie Engstrom (1904-1982) became a professor at Albion College, and also served on the Albion City Council. Harold Schumacher (1904-1999) was the manager of the Michigan Retail Hardware Association for many years. The 45th Commencement exercises of Albion High School were held on the evening of Friday, June 10, 1922 at the Methodist Episcopal Church on E. Erie St. in downtown Albion. The exercises were moderated by principal William F. Head. Special speaker for the evening was A. P. Johnson, editor of the Grand Rapids News, who spoke to the class on the subject "Where do I go from here?" Johnson noted that during his trip to Albion that day he passed through five electrical storms, saw two interurban street cars struck by lightning, had himself avoided an automobile collision, and found when he arrived that he had taken the wrong traveling bag by mistake. The diplomas were handed out by Superintendent Donald Harrington. The graduates of the AHS Class of 1922 were: Clinton Austin, Lottie Bachelor, Mary Bascom, Kenneth Bassett, Bernice Boldt, Sherwood Brown, Dorothy Callahan, Roscoe Conklin, Rupert Cortright, Clarence Cuatt, Berneace Deyoe, Hume Dice, Ollene Emerson, Leslie Engstrom, Horace Farley, Helen Gage, Robert Garfield, Helen Glatzel, Dorothy Greenman, Charles Haggit, Carl Hobus, Christine Holt, Willard Holtz, Hoyt Howell, Josephine Lemons, Audrey Logan, Elizabeth Lohrke, Margaret Lohrke, Marian Longworth. Lucille Marsh, Floyd Marvin, Delerous Merritt, Ronald Myers, Victor Nagle, Clara O’Dell, Roy Oliver, Horace O’Melay, Dorothy Orrison, Harry Pattison, Thelma Patton, Robert Pierson, Alberta Pritchard, Margaret Rachor, Vera Ray, Margaret Robinson, Clyde Rowan, Frank Sanders, Harold Schumacher, Marian Spencer, Effa Stevens, Virginia Taylor, Pauline Torrey, Naomi Townley, Leslie Vanderveer, Cecil Waldo, June Wales, William Warner, Beatrice Watson, Dorothy Yost. From our Historical Notebook this week we present an artist’s conception of the new High School addition that was being built at the time, in which the Class of 1922 presented its copper cornerstone box as a class gift to the community. How many of our readers went to Washington Gardner High School in Albion?  1922 Artist’s conception of the new High School addition
All text copyright, 2026 © all rights reserved Frank Passic | Artwork copyright Maggie LaNoue © 2026
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