Repeating a theme that characterised the entire decade of the 1930s, the class of 1933 found itself deep in the Great Depression. In every sense, people were having to simply make do. Yet in every way, the class of 1933, aided by a supportive community, and the tireless efforts of Charles and Gladys Saur, as well as the rest of the faculty, proved yet again that money isn't everything. Like most pre-TV classes, the students engaged in a wide range of hands on activities, and showed that scholarship is more a matter of effort, dedication, and organization, than it is of big budgets. There is no evidence from the class newspaper, the Godwin News, that in the spring of 1933 the students felt in any way deprived. Active sports programs, in which sophomore Harry Clark breaks a county mile record for example, shows that most activities survived the Great Depression just fine.
In 1933 there was still entertainment, like movies. Hollywood rose to the challenge of trying to help a weary nation take its mind off its problems at least once a week. In that era, about 85 million Americans saw a movie every week, about the same as the US population at the time. One movie of enduring popularity was King Kong, "the eight wonder of the world." And there were many parks in the area for summer entertainment.
In addition to everything else they did for the school, Charles and Gladys Saur often helped ensure that no one went hungry during the Depression, often paying for food for others out of their own pockets. As superintendent, Charles Saur made sure the teachers were paid, even if it meant taking the school deeply in to debt for a few years. The school board worked with him on this, and by 1936 the debts had been paid off again. Typical of the community and familty approach to education at the time, everyone pitched in as best they could.
As in all years between 1932 and 1936, there was no former class annual, because of the Great Depression. The May 19, 1933, issue of "Godwin News" was in effect the 1933 class annual.
The entire 1933 class annual, eight pages, is presented below. To view the pages, simply left click on the page numbers. Each page has been scanned at about 150% of its original size in order to make some of the details easier to see. You might have to move the image around in your browser in order to see it all. Be sure to make your browser full screen size for easier viewing.
Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of each page; comments and notes are included on some of the pages. Use the "Back" button on your browser to return to the main menu. People should consider contacting me if they have additional information, or comments.
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If anyone has any other photographs pertaining to the class of 1933 they'd like to see included here please contact me.
