{"id":47378,"date":"2024-02-29T15:40:15","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T15:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=47378"},"modified":"2024-02-29T15:40:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T15:40:15","slug":"diploma-returns-to-former-high-school-class-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2024\/02\/29\/diploma-returns-to-former-high-school-class-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Diploma returns to former high school class space"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Ken Cleveland<\/em>
\nLandmark Correspondent<\/em><\/div>\n

HOLDEN \u2014 The late Mary Louise Allen kept her Holden High School diploma through several moves, including to Sterling and Leicester, before she returned to Holden.<\/p>\n

Kept tightly rolled up and tied with a ribbon from the time she received it on June 20, 1918, the treasured document was safeguarded until her granddaughter, June Desrosier, found it and brought it back to where Mary had studied all those years ago.<\/p>\n

Having been treated carefully by a conservator, the diploma now looks almost new, save for some fading that comes with more than a century of storage.<\/p>\n

Mary herself made it to the century mark, having passed in 2000, Desrosier said.<\/p>\n

The diploma reflects the June 20, 1918, graduation, which occurred while the world was engaged in a War to End All Wars (aka WWI),<\/p>\n

The Allen family were hard-working local people who also prized education. Mary walked to the high school, then located in the Damon Memorial building, which also housed the Gale Free Library, from her home 3 miles away.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Holden High’s class of 1918<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She kept the routine of walking her entire life, Desrosier said, even at an advanced age.<\/p>\n

Mary was born in Connecticut, the second oldest of what turned out to be 11 children born to Halsey and Mabel Allen.<\/p>\n

The family moved to Holden in 1907, and after Mary’s graduation moved in 1920 to Sterling, on the Crystal Brook Farm, which remained in the family.<\/p>\n

She lived in Leicester after marrying Lloyd Starbard in 1923, but ended up back in Holden on Moy Ranch in 1928 when Lloyd was working as supervisor of the water supply. When Lloyd retired, they moved to the home on South Road they had built in 1940.<\/p>\n

Along with her love for growing plants, Mary had two children. Over the years the family grew, with five grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n

She was active in town, including as a member of the First Congregational Church of Holden, a Corner Shop volunteer, and a member of the Holden Garden Club, giving back to the town that was her home for the majority of her 100-year life.<\/p>\n

The Holden High diploma is signed by then Principal Claude A. Gray, whose office was just around the corner from where Mary\u2019s diploma and a picture of the graduating class are displayed in the library, just off of where classes were held.<\/p>\n

Her senior year report card, among the many treasures that Desrosier found, showed Mary had good grades, with just a few days tardy and only two absent despite the long walk to school. Classes included subjects such as Latin, business, domestic science and baking, as well as spelling, and she had A’s in Deportment.<\/p>\n

The high school moved classes to the library building in 1888 and eventually more than 100 students were squeezed into the classrooms in the original portion of the library, Historian Nancy Richards said.<\/p>\n

In the same graduating class was Mary\u2019s brother, Len Allen.<\/p>\n

Some school activities of the time would be familiar to current high school students. The 1918 issue of the Holden High School Clarion was filled with jokes and stories, and news of things like the senior dance.<\/p>\n

Other activities are not seen in high schools much these day, including a canning club that featured demonstrations for housewives and girls, plus \u201chousehold arts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the war, the Clarion issue stated that \u201cHolden High School was doing brisk work for Uncle Sam,\u201d selling stamps and war certificates totaling $1,230.70.<\/p>\n

The diploma and photo join several other class photographs displayed in the library, reflecting its one-time dual purpose for the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ken Cleveland Landmark Correspondent HOLDEN \u2014 The late Mary Louise Allen kept her Holden High School diploma through several moves, including to Sterling and Leicester, before she returned to Holden. Kept tightly rolled up and tied with a ribbon from the time she received it on June 20, 1918, the treasured document was safeguarded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}