Three extracurricular activities have contributed immensely to our high school experiences. For this article, I’ll be highlighting the years leading up to my time at high school, and in the future, will detail additional activities and years. Let’s look at the literary society, and music and drama clubs, and the yearbook at Newmarket High School.
The first meeting of the literary society was held Oct. 29, 1920 and the society continued for the next 40 years as the central organization offering many of the school’s activities.
The objective of the society was to stress all forms of culture, literature, music and the arts. In addition, it provided training for self-expression in public speaking and a means for developing confidence and general executive experience.
The society sponsored debates, oratorical contests, school plays, dances, musical entertainment, ‘At Home’ parties and the publication of the yearbook.
By 1960, the student council and the proliferation of clubs and various independent activities rendered the literary society redundant. Below I have listed the executive officers of the society between 1920 and 1960.
1920 – Pres. Francis Morton, Sec. Doris Cane
1921 – Pres. Francis Morton, Sec. Jagger Oldham
1922 – Pres. Bruce Davis, Sec. Alice Hamilton
1923 – Pres. Allan Mills, Sec. Alice Hamilton
1924 – Pres. Ralph Bain, Sec. Alice Hamilton
1925 – Pres. Eric Dillane, Sec. Willa Mahoney
1926 – Pres. Parker Lister, Sec. Dorothy Ramsey
1927 – Pres. Grant Dillane, Sec. Ruth Capell
1928 – Pres. Irwin Pollock, Sec. Erla Currey
1929 – Pres. John Larkin, Sec. Clare Doyle
1930 – Pres. Eric Carter, Sec. Barbara Fairey
1931 – Pres. Mae Nesbitt, Sec. Meeda Williams
1932 – Pres. Bruce McClymont, Sec. Harold Ross
1933 – Pres. Alan Cane, Sec. Alberta Atkins
1934 – Pres. John Carruthers, Sec. Ruth Bothwell
1935 – Pres. William Janes, Sec. Alvin Walker
1936 – Pres. Ruth Bothwell, Sec. Elizabeth Hewson
1937 – Pres. James Seldon, Sec. Marjorie Stickwood
1938 – Pres. James Tod, Sec. Barbara Davis
1939 – Pres. William Fraser, Sec. Kenneth Johns
1940 – Pres. Jean Smith, Sec. Hugh Garrett
1941 – Pres. Beryl Rowntree, Sec, Joyce Bothwell
1942 Pres. John Hunter, Sec. Margaret Goldsmith
1943 Pres. Audrey Hunt, Sec. Margaret MacInnes
1944 Pres, Robert Speer, Sec. Lois Merritt
1945 Pres. Davis Edwards Sec. William Ewing
1946 Pres. Doris Proctor, Sec. Marion Rose
1947 Pres. Duncan Beattie, Sec. James: Rutledge
1948 Pres. Reid Bell, Sec. Mary Lou Little
1949 Pres. David Preston, Sec. Mary Arkinstall
1950 Pres, James Hugo, Sec. Mary Blackwell
1951 Pres. Jean Rose, Sec. Margaret Arkinstall
1952 Pres. Douglas Cockburn, Sec. Doreen Lunau
1953 Pres. Albert Horner, Sec. Nora Morley
1954 Pres. James Ridler, Sec. Edna Markham
1955 Pres. Donald Jackson, Sec. Judith Carter
1956 No Executive
1957 No Executive
1958 Pres. Maija Zvirgzdins, Sec. Merilyn Winkworth
1959 Pres. Stanley Tripp, Sec. Elizabeth Cline
1960 Pres. Jack Gillhem, Sec. Sandra Tattrie
The performing arts have played a major role in high school activities. Due to limited facilities, dramatic ventures were few prior to the addition of an auditorium in 1926. Even then, the presentation of school plays was limited to the town hall and were performed in conjunction with the annual commencement program.
The formation of the literary society in 1920 was to provide a push to a multitude of skits, plays, vocal renditions, piano and instrumental selections as part of the monthly meetings usually held Friday afternoons.
In 1926, a new auditorium was added to the old Newmarket High School and opening celebrations were held Dec. 16 and 17. Along with the several addresses and scholarship awards, the festivities were accompanied by a vocal selection by a double quartet, a solo by Campbell Dolan, a solo dance routine by Mae Nesbitt and several selections by a 12-piece school orchestra led by Max Boag, who was the student manager.
On Friday Dec. 17, a social evening was held comprising bridge, progressive euchre and a dance with the “West-Max”, a seven-piece orchestra lead by Art West and Max Cameron.
On the following Monday evening, Dec. 20, 1926, a four-act play entitled Seventeen by Booth Tarkington starring Grant Dillane, Charles Cane and Jean Chantler was staged with the school orchestra in attendance.
The school commencement on Dec. 21 and 22, 1927 featured a one-act operetta The Quest of The Gypsy led by Kenneth Morton and Terry Doane.
The auditorium was destroyed by fire on March 31, 1928 but it was replaced and the production of plays, glee clubs, orchestras, etc. has continued to the present time.
The minutes of the literary society for Nov. 29, 1935 mention probably the shortest one-act, one-person, one-minute skit on record — Napoleon’s Farewell To His Grandma by Herbert Squires consisting of an opening in the curtain and a fond parting gesture.
On several occasions during the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, Newmarket High School girls participated in the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas with neighbouring Pickering College.
The students of Fifth Form, in 1951, presented a rollicking adaption of a Minstrel Show with Allan Jackson as interlocutor and again, in 1959, the same type of show was produced by the Boys Athletic Society with a cast of 45.
From 1951 to 1958, the drama society competed in the Simpson Collegiate Drama Festival and each year they were top contenders with Runnymede, Pickering, Brampton, Ryerson, Earl Haig, Aurora, Agincourt, etc. for top prize.
The production Our Town performed at Hart House and directed by William Elliott in 1955 won first place in the Simpson Drama Festival as the best play produced in Ontario schools.
Mr. Elliott directed all the school plays from 1953 until his retirement with some notable success. The development of the talents of the students under his direction has been well recognized and appreciated by the student body, a right of passage for Grade 13 students.
It appears that the student body of the 1920s was very energetic and creative and from this era many of the activities that still continue to present day were begun.
One of the significant introductions to school life was the publication of a school magazine initiated on Oct. 29, 1920 and titled the Purple and the Gold with motto Labor Omnia Vinciq (Work Conquers All). It was published once a term and contained essays, school events, alumni records, satire, and humor.
The early issues contained very few pictures, however, this gradually changed over the years with each successive year until by the 1970s, the main content was photographs of every student, sports team, and club activities. By 1926, The Purple and Gold graduated from a small leaflet to a book of approximately 100 pages.
The actual origin of the name Purple and Gold was derived from the school colors that had been adopted much earlier. In the 1924 issue the following comment appears:
“Does our Purple and Gold stand for all the name signifies? As the mouthpiece of the Literary Society it should be clothed with the dignity of kings, it should glow with beauty of thought and should frown on anything not in keeping with the best interests of the Society. And finally, to this golden treasury might be added a few of the bright sayings from the gilded domes of our brilliant youths. With such an ideal before us, towards which we must strive, we challenge anyone in the school to suggest a more fitting name than The Purple and Gold.
The yearbooks ceased to be published in 1936 due to the Depression and through the war years. They were resumed in 1951 and have been compiled annually except in 1956 / 57 during the addition of the north wing and in 1962/63 at the formation of Huron Heights Secondary School.
The extracurricular activity enriched my high school experience, as I am sure it did yours. I will examine more of these clubs and societies in a future article.
Be sure to let me know what your favorite activity was when you attended high school.
Sources: Newmarket Era miscellaneous articles 1893 to 1979; High School Magazine the Purple and Gold, My Collection of High School Yearbooks PHOENIX; Oral History Interviews conducted over the years by Richard MacLeod, The History of Newmarket High by Mr. George Luesby 1981
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Newmarket resident Richard MacLeod, the History Hound, has been a local historian for more than 40 years. He writes a weekly feature about our town’s history in partnership with Newmarket Today, conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, and leads local oral history interviews.
