School Days:
ALUMNI NEWS NAPS
WASHINGTON SEMINARY
1921: NAPS was one of the places Girl Scout troops began to form; this photo was taken the same year the Atlanta Girl Scout Council was originally founded. The yearbook documents that there were two troops at the school of eight girls each. Miss Jane Harwell was the Captain, and Miss Margaret Bland was the Lieutenant this year. (1921 Napsonian yearbook)
1928: The Senior Round Table was organized in 1918, and the most representative girls of the senior class were chosen for this honor by the faculty and the members of the Round Table of the previous year. Seen here from left are Susella Burnett, Elinor Memminger, Eugenia Naff, Martha Mizell, Hazel Stamps, and Hannah Sterne. (1928 Facts and Fancies yearbook)
1934: School officers included the Red Cross representative and the secretary of the Athletic Association, students who took an active part in a leadership role at the school. Front row from left: President Elizabeth Barge, Secretary Anne Daughtry, Vice President Jacqueline McPherson. Second row: Treasurer Mary Calhoun, Red Cross Representative June Moore, Athletic Association Secretary Barbara McGaughy. (Life at N.A.P.S. Scrapbook #2)
1942: In December 1941, students began a Junior American Women’s Voluntary Services group at the school to help with the war efforts at home. Front row, from left: Laleah Sullivan, Vice President; Raiford Ragsdale, Chairman of Public Speaking; Mrs. Ed Branch, Director of Junior A.W.V.S.; Caroline Smith, Chairman of Bicycle Brigade; Jean Mathewson, President. Second row: Betty Howell, Chairman of Publicity; Tracy Horton, Chairman of Secretarial Work; Lucia Fairlie, Posters; Dot Spratlin, Sewing; Ann Burckhardt, Miscellaneous Activities. (1942 Facts and Fancies yearbook)
1948: The girls on the Athletic Board led the school in sports. As the seasons for each sport came up, the girl who represented that sport stirred up interest and encouraged as many as possible to participate in it. Pictured are Dottie Smith, Joan Jordan, Peggy McTyre, Nan Frankel, Mary Thompson, Frankie Bostick, Betty Jo Hammond, Jean Armstrong, Jane Gatewood, Abbie Alexander, and Betsy Forman. (1948 Napsonian yearbook)
1950: The establishment of the first Honor Council, led by Stella Wellborn (at front right). Do you know the others in the photo? (1950 Facts and Fancies yearbook)
Leading Ladies At both Washington Seminary and North Avenue Presbyterian School, the idea of students contributing to their communities through leadership and service was a given. As the 1936-37 NAPS catalog states, student organizations “provide training along executive lines and give opportunity for practice in the management of affairs….A disciplined, broad, and generous spirit has developed from the organizations within the school and
from membership in larger organizations without.” Students at both schools were able to show their leadership abilities in academics, in athletics, in performing arts, and in extracurricular activities. If you would like to contact our archivist regarding more stories or have photos or memorabilia you'd like to donate from your time at Washington Seminary, NAPS, or Westminster, please contact Pamela Nye, CA, at archives@westminster.net.
Be on the lookout! If you’re a Westminster grad, you might find yourself or your classmates in a future School Days spread! Starting this fall, we’re expanding the School Days section to include alumni from throughout our history while still bringing you memories from Washington Seminary and NAPS.
60 | Spring 2018
Both NAPS and Washington Seminary had robust student newspapers. NAPS’ newspaper, Senior Reader, won first place in its class in the Athens Banner-Herald’s Georgia Scholastic Press Association contest in 1936. Washington Seminary’s The Missemma won the trophy at right in the contest in 1946.
WESTMINSTER | 61