Welcome

Welcome to the Winter 2003 G & G, a publication of Journalism Class. The theme of this issue is "Forming Attachments." As we celebrate our Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) as a school, we will be forming attachments with The Grier School's past, with her evolution... with her remarkable spirit and endurance.

Ada Jane McConaughy (center, looking out) and the staff of the Cricket Board write articles on the front porch.

In learning about our school's past, we put her present in perspective, and we imagine what she will be—and what the world will be—in another 150 years.

Attachments also take the form of computer files, and in this sense, what you are reading is the product of forming attachments via silicon chips and the World Wide Web. The staffs of past student newspapers, including "The Cricket," "The Grier Tribune," "Grier Times," and the hard copy " Green & Gold" would likely be amazed—perhaps distressed!—that their publications have evolved into this "e" magazine.

Let us know your thoughts. Do good work. Brighten the corner where you are, as the poet said.

Write us at gandg@grier.org with comments and submissions, as Mrs. Hollnagel did.

Winter 2003

Dear Faithful Readers of the Green & Gold,

Since this is the 150th year of our school here in Birmingham, PA and we're preparing for our Sesquicentennial (an excellent word for any future spelling bee) Celebration, I've been thinking about all of the people who have been part of our school these past one hundred fifty years. What drama has been played out both in the dormitories and classrooms, what a cast of characters has walked across our stage: Latin teachers, cooks, seniors carrying red roses, riding instructors, campused students, honors students, international students. We will never be the same because of the contribution of each and every individual...and that includes you!

School Head Andrea Hollnagel with the diary Ada kept in 1909 and 1910

Lemuel and Sarah Grier came to Birmingham in 1855 with their friend and colleague Nancy Jane Davis. They were looking for a school to buy because they really felt that girls should have their own schools. Even today you walk by their portraits in the living room, where they continue to monitor the school's progress along with their descendants.

Nancy Jane Davis, founding teacher and noted scholar, protects the library while smiling down on generations of students. Look at her portrait above the mantel there; is she watching you?

Ada Jane McConaughy's journal lives on the desk in my office. I frequently read her diary to see if what she experienced at Grier as a member of the class of 1910 has any resemblance to our lives here today. What do you think? Hear Ada Jane's own words as she records events occurring during the week of January 8th, 1910. "Free night—nothing doing—we were supposed to go to bed early as we were tired." (The italics are mine.) On the next day she visited Gate House and on Monday, Ada Jane went to Tyrone to buy new shoes. The next Friday there was a dance in the gym and at midnight there was a feast in rooms 29 and 30. Ruth "sneaked (sic) over from Lodge, climbed out the window, and sad but true got stuck!" I wonder if Mrs. Borst's great grandmother was there to "unstuck" her?

I could go on to tell you about the 1950 graduate who serves on our Board of Trustees today and still remembers being pulled from the swimming pool by Dr. Grier's mother, or the wonderful Alumna from 1985 who recently called to volunteer her time and talent to our upcoming reunion, or the alumna from three years ago who e-mailed last week to complain about her difficult college algebra class.

And my point? As students attending Grier today, soon-to-be graduates of the classes of '03 though '08, you are just beginning your membership in the Grier Community. Will you serve on our Board of Trustees in 2050? Will a student find your diary in 2070? Our school will never be exactly the same because you were here.

I am very proud to be part of a community that has been so vital for such a long time. I hope you feel the same and that at some point you will look up at the portrait of Nancy Jane Davis as she continues to protect the library, or that you will notice the portraits of the three generations of Griers in the living room. I hope that you understand your connection with our founders, people who cared enough to come to Birmingham almost one hundred and fifty years ago in order to start a school for girls, our school, The Grier School.

Sesquicentenially yours,

Mrs. H.