Looking Back: The December 2023 calendar photo

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society


Some of you may recall seeing this photograph before.  While it was chosen for December in the Historical Society’s 2023 calendar, I previously ran this picture with an article in The Valley News in April of 2021, over 2 ½ years ago.

The photograph, taken in 1939, is believed to be the Glee Club. I was first attracted to the picture because of the matching dresses, but mostly because of the shoes and socks.  I learned that nylon stockings made their grand debut in a splashy display at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. They were not released for sale to the public until May 15, 1940. During this post-depression, pre-WWII period silk stockings were far too expensive and probably difficult to find! Thus, we have socks!

While I do not recognize everyone in the photograph, I will point out those I do know. According to the 1939 yearbook, the music teacher is Mrs. Raymond Scott.   Row one: Norma Jean (Williams) Carmack is the first student and next to her is Eugenia Williamson.  The fifth girl in the front row is Benola Tate, followed by  Sue (Caldwell) McBroom, Elouise (Stumpp) Shrout and Earlene (Tate) Mueller.  In the second row, I believe the fourth girl is Dorothy Savage followed by Susie Reeder.

As far as the men, the third row starts with Herbert Sebolt. The third  boys is Norman McBroom, followed by Robert Wolfe.  On the back row I recognize the second and third boys as Jack Mueller and Keith Shrout. 

The 1939 yearbook was only the third one published by the students at GVHS. Like the 1936 and 1938 books (none was published in 1937) the books only had a section for faculty and the Board of Education, and a section for each grade which included individual photographs along with the class history and class prophecy. The first several books had random activity pages, sometimes the basketball team, the drama club, a school play, or a few candid shots.

But the kind of pictures like the one above were evidently taken for the students involved in group. It wasn’t until the 1941 publication that the yearbooks began to feature student organizations, like band, choir, the publications class, student council and sports. The elementary grades began to appear in the late 1940s.

​This is the last publication of the Valley News for 2023 as the publishers take a two-week break, AND SO DO I! I’ll be back in January with a series on houses in a around town. Merry Christmas and best wishes for a joyous New Year. See you in 2024!