The Graduate

I've got graduation fever. Fresh off my celebration of Stevens diplomas, here's a TerMaat story. Even though Dad went on to earn a stack of diplomas after moving on from Sheboygan Christian School, his eighth grade graduation produced the most impressive document, one of those 17x22 wall-covering behemoths.



The ceremony took place on June 4, 1943 and we have the program so we know young Connie gave a speech:



Here's what the school looked like:



The handsome graduate:



The class had a reunion (I'm guessing in 1993) and this is what they looked like 50 years later. Connie is in the back row, second from the right:



Remember, if you are reading this on the blog, you can click on the photos to enlarge.

Diplomas and Certificates

It's graduation time and it seemed an appropriate time to share some of my grandparents' educational accomplishments, and more interestingly, just what they got to testify to their achievements.  One is for Albert Stevens, graduate of Fremont High School in Michigan, Class of 1920, and the other for Angelyn Bouwsma, graduate of Calvin's preparatory school in 1919.  Impressively illustrated, to get the full impact of these diplomas you have to visualize them filling half a wall-- each one is 17x22, too big for me to scan so I've done my best to photograph them. (Click to Enlarge).

By the time Albert had graduated from Calvin College proper, the diplomas were still huge but not at all so impressively embellished.

As a bonus, I am throwing in here, the magnificent 1892 20x16 marriage certificate of Angelyn's parents, Jochem Bouwsma and "Hilda" Kolk.  I'm guessing they were never keen on displaying this glorious document due to the clerical error of mistaking Hilda for Hillegien.  Perhaps Aunt Mary can identify the pictures which would have been in the insets.

Click on the picture to examine the signatures: