That student, Herbert Nye, started the book on the first day of his senior year, Sept. 26, 1927. “Went to school. First day stayed till noon. Helped dad in the afternoon,” he wrote.
Nye had a knack for detailed recollection and loved to write things down, said his son, Charlie Nye, a 1970 graduate of Trotwood-Madison High School and a retired journalist living in Indianapolis. He kept diaries all his life until his death in 2009.
Though Nye was aware of his father’s gift for cataloging, it wasn’t until after his death he discovered the class of 1928 chronicle.
The tan, hard-covered book with a green spine was filled with details about his father’s senior class whose motto was, “Build for Character, not for Fame.”
The cover, with “My Golden School Days” printed on it, opens to pages of calling cards, newspaper clippings and candid photographs of classmates.
“When I started seeing these pictures of his friends, even though I had never met them, I found it kind of fascinating,” said Charlie Nye.
“It’s interesting how fleeting moments can be captured in the frame of a photograph and can last forever,” said Nye. “That fleeting moment passes so quickly, but that image documents what life was like and is going to last forever.”
Among the black-and-white photos is one of Nye and classmate Evelyn Vaniman seated on the ground during Senior Day on May 9, 1928. And another, taken the same day, shows a group of girls striking a pose while standing on barrels.
Turn the yellowed pages and a newspaper clipping with the headline “Trotwood School Players Will Appear in Comedy,” announces the junior and senior English class production of “Penrod,” in which Herbert Nye had the lead role.
A pink paper rose affixed to the next page has Nye’s neat handwriting underneath it. “One of the roses on the fence in the scenery for ‘Penrod.’”
Maintaining his decades-long high school friendships was important to Nye, who organized a 50th-year class reunion in 1978 and then annual reunion dinners until 1998 when just four graduates were able to attend.
“When I was going through his records and saw these pictures and notes about his classmates, I wondered whatever happened to them?” said Charlie Nye. “I took it on as a challenge to track them down.”
In recent years, Nye has used his father’s meticulous documentation and his own research to create a book of photographs and text about his father’s classmates called “Madison HS Class of 1928.”
“One of the last things I remember him saying to me was ‘you’re the best son anyone can ask for,” said Nye. “I use that as motivation to do things that would honor him or make a statement that would be pleasing to him, and to ensure all the time and effort on something that he valued, would be passed on to more generations.”
MADISON CLASS OF 1928
For more information about the Madison High School class of 1928 contact the Trotwood Madison Historical Society at (937) 837-5387 or contact Charlie Nye at pug1392004@yahoo.com. Books can be purchased from Nye for $25, plus $3 shipping. Nye will e-mail a PDF version of the book at no charge to the family of class members.
ABOUT THIS FEATURE
HISTORY EXTRA is a weekly pictorial history feature showcasing the Miami Valley’s rich heritage. If you have a unique set of historic photos found in your parents’ or grandparents’ attic that depicts the past in the Miami Valley, contact Lisa Powell at 937-225-2229 or at Lisa.Powell@coxinc.com.
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