MEMORIAL EXERCISES in the Town Hall in Concord, Massachusetts, on the morning of Monday, May 25, 1903, one hundred years after the birth of RALPH WALDO EMERSON. Arranged by the Social Circle, a society of which he was a member for forty-two years. I. OPENING HYMN: "THE PILGRIM FATHERS" 2. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS By William Lorenzo Eaton 3. RECITATIONS By Pupils of the High School 4. SONG: "ODE" Sung in the Town Hall, Concord, July 4, 1857 5. ADDRESS By Pupils of the High School Sung at the completion of the Battle Monument, April 19, 1836 By all the Schools 7. CLOSING SONG: "GLORIA " From Mozart's Twelfth Mass By Pupils of the High School THE EMERSON CENTENARY THE MORNING On the occasion of the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of Concord, Mr. Emerson being the orator of the day, "the children of the town, to the number of five hundred, moved in procession to the Common in front of the old church and Court House," and thence proceeded to the church. "The North Gallery had been assigned for them: but (it was a good omen) the children overran the space assigned for their accommodation and were sprinkled throughout the house and ranged in seats along the aisles." Following this precedent the Social Circle as a part of its plan for the suitable observance of the one hundredth anniversary of Mr. Emerson's birth, determined to arrange a morning meeting for the children of the town, in which they should participate. The School Committee was requested to make May 25th a school holiday, and pupils of the Grammar and High School grades of the public schools and their teachers were invited to a morning meeting in the Town Hall on that day. A similar invitation was extended to the pupils and teachers of the Middlesex School, the Concord School, and Miss White's Home School. The pupils of these schools, to the number of six hundred, came together at half past ten, filling the hall, both floor and gallery. The children and grandchildren of Mr. Emerson, the Social Circle, the School Committee of Concord, and other invited guests to the number of sixty or more, occupied the platform in the rear of the speakers. Thus in 1903 as in 1835 the young people of the town were assembled to help celebrate the day. To quote the special correspondent of the Springfield Republican: "The Social Circle could have done nothing better than by bringing the children into the event of the town, and making them perceive that it was also an occasion of the world, and that they had a proper and, indeed, a most important part in it." The young people were seated punctually in the seats previously assigned, and the exercises opened with singing of "The Pilgrim Fathers" by the schools, under the leadership of Fred W. Archibald. An address was then given by William Lorenzo Eaton, Superintendent of Public Schools in Concord, as follows: |