Walter C. Johnson was a member of the Jamestown High School Class of 1919. His class ring is now in the collection of the Fenton History Center. His initials are inside the ring. The JHS 1919 Senior Annual does not have photographs of the graduating seniors except in a group photograph with no identifications. The senior roll call, which includes poetry, sayings and various other entries for each senior, includes the following for Walter Johnson:

“There is a lad you all must know,

Although he isn’t handsome,

Walter J. is far from slow,

For he can surely dance some.”

For those who do not know these people, the meaning of these sayings do not make a lot of sense, but they were entertaining at the time. An effort was made to discover more about Johnson.

When it comes to family history and genealogy, a good place to start is an obituary, as that often gives clues to occupations and other activities throughout life. Johnson stayed in this area and is buried in Lake View Cemetery. His obituary from 1980 gives some information, but what gave more about his mid-life activities was an article in the 1949 newspaper that told all about him because someone had suggested his name as a possible candidate for mayor. As far as we know, he did not run for mayor.

But back to the ring. Looking at the 1919 senior annual, we could see the same design as the ring on the cover. The senior annual from 1909 had the same design on the cover, the only difference being the year. A search of the collection produced a class pin from the JHS class of 1900 and one pin from the class of 1922. The 1900 class pin is very different but the class of 1922 pin is the same design as the 1919 ring and the two designs on the covers. This leads us to believe that it is actually a school design made significant to each class by including the year of graduation. Questions came up, such as, when did they get this pin/ring? Were they available to freshmen so that the pin and/or ring could identify the class to which each person belonged throughout their high school years or did seniors acquire theirs when they became seniors or even when they graduated? Nothing found in print as of yet gives an answer these questions.

A much later article in the paper in 1964 announced that the JHS Class of 1964 had voted on a design for the class ring that would from then on be the design for each class thereafter and the year would identify the class. This could have been a cost cutting measure because the design would not have to be changed each year and the up-front cost of making a different design would be eliminated. Also the design then would associate the wearer with the school, not just a class.

If anyone has other class/school rings or pins that they would like to donate for our collection, please contact the staff of the Fenton History Center. Although these are three dimensional objects, we could also try to photograph or scan any so that we have the design if the owner wants to retain ownership of the object.