THE OAK LEAVES
A few years ago, I talked to Acting Principal, John Martin, who was preparing to retire after 36 years at Laton High. He graciously showed me a number of photos and yearbooks that were found during the renovation of the old gym. He had taken steps to make sure the photos were safely hung in school offices; some on-site and some off-site. I also learned that some yearbooks were found but had been extensively damaged from water. Apparently, up to that time, no one cared much about preserving the yearbooks. Even at the time that I talked to Mr. Martin, they were being stored in various places; none very safe.
John Martin retired after Jim Reed, the Principal, returned from active duty in Iraq as an Army Reserve Officer. After some conversations with Jim, he moved most of the scattered yearbook collection onto a shelf in his very small office. That seemed to be the best we could hope.
Recently, I had an email from Bernice Hurlbut Stowell (Class of ‘55) that told of her mother-in-law, Gladys Smith Stowell who graduated in the Class of 1910. Apparently, after Gladys graduated, she purchased a yearbook almost every year up until a few years before she passed away in 1960. Just before her death, she donated her entire collection of Oak Leaves to the Laton Library.
Immediately, I contacted the library but was told that they had no Oak Leaves on their shelves. It was a real mystery! What could have happened to that wonderful collection of yearbooks. (I now refer to it as the ‘Stowell Collection’.) I came to the conclusion that when the Library was remodeled in about 1975, they must have sent them either to the high school or the main county library in downtown Fresno. I felt that if they had been sent to the main library in Fresno, they would be on their shelves. That only left one other option; they were part of those books destroyed by water. My heart sunk!
After a lot of phone calls I decided to stop by the Fresno County Library (Main Branch) in downtown Fresno. I wanted to see if my earlier inventory of their Oak Leaves was accurate and up-to-date. I told the desk clerk about the ‘Stowell Collection’ but she knew nothing about it. She brought me every Oak Leave they had on a rolling cart. My list agreed with what I saw but then I remembered that the School Board Members were always given a copy of the current yearbook. I’m thinking that maybe if I had all their names, I could either contact them or their heirs to see if they had yearbooks that they would be willing to donate. I started looking for Board Members in the most recent yearbooks, then worked my way back to the oldest books. I was browsing through the 1958 Oak Leave when guess what I found? Written on the inside of the cover were the words, ‘Gladys Smith Stowell (Class of 1910)’. Could this be part of the Stowell Collection? I continued pulling yearbooks from the cart and I discovered that every single one from 1935 through 1958 had the same inscription inside the front cover. It was like an early Christmas present for me. I took a few books up to the clerk and showed her the inscription. Now we knew for sure where the collection ended up.
My next question was, "Then where are the other 25 yearbooks?"
From what I’ve learned, they are most likely stored in boxes somewhere in the basement of the Fresno County Library's Main Branch. Now we have to find a way to get them out of there and put them on the shelves. These yearbooks are probably the only ones in existence so it’s important to get them digitized. Recently, I learned from Tama Letson Cato (Class of '64) that while she was working in the Laton Branch of the Fresno County Library (prior to it being remodeled) she remembered seeing something that resembled a very small paper bound book, possibly the first attempt at a yearbook. It's no longer at the Laton Library so hopefully we will find it in one of the boxes of yearbooks in the Fresno Library basement.
As you can see from the list below, a number of the Oak Leaves are missing. If you or an older family member have yearbooks that can be donated, they will be greatly appreciated. Out goal is to have at least one (maybe two) at both the school and the county library. If you have one of the missing yearbooks that you don’t want to donate, possibly you would allow me to digitize it.
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Some OAK LEAVES can be found at the following locations:
LHS - Laton High School
FCL - Fresno County Library (Main Branch)
KH - Kathy Hoekstra (4 books)
BS - Bob Smith (1 book) (Class of 1959)
ATL - Annette Turner Lockett (Class of 1956)
LV - Linda van der Veur (32 books) (Class of 1959)
Class of 1908 - FCL Click here to see this yearbook
Class of 1909
Class of 1910
Class of 1911 - LV
Class of 1912
Class of 1913 - LV
Class of 1914
Class of 1915
Class of 1916 - LHS, LV
Class of 1917 - LHS, LV
Class of 1918
Class of 1919
Class of 1920
Class of 1921
Class of 1922
Class of 1923
Class of 1924
Class of 1925 - LHS
Class of 1926 - LHS, LV
Class of 1927
Class of 1928 - LHS, LV
Class of 1929
Class of 1930 - LHS, ATL, LV
Class of 1931 - BS
Class of 1932
Class of 1933 - LHS
Class of 1934
Class of 1935
Class of 1936 - FCL, LV
Class of 1937 - LV, ATL
Class of 1938 - FCL, LV
Class of 1939 - FCL, LV
Class of 1940 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1941 - LHS, LV
Class of 1942 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1943 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1944 - LV
Class of 1945 - There were no yearbooks this year due to WWII
Class of 1946 - FCL, LV
Class of 1947 - FCL
Class of 1948 - FCL
Class of 1949 - FCL
Class of 1950 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1951 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1952 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1953 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1954 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1955 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1956 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1957 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1958 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1959 - LHS, GD, LV
Class of 1960 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1961 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1962 - LV
Class of 1963 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1964 - LHS, LV
Class of 1965 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1966 - LHS, FCL, LV
Class of 1967 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1968 - KH
Class of 1969 - KH
Class of 1970 - LHS, FCL, KH
Class of 1971 - KH
Class of 1972 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1973 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1974 - LHS
Class of 1975 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1976 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1977 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1978 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1979 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1980 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1981 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1982 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1983 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1984 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1985 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1986 - LHS, FCL
Class of 1987 - LHS
Class of 1988 - LHS
Class of 1989 - LHS
Class of 1990 - LHS
Class of 1991
Class of 1992
Class of 1993
Class of 1994 - LHS
Class of 1995 - LHS
Class of 1996
Class of 1997 - LHS
Class of 1998 - LHS
Class of 1999 - LHS
Class of 2000 - LHS
Class of 2001 - LHS
Class of 2002 - LHS
Class of 2003 - LHS
Class of 2004 - LHS
Class of 2005 - LHS, LV
Class of 2006 - LHS
Class of 2007 - LHS
Class of 2008 - LHS
Class of 2009 - LHS
Class of 2010 - LHS
Class of 2012 - LHS
Class of 2013 -
Class of 2014 -
Class of 2015 -
Class of 2016 -
Class of 2017 -
Class of 2018 -
Class of 2019 -
Class of 2020 -
Class of 2021 -
Class of 2022 -
Class of 2023 -
Please contact me at LatonHigh@comcast.net if you have yearbooks that you want to donate or I can copy. Linda