Progress

When Grandma went to school,

If she but broke a rule

She sat upon a stool,

And wore a cap.

When Mother took her turn,

She had so much to learn

She says she used to yearn

To take a nap.

But I have lovely times!

I make the nicest rhymes,

And listen to the chimes,

And learn to cook.

I learn to figure pay,

And how to model clay,

And how grass turns to hay,

And read a book.

I learn from radio

And from a picture show

How minds and bodies grow

And what they do.

I travel up and down

And know my native town,

And learn how not to drown,

And hist'ry too.

I learn to make a chair,

And to do my hair,

And how to mend a tear,

And how to dance.

Oh, I have lots fun!

I sew and swim and run,

Shoot cameras and gun.

This is advance!

--Edith Granger Hawkes

Originally published in Robert Wagner's Script, Christmas 1941

"Class of 1891: Granger, Edith" - Classes of 1891-1900 records, Smith College Archives, CA-MS-01022, Smith College Special Collections, Northampton, Massachusetts.