My great-grandmother, Viola (Bausman) Davis Hickman, was a teacher and educator.  I discovered the oration that she gave at her Scales Mound, Illinois, commencement on June 7, 1912.  She had written her speech in her graduation memory book. The Tercentennial of Henry Hudson by Viola Edith Bausman There was a time when Americans lacked distinction. It was traditionally assumed that the people of the United States had suffered the spirit of commercialism to rob them of their noble instincts and to stunt their intellectual development. Now, however, the … [Read more...]