Page 61 - 1951 VES Meteor

Adair Archer Memorial Medal
The Adair Archer Memorial Medal is given to that boy who, in the esti- mation of the Headmaster and the faculty, has shown the best all-around development in his character and in his service to the school. The award is considered to be the highest honor a student at V.E.S. may receive. This year's medalist is Thomas Claiborne Creasy of Gretna, Virginia.
Contrary to general belief, Adair Archer was not an alumnus of V.E.S. The school, newly founded in the fall of 1916, suffered no casualties in World W ar I. Adair Pleasants Archer was educated at Richmond Academy, Jefferson School, and the University of Virginia.
AWARDS
military diploma. Instead he became Y.M .C .A. secretary at Camp Lee, Virginia, where, among other things, he coached a very successful pro- duction of Shokespeare's "Henry V." In 1918 he enlisted in the army, but his application for a commission was again t urned down for physical reasons. Within nine months he rose to the rank of sergeant and was rec- ommended for a commission. On October II, 1918, he went to the post hospital at Camp Grant, Illinois, with what was then popularly called " Spanish Influenza." This proved to be a precursor to pneumonia and on October 6, saying to his father, who was at his bed-side, "It is time for re- treat, " he died.
Archer's promise as a poet and a dramatist was evident to many people. Among those who have evaluated his life and works are 1\~argaret Prescott Montague, Amelie
Rives, and James Branch Cabell. Perhaps one of the best expressions of the young poet's purpose may be found in these lines from one of his own poems:
"Ah, shape my will as a cunning
hand,
A cunning hand and strong,
And tune imagination's lyre
To vent a royal song.
So, all creation's murmurings, Blend in one me1ody,
And I would live a clarion hymn, Dear God of Harmony! '
JEWELERS
OPTICIANS
YOUR GIFT CENTER
Adai1 Pleasants Archer
When the Misses Stewart of Brook Hill, Henrico County, decided to present medols to members of the graduating classes of various Vir- ginia schools, they named the medals after alumni who had given their lives for their country. Young V.E.S. having, no such martyr, Adair A1 cher was chosen as a sort of honorary alumnus.
The mon for whom the me:lal was named would have been a worthy recipient himself. Talented to the point of genius, he was a leader in all that he undertook. Although a mem- ber of the Harvard R.O.T.C., he was not commissioned because he was under weight when he received his
Moseley Bros.
CONTRACTORS FOR
Plumbing - Heating
Drainage and Water
Systems
2308 12th St. Dial 2-7622 Lynchburg, Virginia
IN LYNCHBURG-IT'S
for
YOUNG MEN'S FASHIONS
THE METEOR
5
BOWEN
cl~GmtpmujiK. 9th and Main