The Southerner staff present in full Pat Scott's acceptance speech of the bust of Henry W. Grady given at the recent unveiling ceremony.
"It is a great honor for me to represent the student body of Henry Grady High School in accepting this most beautiful bust of that great American Southerner, Henry W. Grady. This bust is clearly representative of the high standards and achievements for which the famous American journalist and orator stood. We, the students of Henry Grady, are certainly privileged in attending a school which bears the name of such an outstanding citizen.
"Henry Woodfin Grady came into the world without the benefit of the proverbial silver spoon on his mouth. The honors which he won for himself were the products of his own brains. The respect that was, and still is, held for him by the people the world over is an achievement by him alone. Henry Grady was a citizen and patriot in the true meaning of the word.
"It is very seldom that we find a person so devoted and dedicated to his country as was Mr. Grady. It is most assuredly fitting and proper that an institution of learning should bear the name of a man who himself clung to the belief that learning and knowledge would be the salvation of a world so torn by the discrimination of one race against another. It was entirely through the vast knowledge of Mr. Grady that he was able to lead the reuniting of the peoples of the North and South after the close of the Civil War.
"We of the Henry Grady High School strive to make our school the kind that would most resemble Mr. Grady in character and reputation. Just as Mr. Grady became famous in his early youth so should we give to our school fame while it is still in the early days of its existence. In the same manner we should give to our institution of learning the high standards and morals that were those of the great benefactor of the South. We should endeavor also to spread, as did Mr. Grady, the knowledge that we gain here to all parts of the globe so that our children and our children's children may live in a better world.
"And so it is that in accepting this bust of Henry W. Grady, we pledge ourselves to hold high the flame of wisdom so that its light may shine as did the wisdom of Henry Grady. Once again may I say that it is with profound gratitude that we, the students of Henry Grady High School, accept this statue in memory of a great American and a great benefactor of mankind, one whose name we are proud to bear."