1934 - 1937 - Forrest Neil Case's Story - Madison High School

Hobby: Arguing.
Ambition: To be a professor of Chemistry.

By 1934, apparently no longer trapped by the glaciers engulfing old Woodville school, Neil Case now found himself in Madison High School where he was the Secretary-Treasurer of his class as well as the Manager of the football team. In 1935 he was once again Manager of the football team but had made greater strides in politics. He was now the President of the Sophomore Class.

The cast of "Everybody's Crazy"
Forrest Neil Case is front row, center.
Kathryn Johnson is standing
behind Neil's left shoulder

 By 1936 his involvement in extracurricular activities had increased as well. Not only was he still Manager of the football team, but he had also joined the Literary Society and surprisingly, appeared in the cast of "Everybody's Crazy", a three-act play presented by the Junior Class, where he played the role of "Herb Stanley, joint owner of the Treasure Trove Tavern". I say surprisingly because in my experience I would never have guessed that he would have ever willingly acted in any play. But perhaps his participation was not altogether his idea. Also appearing in the play as "Ketura Katt, an old maid who dabbles in spiritualism" was Kathryn Johnson, who he would marry in 1941. She may have played a role in convincing him to join the cast.

1936 Madison High School Science Club

I'm not sure when my father's interest in chemistry began, but it was clearly well underway by 1936. Not surprisingly, he was a member of the Science Club, a new club that had only been formed the year before. The club description beneath the yearbook photo of its members states "The purpose of this club is to promote a greater interest in, and a better understanding of the principles of science as they apply to our everyday lives."

Young Mr. Case took the club's purpose to heart for then, as well as throughout the rest of his life, he was definitely an "applied" chemist and not a theorist. For example, he and his brothers eagerly picked the apples from the trees in the family orchard for making "cider" in the cellar. Their mother was an absolute teetotaler who in her youth had warned young men seeking to court her that "lips that taste wine shall never taste mine". The boys assured their mother that the cider they were making was of the non-alcoholic variety. In fact, they always set aside a portion of the juice for surreptitiously distilling into "the real thing".

Federal Enlarger
circa the 1940s

Another application he found for his growing knowledge of chemistry was photography. He set up a darkroom in a corner of the cellar where he processed negatives and made prints. He carried that interest with him to Oak Ridge, at least in his early years, before abandoning it in favor of his greater love, making money, which would eventually consume all of his attention. However, he did manage to teach me how to develop film and make prints with an old Federal Enlarger in a makeshift darkroom in the bathroom of our tiny block home in Woodland. For me watching a print emerge from a blank sheet of paper soaking in a tray of developer, was nothing short of magic. I was hooked on photography immediately and sixty years later I still am. It was the best gift he ever gave me. As far as I can tell his interest in photography was a solitary pursuit. I don't believe he was ever a member of the Carbide Camera Club or shared his photography with anyone outside of his immediate family.

1937 Madison High Science Club

By 1937 some of the personality traits that Neil Case would carry through the rest of his life were now emerging as revealed by the 1937 Madison High School yearbook "The Madisonian". Perusing its pages we learn that he was now Business Manager of the annual staff, Assistant Art Editor of the school newspaper,  President of the Science Club, Manager of the football team (yet again), and once more appeared in a play, the Senior Class production of "You Can't Beat the Irish". In the comedy, he played the role of "Armand Ravel" (from France), and in which Kay Johnson plays the role of "Peggy Malone" (a young woman who yearns for culture) and has a romantic involvement with "Armand" who, (bastard that he is), is only interested in "Peggy" for selfish reasons. Reading through Kay's 1946 Complaint for Divorce from Neil one gets the impression that the play may have been the perfect example of art imitating life.

NEIL CASE
"Physically fit and mentally able."

His senior photo in the yearbook states his ambition in life: "To be a professor of Chemistry." His hobby is stated simply as "Arguing" and not, interestingly (and quite accurately), as "debating."Debates are formal. Arguments are not necessarily formal, although they can be. But "argument" is often synonymous with "row, tiff, bickering" etc., whereas "debate" is not. Neil Case's hobby was definitely arguing, not debating, and it remained so throughout his life.

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