High School Years: Esther Bruton and Helen Bruton

From the June 1916 Alameda High School yearbook, The Acorn

Last week I took a field trip to Alameda, California, birthplace of the Bruton sisters. My first stop was the Alameda Free Library, where I had great fun perusing the yearbooks from Alameda High School, where all three Bruton sisters attended. The June 1916 yearbook included these photos of Esther and Helen in the senior class.

June 1916 Alameda High School yearbook, The Acorn

I was surprised to learn that Helen and Esther graduated in the same year.  In June 1916, Helen was eighteen years old; Esther, who was 16 months older, was nineteen. For some reason, Esther graduated a year late.

The 1916 yearbook included this amusing class horoscope:

Esther, whose nickname was “Ecky,” is described as “shaggy” and her besetting sin is “dogs.”  Her destiny is to be a “sign painter.”  Strangely, Helen’s destiny is to be a “female tramp.”  An earlier yearbook from June 1912 mentions that “Ecky Bruton,” together with a few other artistic classmates, would be “Our future Raphaels, Nell Brinkleys and Harrison Fishers.” (Harrison Fisher was an American illustrator who was known as the successor to Charles Dana Gibson, creator of the Gibson Girl. American illustrator Nell Brinkley was the creator of the Brinkley Girl, a more modern and stylish answer to the Gibson Girl.)

Although Esther was on the yearbook staff, it doesn’t appear that she and Helen participated in student government, sports, theater, or other clubs and activities. It seems that even at this early stage, art was their primary focus.