241 thoughts on “David Farragut Junior High School (JHS 44) Bronx, New York”

1. First, is Larry Pryluck related to Joseph Pryluck? If so, I would love to hear about/from Joseph. We attended P.S. 92 together, but his family moved upstate toward the late 50s or early 60s. His father did own a pharmacy in the neighborhood.

   Second, I, too attended then Jr. H.S. 44, for two years, 61-63, because I was in the “SP” class, “Special Progress”: we skipped 8th grade. The school song, quoted by someone above, was written by the then new music teacher, Mr. Cohen. Someone mentioned Mr. Uzzi, the gym teacher — he was one of the judges of the science fair when I was there, and I finally got my vinegar-and-baking soda fire extinguisher to work when he came by — and I covered his bright green suit in the stuff! We paid for the cleaning.

   Also, there were a number of kids named Luis Rivera at 44 when I went there. One played the part of Curly in the Oklahoma we put on, and a group of us, including Luis, spent a lot of Saturdays together, going to the zoo & botanical gardens. He would have been the right age to have served in Vietnam (the marines?!) but I’m not sure if that is the same Luis Rivera.

   My father, “Mr. Brown” — Abe Brown — taught at the school from 1956 around ’62. He taught “core”, (history) and remedial reading. I remember a number of my teachers and fellow classmates: Mrs. Riggs for Science, Ms. Dichter in music. I think the typewriter teacher’s name was Mrs. Rubinstein. Although we laughed at her then, I bless her now; my speed in touch-typing helps me in my profession.

   I wish there was someway to publish our e-mails, so we could get in touch with each other.

2. Hi Jack,

   Just thought you might be interested in an article I came across on the society for American Baseball Research. http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/64198864 . This is an articale about Hank Greenberg. It actually mentions the school that Hank Greenberg attended:

   ” By the time Hank was six, his father’s business had grown enough to enable them to move to the Crotona Park section of the Bronx. His father, David, owned a small textile mill where material was shrunk in order to make suits, and his mother, Sarah (nee Schwartz), was a housewife. The family’s life in Crotona Park was peaceful and uneventful. Since it was a predominantly Jewish section, Greenberg knew practically nothing of anti-Semitism. Hank attended P.S. 44 public school. ”

   Harvey

3. I have many memories of P.S. 44, most of which are now a bit blurred in my mind. I attended K-2 from ’45 to ’48,was transferred to P.S. 92 for 3rd to 6th grades and then returned for my junior high years to 92 and graduated in ’55. It was at that point that the Cross Bronx Expressway was scheduled to come through and my home at 708 E. 176th Street was demolished. We moved to New Jersey at that time and my separation from that area was complete.
   Some of my fondest memories were of kindergarten in the large combined room with the playhousen nap time and story time along with nursery rhymes; then of Mrs.Kissinger (I believe that is correct) in 1st grade (both my brothers had her as well) who instilled in me the love of reading and dogs and inspired me to spend 50 years in education. I’m not sure of my second grade teacher’s name but I know I liked her as well. I remember the auditorium with its pictures of Blue Boy and Pinkie on either side of the stage and the wooden floor that echoed with the sound of our feet as we entered for our weekly assemblies. I remember doing the “Night before Christmas” on the stage and enjoying acting there. K-2 was located on the first floor with all the offices.
   When I returned for JHS, I was proud to be on the upper three floors (although I have to admit that I ended up spending a “bit” of time on the first floor, “visiting” the principal’s office (tho his name totally escapes me). I ended up as a messenger to the primary classes for the office. The home ec apartment on the fourth floor is a strong memory for me and there I learned how to make hospital corners on beds. Also remember sewing class where I made a blouse that I could actually wear. I know that I also had, I think it was wood shop but memory fails. They were good years there. Many of my classmates had been with me since kindergarten but at that point, the area was changing and it was during those years (’52-’55) that many moved and I lost track of them.
   I now live in Tempe, Arizona and have not been back to the area since “61 or”62 when I, with some friends from college (Trenton State College – now the College of NJ), traveled to the Bronx Zoo – one of my favorite places. The neighborhood in the ’60’s wasn’t the best time for a young girl to roam the streets so I didn’t visit our old school. But I have visited in my thoughts many times and continue to have wonderful memories of my time there. And as to the neighborhood, I loved playing in Crotona Park on the fountain in front of the courthouse and the rocks to the south (I believe), walking across 3rd Ave to the library and the zoo and botanical gardens. And of course, the walk downhill to Clinton Street, then uphill to P.S. 44! It was a great place in the ’40’s and early ’50’s!!
   If there is anyone out there who attended at the same time, I can be reached at teachgift@aol.com. Would love to hear from you. BTW, my legal first name and what the teachers called me is Helene (they pronounced it Helaine) but everyone knew me as Ellie.

4. My grandfather attended PS44 until the 8th grade. He was born in 1898 so he had to have left in around 1912. I have his gold charm that he got for graduating from 8th grade, I put it on a charm bracelet. I never knew anything about his school until now, I work for the DOE in Queens, I work at PS71 in Ridgewood so I have started to try to do some research. My grandparents are long gone now but I love to hear about anything to do with their lives!

5. Linda Garcia was a good friend, and my first boyfriend was Henry Guzman. Both attended JHS 44.

6. I graduated from J.H.S.44 in 1968 I believe. I read all the entries here and the only teacher I am familiar with is Mr.Alliota. I had a crush on Mr.DiLorentis, Mrs.Buckman, was scary and Mr. John Ryan was kind of straight-laced. My friends were Beanie, and Debbie Gaston. I lived on Vyse ave and E.Tremont ave and gangs were beginning to appear more prominent.
   I went on to Theodore Roosevelt H.S. I am now living in the Poconos and have 2 sons, 23 and 20. I went to see the school recently and found that nothing has really changed. Overall, It was a great experience that I will cherish forever.

7. From Paul Bernard:

   I went to 44 in kindergarten and 1st grade, then to 92 2nd to 6th grade, then back to 44 from 7th to 9th grade 1955 to 1958. I lived at 1785 prospect ave at the corner of Crotona park north. Ms. Gibney was the school librarian, Mr. Saltzman the music teacher, and Mr. Blum the math teacher. I have fond memories of of Mr.Blum and Mr. Saltzman. My name is Paul Bernard and my email is Pbtaichi@aol.com

8. Thanks, Harvey. Definitely some new additions to our school opus here. I think some of the rhyming words may have been a bit different. I don’t think that the words “day” and “bay” were repeated. Of course I could be wrong, so we’re still looking for someone to find a copy of the Admiral from those days!

9. Hi Jack,

   I think the second stanza of the school song was something like:

   He won the battle at Mobile that day
   He sailed the Union Fleet right up the bay
   He dared torpedoes in the bay
   and blasted forts along the way
   and saved the Union Fleet that day

   Harvey

10. Harvey, thanks for reminding me about Rex-O-Graph sheets. I had to pause to remember what that was for a minute, but as soon as I did that (imaginary) odor wafted by…

    All, if you want to correspond directly with another poster, I will gladly provide the information to that poster so they can decide whether to correspond with you or not. I believe that respects everyone’s privacy sufficiently. Do feel free to make objections either here or privately to me at jackflove@loveleefamily.net.

11. Hi Jack,
    Its been some time since I looked at this site. My father passed away recently. He was a soldier in Patton’s Third Army. He fought his way through Europe, from D-Day to the Bulge and beyond in a Tank Destroyer in the 654th TD BN. That is not why I am writing to you about. It is because I was looking through some items in the crawl space in his house. I came up upon something I thought was long gone. We moved from the Bronx on July 2nd 1965, I believe it was a Friday, about 2 days after School finished which was (Tuesday or Wednesday). I just finished 8th grade. I know the last couple of days before the move was very hectic. Last minute items were just thrown into boxes. Well, in the back of the crawl space, I found a box that was probably not opened since then. What I found was my loose leaf binder from 8th grade in that box. It must have been thrown in at the last minute, possibly because I did not want to throw it out so soon after school finished. I have not had time to look through it yet, but, it reminded me of your site. There were even rex-o-graph sheets in the binder. I could just image the smell of a freshly printed rex-o-graph copy. I do not know if anyone even has any copies like that anymore. Anyway, while looking at your site, I came across a comment by one of the recent poster’s. The comment I am talking about is from Sharon (Newborn) Puchli on August 18th 2011. She mentions that she went to P.S. 92 from K to 2nd grade (1956-1959). I also went there from K (56-57), 1st (57-58), 2nd (58-59). After 2nd, I went to P.S. 57, then JHS 44. I had a Ms. Helen Schweitzer for first grade and Ms. Weinstein for 2nd. I remember that Ms. Weinstein got married and did invite the class to the wedding just as Sharon said. Being in 2nd grade, I did not go because my parents did not take me. Ms. Weinstein was a 6th grade teacher that moved down to second when the original teacher left for some reason. Not sure what that reason was. It looks like she might have been in some of my classes, at least for 2nd grade. I would like to find out if Sharon Newborn was actually in my class. Is there a way you could contact her, or do we just have to wait to see if she would ever view your site again?
    One more poster, Peter Colon. He went to JHS 44 in 63,64,and 65. Same years I did, 63 and 64. He mentioned a Mr. Sherman, I had Mr. Sherman for Social Studies. He might have been in my class there too. I did not have the other teachers that Peter mentions, and being that the class traveled together, I do not think he was in my class, but I might have been in a combined class with him, like gym (or PT, phyical training). I did not graduate from JHS 44 so I do not have a yearbook. Only seniors were able to buy them. Like Peter asked, I would be interested in seeing a yearbook from that time if anyone has one.

    Thanks,
    Harvey

12. Leticia, thanks so much for sharing your memories!

13. Ooops, sorry I mixed up schools there. The Principal was Mr. Dooly. The principal I was talking about was in P.S. 6. 🙂

14. I attended David Farragut Jr. High and graduated in 1973. My math teacher was Phil Aliota. What a riot. I really liked him. Mrs. Naglie was homeroom, she’d turn beet red whenever she got upset what was a lot. We tortured that poor woman. I lived near the school but it was a long walk on a huge (at least for me it was at the time) intersection to walk up a steep street to get there. I lived across the St. Thomas Catholic Church in those days. It was fun, scary and odd at times. I remember this guy named Richard he used to get 2 lunches and he was a big guy. I always thought he’d be a football player. The Principal was a woman at the time and I forgot her name. I used to be her “milk monitor”, a job which I took seriously :), and she complimented me on always finding her, saying I should be a detective when I grow up! (No I did not become a detective!) I won the President’s Gold Medal for physical fitness along with another student the year of graduation. I have vague recollections of my time at the school, some intentional. However it was in the Bronx so it was always survival of the fittest from my perspective. Being small and skinny was like having a huge red target taped to my back. LOL

15. Oh I forgot to tell you all that my best friends angel santiago ringo tony hector. if any body got a year book please contact me ont the last day of school we wore shorts at that time it was not allowed..

16. I went to JHS.44 in 1963,64 ,65 ILL never forget mr. shriner mrs. goldberg mr dugin who was killed in a car crash with a fire truck. also mr.sherman and mrs ross.all these teachers had a big part in my life today. I remember mrs goldberg pointing a ruler at me and saying youuuuuu And i say who me? and she would say no your grandmother lol. and mr shriner who could ever forget him put out your hands peter and wack with the pointer those were the days the clubs gang at the time was the fairmont boys and the charmers the popular music was motown and the english invasion I’ve live in Mapes ave 178st those was the good old days

17. Cary, thanks so much for your comments. Ms. Mitchell was the name of my 2nd grade teacher, but that was at PS 92 (a few blocks and across Tremont from 44). I wonder if she moved there at some point. The old building is still there as far as I know, it’s just purely an elementary school now. I hope to go back in the not-too-distant future. So far my pursuit of the “44 Forevermore” lyrics has been unsuccessful, so I’m thinking about trying an in-person visit.

    — Jack

18. I too attended PS 44,K-2,then on to PS 92,for grades 3-6,and back to JS44,graduating in 1959.I lived in an apt. housenext to the Gold Medal Studios.I remember seeing Liz Taylor leaving the studio every afternoon,while she filmed Butterfield 8.(Eddie Fisher would be waiting for her in the back of a limo.) Marty,with Ernest Borgnine,was also filmed there,as was Rock Around the Clock,with Allan Freed.As for our alma mater,I remember the small auditorium ,with a stage shaped like a semi-circle.I think i had Ms.Mitchell also,and she may have been the one who directed our version of The Mikado.I also remember all classes having to pause once each day,as excavation explosives would go off for the building of theCross Bronx Expwy.
    I’d love to visit the old building.

19. I graduated from “44” in 1969. I can recall many teachers. I’ll mention some of the most memorable. Mr. Sancho, 8th grade homeroom and math; Mr. Fontana, 7th grade Social Studies, awesome guy; John L. Flournoy, English teacher, then Asst Princ; Mr. Salta, orchestra teacher…I think he wrote “44 Forevermore.” He really taught me how to play violin. I also had Mr. Zavlick for Math. He was a great math teacher, but very strict. He left “44′ to become an asst principal at PS92, which I also attended. Some other great teachers: Susan Ciancuilli, English, Angela Larocca, Science, Phil Aliotta, Spanish. I loved my years there, so many great friends. The principal was Martin Roberts, who was a tough character. He took over for Nick Cichetti, when I started in 7th grade. I lived on Marmion Ave, two buildinga away from Biograph Studios. When I moved there in 1963, the studio was basically nonfunctioning. It had a rich history though. Such a waste….it was the only studio in the Bx. By the way, Richard Nord, I remember you and was friends with your cousins, Helene and Andrea. We lived in the same building in Co-op City, beginning in 1970, when I left the area. I have been back to visit fairly recently, and the neighborhood is unrecognizable, although my building 1809 Marmion Ave still stands. Biograph is now a Waste Treatment Plant.

20. Thanks much! Alas, my contribution needs a tune-up. A shop vise works better with an S. Sentences need tinkering. The ghosts of Mr Bein and Miss Glanza are frowning. Miss McCarthy is dismayed.: “This is the best you can do? Get Herman Nachmanson to help you, wherever he is.”
    Sam Phifer

21. So far Sam Phifer wins our virtual prize for most senior correspondent! How interesting to learn about the school in the pre-War era. Hopefully this will inspire others to join the conversation.

    Jack Love
    David Farragut JHS Class of ’66

22. Dear Jacob Love:
    Thank you for acknowledging my note about David Farragut Jr. High School. In passing I would like to suggest that the name is beautiful and so genuine. I can understand adopting “Jack” as a convenient modern alternative. I had a brother whose name was James Cameron Phifer who became a journalist. We called him Cameron, but his byline was always “Jack”. Jacob and Cameron have class.

    As a graduate of the class of 1936, my recollections of the neighborhood of the mid ‘thirties” are nevertheless still vivid. My father was a minister in the denomination known as Dutch Reformed, meaning The Reformed Church in America. He had once been a Presbyterian minister with parishes over much of the deep South, including Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, and and Delaware. He had accepted a “call” to the West Farms Reformed Church located on the corner of Prospect Avenue and Fairmont Place. I saw from Google a year ago that the
    building,a barnlike brick structure, is still standing. There was an adjoining lot on the corner on which there was a large stone with a huge bronze bell on it. Kids on their way to school at PS 44 used to throw stones at it to make the bell ring. I would guess the bell weighed a ton or more. It was eventually taken by the government during WWII — along with trolly tracks on Tremont Ave nearby to turn into munitions. When we arrived about 1936 the headsof the denomination partitioned off parts of the church building as an apartment for my family. I was enrolled in PS 44. Ironically, living a block from the school, I recall being often late for school. I remember a grouchy math teacher, ” Mister Crabbe” who saw to it that l;kids coming in late were apprehended and disciplined. Mr Crabbe and I got to know each other. I remember a Miss Glanza or Glanzer who taught English, a shop teacher with a small man with a deep baritone, commanding volice, especially when one of us would misuse a plane or saw. One unforgettable teacher, a devout Roman Catholic, Miss McCarthy, an admirer of Teddy Roosevelt who counseled her pupils to develop their will power by denying themselves something, anything, just so it exercised our power over ourselves. She wanted me to learn to control my asthma, the way Teddy Roosevelt learned to control his own childhood affliction. Most of the students back then were Jewish and the surrounding community was, of course, largely immingant from parts of Europe, probably in flight from the communism that had already swept Russia and nearby countries. During religious holidays the classes were so empty that the gentile teachers who did show up simply and sent us non Jewish kids home. I remember a very large, commanding American Indian teacher who taught civics named Nobis, a music teacher named Miss Lehman who taught us to sing the Lords Prayer in Latin. In the midst of the poverty of those years, there was an open acceptance of our disparate backgrounds and religions. I remember my teachers with considerable respect as conscientous, dedicated to making sure we grasped what they taught. Classes were so crowded we often sat two kids to a desk. They had inkwells in the desks with brass covers.that you could rub to a bright shine with a rubber eraser. We used wooden pens with steel tips, until fountain pens took over. They taught cursive writing in those days and by junior high you had already developed a style of penmanship that incorporated your own personal style that expressed just who you thought you were., i.e bold or cautious, or imaginative or adventuresome or analytical, according to the handwriting experts. I remember in our science class that we cold get extra credit for home projects. One boy, named Irving Glass brought in an electricity generator mounted on a wooden board that he could crank and produce a current to light a bulb. In our shop class, with Mr. Bein we spent an entire term making something out of wood, Each pupil had a workbench fitted with a woodworking vice and you were loaned files and saws and whatever else was needed for a project. Mr. Bein was a pretty strict taskmaster. You listened when he taught you how to use a rasp or a plane. There were no power tools. My project that took five or six months to finish was an upholstered footstool with carved legs that I proudly took home.

    Oddly, I suddenly remember a fourteen year old name Murray Erlich who already shaved a fully developed beard and was on the verge of losing his hair.

    Thoughts of war were still remote. We were taught to speak before an audience. One Armenian kid gave a talk on the massacre of his people in Europe, My subject, — I mostly recall being scared — was on how the settlers had mistreated the American Indian.
    I am writing all this in the hope that some elderly man or woman who once attended David Farragut has similar benign memories from those years. It may be those memories are unique to this particular ten year period otherwise regarded in retrospect as an economic disaster. As I view the Depression years, children of that era didn’t realize what we were missing and so we did what came intuitively. We made things our of junk. A discarded produce crate, a roller skate, a piece of old two-by-four and some bent nails would make a vehicle; a Prince Albert tobacco tin, a radio crystal, an earphone (if your were lucky) and some scraps of wire nailed to a board could make a radio.that could receive New Jersey or China. Hitler and Mussoline were still a distant menace. Japanese expansionism was still an Asian problem. The social ills, drugs, teen age pregnancy, street gangs, guns, violence, must all have been present, but I don;t recall encountering them in JHS 44. Remarkable!
    Sam Phifer

23. I attended David G. Farragut Junior High School during the years 1936 -1938 to the best of my recollection. I was age 15 when I graduated. . I will be 88 in about ten days and yet can recollect clearly my years there. I have lived in Kentucky since 1992, but can never forget some sixty two years as a New Yorker, and particularly my years living in the Bronx during and following the Great Depression. My family moved from Port Jervis NY in March 1931 and settled in the Bronx, arriving finally in the Tremont and Prospect Avenue section in 1936. I attended Theodore Roosevelt High School on Fordham Road and then a freshman year at New Yorki University and then in 1943 went into the (then) Army Air Corps for three years before returning to NYU, Only this morning did I think to look up my old junior high on Google and was amazed and gratified to find your website. It has been a revelation that there are people like you who have devoted so much time and effort to preserving the memories of this part of the Bronx.

    I will keep this initial message short in the hope that you will respond; perhaps I can also hope we can share our recollections. It is too much to hope I guess that some of those people I knew at JHS 44 could still be living. There was a boy my age named Leonard Shenkin, another, Herman Nachmanson. There was a man about sixty, Herschel Pryluck who owned the pharmacy on the corner of Fairmont Place and Prospect Avenue.
    I am grateful that you are there.
    Sincerely
    Sam Phifer

24. I was so happy to find this site! I belong to a couple of other Bronx Facebook sites and I never found anyone who went to P.S. 44! I lived on Prospect Ave. from 1951 until 1959. I attended P.S. 44 from K to 2nd grade (1956-1959) and then began 3rd grade at P.S. 92 and moved shortly to the Inwood section of Manhattan. I remember a wonderful Kindergarten teacher, Miss Schaefer, I believe. First grade was a witch, Mrs. Weinstein (?). A lovely 2nd grade teacher…Miss Rudzin…who got married while I was in her class and clearly remember the class invited to some part of the wedding day! I also attended the High School of Art & Design as did one of the earlier posters to this site. Please say hi if you were part of my time in 44!

25. This was supposed to be brief, but as usual one thing led to another.

    Addendum about Gerhard Rayna:
    After graduating from Herman Ridder JHS, Gerhard went to Stuyvesant, where he shone on the math team, a 1946 picture of which can be seen at http://173.8.135.113/Math1946F.html. Gerhard is indeed standing at the left (the posters of the picture weren’t sure), looking just as I remember and admired him (see obituary at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/mcall/obituary.aspx?n=gerhard-rayna&pid=1116540). Even more math-brilliant than Gerhard (if you can believe it) were Ariel Zemach and Donald J. Newman, standing on Gerhard’s left. Ariel hated the name and wanted to be called Chuck (we called him Zemchuck). D. J. Newman (as we called him) is featured prominently in the book “A Beautiful Mind” about John Nash, who, according to the book, considered D. J. the only person in the Princeton graduate math department bright enough to be worth talking to. Both Zemchuck and D. J. were active in the Junior Astronomy Club, and were usually to be found at the upstairs blackboard (office the JAC shared with the Amateur Astronomers Association in the basement of the American Museum of Natural History) discussing some math problem (D. J. later acquired the reputation of a world-class problem solver).

    Aside about D. J. Newman: “The Beautiful Mind” book describes a problem D. J. posed to the renowned John von Neumann about a fly flying between 2 bicycles moving towards each other, where you had to figure out how far the fly flew before being crushed between the front wheels of the bikes. Von Neumann quickly got the answer, whereupon D.J. said “oh, you saw the quick way to the answer”, whereupon von Neumann said “no, I summed the series!” Well, the interesting thing about that is that the last time I met D.J., which was on 4th Avenue in “book row”, while we were waiting to cross the street, he gave me that exact same problem: of course I didn’t get the answer until he explained the trick to a quick solution.

    Aside about math at the JAC and advisor James B. Rothschild (“J.B.”): J.B. was a physicist and amateur astronomer who was also passionate about finding and promoting math talent among youngsters. So he decided, at our behest, to give a course on calculus whose objective was to derive the basic equations of celestial mechanics; Zemchuck, Gerhard, and I, as well as Paul Martin (a late bloomer who became head of the Harvard physics department) attended. J.B. was an excellent teacher; he presented it in the rigorous manner of an advanced calculus college course (replete with epsilons and deltas, for those of you who may know what I’m talking about). HOWEVER, before beginning, he wanted us to take a test: an entrance exam for the course, so I thought. I remember sitting at a table in room 129 in the Museum much of a Saturday morning mulling over the problem sheet, while pigeons were cooing loudly outside the windows, and not being able to get anywhere on any of the problems! It turned out, this was not your ordinary math problem sheet, it was designed to identify those who had the REAL talent (which obviously didn’t include me).

    Now back to Gerhard: both of us were born in Vienna, Austria, were among the top Westinghouse Science Talent Search winners of 1947 (as was Paul Martin; Zemach was a winner the previous year), and we roomed together in 10 Hollis Hall (freshman dorm) in Harvard Yard (old Hollis house rule: do not throw cannon balls out the windows — there were still cracks on the front steps supposedly from that; there were also hooks on the wall where students in the 1700’s hung blankets to confine the warmth radiated by a pre-heated cannonball on cold winter nights). One day, Gerhard bounded into the room, excited by the latest interesting thing he’d read about: it was about a molecule called “desoxyribonucleic acid” (we practiced saying that unfamiliar name — now just called DNA), which it seemed might be what chromosomes were made of — and which later became what I did research on. During our Junior High & High School days, Gerhard had the knack of assigning whimsical names to people and things, and he organized a social group of JAC members that he called the “Sailfish Club” — named I think for a sailfish mounted on a Museum exhibit wall. We went on picnics in all the parks in and around the city (among our favorites were Bronx Botanical Gardens and Tibbets Brook Park), where some of us got to know our future spouses.

26. A key and it turned out ironic event occurred sometime in 1944 when Miss Coblenz decided that I was too focused on science & math and needed some broadening, so she sent me to represent the school at a film and discussion about a social issue (I don’t remember what it was) that brought together kids from all or most of city’s JHS’s. Whatever I might have gotten out of the film quickly went out the window during the discussion when I recognized 2 of the discussants: Gerhard Rayna and Herbert Chabot from Herman Ridder JHS. I recognized them from Friday night meetings of the Junior Astronomy Club (JAC) at the American Museum of Natural History, which Irving Sochard and I had been attending — our mutual passion for astronomy had made us close friends. (Gerhard became a math professor at Leheigh; Herb became a Judge in the US Tax Court.) We went home together on the subway chatting about science fiction and the theory of relativity that Gerhard seemed to understand. Since we all lived near Crotona Park, the 4 of us organized the “Crotona Observers” as a local subgroup of the JAC — to which were soon added David Silver from our PS44 class (he became president of the Mutual Funds Association), Philip Brody from Gerhard & Herb’s class at Herman Ridder (he became a physicist at the National Bureau of Standards) and Barbara Brodo (now Barbara Herrnstein Smith, a literature and philosophy of science professor at Duke and Brown). The ironic upshot was that Miss Coblenz’s intention to broaden me backfired and caused me to become even more deeply mired in math & science.
    Our little group had consequences: Herb had a pair of twin cousins (Joan & Elaine Mogels) whom he brought down to the JAC — Elaine became my wife, now for 55 years! Irv used to go to square dances at the Ethical Culture Society, where he met Aileen Kerwin and brought her down to the JAC — she married Herb — they’re nearing their 60’s wedding anniversary! Elaine had a close friend, Minnie Rosenberg, at Hunter High School, introduced her to Irv, and the 2 of them later got married. Joan met Herbert Weiner at the JAC and they were happily married for 55 years until Joan unfortunately died. Barbara married Richard Herrnstein who became a controversial psychology professor at Harvard (IQ controversy stemming from his book “The Bell Curve”). They had a daughter, Julia. Elaine liked the name, so we also have a daughter named Julia.

27. I want to add some detail to my very brief earlier entry, but what and why? Unfortunately no one from my PS44 era (1943-1945) has surfaced.
    WWII was in progress and seemed a natural state of affairs. It was hard to imagine otherwise. Automobiles were required to have upper half of headlights painted black (supposedly to make it harder for enemy aircraft to see the city). At assemblies there were color guards marching down the 4 aisles of the auditorium, one after the other, with appropriate flag and accompaniment: Navy (Anchors Away), Army Air Corps (Off we go into the wild blue yonder), Infantry (Over hill, over dale), Marines (From the halls of Montezuma). I was at the piano, which allowed music teacher Mrs. Lehman to lead the singing from the stage. We had an “orchestra” consisting of whatever was available: trumpet, sax, clarinet, concertina, mandolin, piano — weird, but we took it seriously.
    Boys were required to wear tie (no bowties) and white shirt at school, and had to remove hats on entering the building.
    Our address was indicated as Bronx, 57, NY. Postage had gone up from 2 cents to 3 cents for a letter. Gasoline was 11 cents/gallon (plus rationing stamps). Music records were on 78 rpm platters; automatic record changes had just come in. Radio was great — in a way better than modern TV — more left to imagination — vision left free.
    We were an R class, complete with chips on our shoulders, which our teachers encouraged, giving us the notion of being special. Home room class, which included math, science, and “core curriculum” under Miss Harriet Coblenz whom we all loved, was like summer vacation at camp — no anxieties about having to learn this or that. No discipline problems, because we spent most of the time free to roam the classroom as we were supposed to be working in groups on various ill-define projects of our own choosing. Actually it did work, because the groups took seriously preparing their presentations to the class and we actually did want to learn stuff — in part because it was interesting and anxiety-free, and in part because we knew that the kinds of jobs we could get when we grew up depended on it — most of us still had a depression mentality.
    Once, when we were supposed to be learning algebra, Miss Coblenz was distressed to see that we were very rusty in arithmetic. Her remedy was to distribute sheets of arithmetic drills, which we spent a full day working on (without complaints) — which apparently solved the problem. Anyway, the system evidently worked, judging from the later success of class members.
    Some of us learned to use slide rules, but we weren’t allowed to us them in class. Later in high school, we were required to use them! (The same happened later with calculators.)
    Math anecdote about Irving Sochard (who became my best friend for over 50 years): Irv had lots of trouble with spelling and algebra, but he could solve problems efficiently in his head in his own way. One time we were being drilled on Farenheit-Centigrade conversions, and teacher gave the problem -40 degrees F, what is it in C? Irv immediately said -40, which at first puzzled the teacher — why was he repeating the problem rather than giving an answer? Irv immediately saw that -40 F is -40 C. Irv went on to have a career at the Naval Ordinance Laboratory: when they had a physics or engineering problem that didn’t fit with any of their specialists, they gave the problem to Irv, who often found an original solution: he had the knack of identifying the important factors and cutting through to an approximate but useful solution by ignoring the inconsequential.
    Anecdote from Mrs. Glanzer’s English class (she was the only teacher who terrified us — by her expectations). She was introducing a poem about daffodils. Since we were city kids, she asked who knew what daffodils are? Marvin Charton (credited with highest IQ in the class) raised his hand and said “it’s a weed”! Rather than correcting him (perhaps because it might be a matter of opinion), Mrs. Glanzer merely chuckled and said that apparently she had called on the wrong person.
    History class with Mrs. Furman was pleasant and informative, and occasionally amusing — as with a British plan during the Revolutionary War to sail a fleet up the Bronx river!
    Anyway, PS44 was a happy time.
    About the old boarded up Biograph Studio on 176 St: there were stories of boys breaking in and doing mischief. A later friend ~5 years older who lived in the neighborhood told of breaking in, stealing rolls of films to make stink bombs (that may have been around 1940) — he later shuddered at the thought of what he may have destroyed.
    There is much more to tell, if anyone is interested.

28. I began my teaching career as a Spanish teacher at JHS 44 in 1969 and left in 1973 to teach in high school. The principal at the time was Mr. Roberts. Beatrice Mangin was an assistant principal as was John Ryan, a tough Irish guy. A fellow Spanish teacher was Phil Aliotta as was Richard Torrellas. The school at that time was very challenging to work in. I still have my grade books from those years and I imagine that most of my students are now in their fifties. I also have yearbooks from those years. If any reader of this blog would like to share memories of those years, from a teacher’s perspective, feel free to contact me at mjk38@columbia.edu I am now retired from the NYC school system (I was a guidance counselor at Humanities HS in Manhattan until 2002) and currently am licensed psychologist and professor at NYU.

29. I attended 44 after graduating from the 6th grade at PS4 – the first time a 6th grade graduated – this was when the JHS’s first went into effect – I went to 44 from ’55 to 57 – I think – I have lots of info on the history of the school: when it was built, etc. I have my yearbook for all the 3 years I was in the school. I am an Assistant Principal with the NYC Bd of Educ. Would love to hear from others in the school as the same time I was.

30. Hello my fellow JHS 44 associates. Playing with my iPhone and having too much free time brought me to your wonderful site. Like many of you, I attended JHS 44 For Kindergarden in 1957 then moved to PS 92, only to return to JHS 44 for 7th and 8th grade between 1966-1967.
    My memories of JHS 44 are intermeshed with the deterioration of the Bronx around it. The school offered a safe environment but one had to develop street smarts to avoid being shaken down for money. “All I find I keep” was the popular expression of the day, which meant that after denying having any money to your assailant, they had the right to search through your pockets and keep any money they uncovered.
    Anyhow, JHS 44 was a positive experience with good teachers. The ones I remember are Mr. Nash, who taught Core (a terrible idea of merging English with Social Studies); Miss Terence, a music teacher who confiscated my French Horn because I made elephant type honking sounds and placed me in the girl’s section with a Flute. There was a beautiful, young art teacher named Rene P.(something) maybe Preachet. She had that mesmerizing look I would remember for almost 50 years. Who can forget Mr. Donovan who taught French. He was a bland, uninteresting teacher who I only remember because he was missing a part of right hand index finger. He would clasp it with his good hand in a self conscious attempt to hide it. Last but not least is a pleasant memory of Mr. Goldman, who taught Math. He was a very special guy who turned his lunch hour into a free period to allow us to sit in the back of his room to play chess.

    After 8th grade, my father remarried and we moved to Flushing, Queens. Today, I am married for 26 years, have three children and live in Los Angeles.

31. hi, I went to 44 k-2 and then 7-9 1947-1950. I lived on 175 st. jr. hi. 44 was a very progressive school for that time. the girls took shop, the boys took cooking. we had a core program that combined eng and social studies and math and science. our principal was a very sexy lady mrs. taub. i lived one block from the biograph studios and watched them film a face in the crowd, a very good movie. sylvia dorin sherman

32. I attended kindergarten in 1964. I also remmember going home early when JFK was asassinated. I remember going home and everyone was crying and I didn’t know why. If you attended kindergarten in 1964 here is a link for my class picture. Maybe you are in the Photo.
    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1528136&l=54a3034118&id=1606831476

33. Addendum

    Typo looking for Dolly Anthony not Dooly Anthony.,Bummie Payne, Queenie, Deidre, Linda (see had green eyes) Donna, Dora Jones, Matthew P, Willie White. Also looking for a teacher; Mrs Davis ( she taught Spanish)

34. Hi
    My name is Diana Bryant. I attended JHS 44 form 1969 and grudated in 1972. I’m looking for Diane Platt, Dooly Anthony,George Peterson, Mrs. Peterson,Gail Davis, Vet ( gail’s cousin) Cheryl Brown,Maria Lugo, Sonia and David ( I think there last name is Rivera), Mary Lugo, Also looking for teacher’s Mr. Fushman and Mr. Maranaro

35. I attended PS44 Jr. High 1943-1945 — Ms. Harriet Coblenz home room & science/math teacher. It was wonderful!

    Anyone around from that era?

    Kurt

36. I went to 44 from 1947 to 1950 and Oswald was there at the sme time I dont remember him I left there and joined the Marine corps I went back about 10 years ago and found the school in better shape then when i ttended. some of my teachers were Mrs landau
    mr lichbla mr rosenberg mr shapiro mrs gibney and a bad ass principal mr myerwitz also a gay mr stromberg

37. I attended C.S 44 from 1996-2003, I am shocked to learn that all those famous (in good and bad ways) attended 44. I am now a Junior in college and visit the school on my breaks. I remember playing in the basement during an after school program one day and coming across a bunch of old filling cabinets. Me and my sister opened one of them and found report cards from the 50′ and 60’s! I was amazed to say the least. In the main office I remember the principle of the school putting up a really old black and white picture of one of the first classes in 44. I wasn’t born for the JFK assassination but I was in school when 9/11 happened. I remember teachers running up and down the hall with walkie talkies. They had an emergency assembly and had us all picked up by our parents. They wouldn’t tell us what was going on. I only learned about the attacks at home on the radio because the cable lines were down. Thank you for sharing your experiences its always nice to learn about the places we grew up in.

38. I attened JHS 44 from kindergarten thrugh the 2nd grade in the years 1940 thru 1942. From there, we were transfered over to PS 92 on Clinton Ave and 178 &179th street just north of Tremont ave from late 1942 through 1946. After that, we were transfered back to JHS 44 for 7th, 8th and 9th grades. Most of my friends went to T. Roosevelt on Fordham Rd, Dewitt Clinton and the HS of Science. I went on to School of Industrial
    Art in Manhattan, now known as the Scholl of Art and Design. and from there on to Pratt Institute. I have lost contact with everyone I grew up with due to the introduction of the Cross Bx Expressway and me going to a differenct high school.
    Most people were forced to relocate and at the time the expressway was constructed, telephones were scarce, no internet and no easy way to communicate.I lived at 673 E 176th about 2 block west of Prospect on the corner of 176 and Crotona.

    In additon to the famous and infamous people you mention in your article, we were told that Irving Berlin attended JHS 44 as well; however, I was never able to confirm this. Nice to communicate with some people from the Bronx.

    In case you did not pick it up at the top, I changed my name from Marvin Jarmolowsky to Marvin Jarmel before I graduated from Pratt.

39. 1. Hello my name is Luis. i attended ps 44 in the mid 60s i then went to Roosevelt high on Fordham rd. i entered the marines and went to Vietnam where i got a bronze star i went to Bronx community college then sold ins for a while but it wasn’t my thing. I took up law enforcement and currently i am new York special patrolman for many years. i work in queens ny. Could u tell me where if possible I ‘m able to obtain a 67 to 68 year book. i have lost track of so many good friends. i would like to after all these years maybe look them up. ps i was playing off the point or stoop ball when the entire street’s residents began to cry in the passing of the prez JFK it was horrible. Thanks for your help in advance. Let’s give a cheer for 44 and for all the guyz and gals who have gone before…i remember…..to kool….

40. hello my name is Luis. i attended ps 44 in the mid 60s i then went to roosevelt high on forham rd. i entered the marines and went to vietnam where i got a bronze star i went to bronx comm college then sold ins for a while but it wasnt my thing. i took up law enforcement and currently a new york special patrolman for many years. i work in queens ny. could u tell me where if possible where to obtain a 67 to 68 year book. i have lost track of so many good friends. i would like to after all these years maybe look them up. ps i was playing off the point or stoop ball when the entire streets residants began go cry in the passing of the prez JFK it was horrible. thanks for your help in advance. lets give a cheer for 44 and for all the guyz and gals who have gone before…i remember…..to kool….

41. I remembered another graduate of JHS 44, Red Buttons. I tried confirming it on the Internet, and did not find anything. I am pretty sure that I was told this while attending JHS 44. I did read an article that Red Buttons lived in the Bronx near Biograph Studios, which became Gold Medal Studios, where Car 54, and Naked city was filmed, so it is probable that he did go to 44.

    Harvey

42. Hi Jack,

    I just came across your site. Someone at work asked me if anyone famous went to a school that I attended, and I remembered a article I read a few years back about Lee Harvey Oswald, so we did a quick google and found your site. I knew of Jonas salk, who I believe, also went to my HS. We moved out of the Bronx and I attended Far Rockaway, and like I said, I believe he went there too. And of couse Hank Greenberg. I think there were others too. Rocky Colovito lived not too far away. I remember seeing Car 54 being filmed with it its red and white car. I even had some clippings that were thrown out at Gold Medal Studios. I no longer have them.

    And yes I remember exactly where I was when I found out about the assasination. I was in Mr. Savitz music appreciation class at about 2:30PM when we were notified. He was showing us the violin. The monitor came in with a note and I remember the teacher breaking down as he told us. I was in 7th grade at the time.

    I remember most of my teachers, Mr. Schaffer for history, Mrs. Benjamin for 7th grade math, and Mrs. Smith for 8th grade math etc. I remember woodworking shop, metal shop, electric shop. Don’t remember the teachers names however, the comment above jogged the names of some of them, like Mr. Guerny? for metal shop.

    I also remember most of the school song. I don’t know, after reading your words, I got a mental block. If I did not see your words first, I think I might have been able to remember it better. It bothers me that I can’t remember at the moment. Most of it does seems right. Let me think about it awhile. I probably could remember the gaps in time. I think the line was He sailed right up mobile bay. He saved the union fleet that day. Another line at the end, Though soon we wil graduate, our love soon will wane?, …. Our thoughts will return again.

    I also remember my elementary school song. 57, 57, our voices we raise … My teacher, Mr. Dimowitz (6th grade) wrote the song for the school, PS 57.

    Just remembered, Nicolas Chicetti (forgive the spelling) was the principal. I lived on Crotona Ave. Went to PS92, PS 57 and JHS 44 till 8th grade, then the family moved to Rockaway. My Older Brother went to Roosevelt HS.

    There was a comment by a Clifford Feller. I would like to know if he was related to a Robert Feller. I don’t know if you have his email. He was a big baseball card collector and flipper, a good friend of mine.

    If anyone ever writes you and was in my class, have them email me. I was in 7-7 and 8-5, in ’63-’64 and ’64-’65.

    Also, last year I was talking with a complete stranger, who came to my house to install fios. He was up on the latter and I started to talk to him. He worked mostly in the Bronx, so I started to talk to him about growing up in the Bronx. He happened to go to school in the Bronx, in a school on Crotona Ave, in a school on 180th street, happened to be my age, had a teacher that got married in third grade, the name of the teacher happened to be the same as my teacher, Miss Bauman who became Mrs. Greenstein. I went in and got my third grade class picture, and he said I have the same picture. There he was in my class picture, in class 3-1. We were both shocked.

    If I remember more I will post it or email it to you if you send me your email address.

    Harvey

43. I ATTENEDED JHS 44 ..61,62,63..7TH 8TH AND 9 TH GRADE .. THEN WENT TO DE WITT CLINTON HS..

    I REMENBER MANY OF THE TEACHERS FROM THAT ERA AND WILL LIST THERE NAMES AND SOME PEROSNEL FEELIGN ABOUT THEM.

    MR DONAVAN MY 9 GRADE ENGLISH .. HE WAS A GOOD PERSO A PHISICALLY LARGE MAN.

    TOM DOOLY WAS THE PRINCIAL FO THE SCHOOL FOR MY FIRST YEAR.

    NICOLAS GECITTE WAS PRINCPAL NEXT.

    ROSENBURG A MAN IN HIS MID TO LATE FIFTIES WAS A GYM TEACHER AND AN ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL.

    SOME MONKEY FACED GUY NAMED UZZI AND HE WAS A GYM TEACHER AS WELL ..

    SOME LADY NAMED MANGIN WAS THE 8 TH GRADE PRINCIPA.

    WILSON WAS THE SHOP TEACHER THE LEFT

    SOME CREAP WOOD SHOP TEACHER REPLACED THE FORMER NAMED SCHIPARO ..

    THERE WAS SHEET METAL SHOP WITH A BLACK TEACHER MR. GURITY HE WAS OK BUT ULTIMALY LACKLED SUBSTANCE..

    SPANISH WAS TOUGHT TO ME BY MIS BASSIANO .. THE WITCH FAILED ME .BUT I GOT MY REVENGE BE SPEAKING BROKEN ON PURPOSE SPANISH BECAUSE OF HER . I DO HAVE CONTROL OF SPANISH AND THINK OF HATING HERE..

    MR . ZAVILIC.. THE MATH TEACHER .. I HATED THIS LOW LIFE .. ONCE 10 YEARS AFTER LEAVING SCHOOL I MET HIM ON THE DYER AVE TRAIN , I SHOULD HAVE ATTACTED HIM ..BUT I WAS TOO HUMAINE AND JUST GAVE HIM A DIRTY LOOK .
    I HAD THIS BUM FOR HOME ROOM AND MATH TWICE .. TWICE.. MY WONDERFUL LUCK ..

    THERE WAS A BLACK LADY TEACHER MISS TOMPSON SHE TOUGHT ART.. NICE CLASS.

    MR SCHAFFER THE HISTORY TEACHER AND SOME TIMES ENGLISH.. I WAS IN HIS CLASS ROOM WHEN JF KENNEDY GOT SHOT….

    I ANY ONE WANTS THEY CAN GO LOOK AT BACK IN THE BRONX WEB SITE OR SOME THING LIKE THAT AND SEE CLASS PICTURES OF SOME OF THE BAND MEMBERS FROM 61-63,,

    I KNOW AND CAN SAY MUCH MORE , BUT WHY BOTHER ,, THIS IS THE SHORT VERSION AND YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT IT..
    I NEVER KEPT UP WITH ANY ONE AND LIVE ON THE WEST COAST..

44. Born in 1941 I attended P.S. 44 from Kindergarten. We lived at 1815 Prospect just down the block. I remember playing yo-yo in the school courtyard the Duncan expert with vist and show us all the latest tricks. We flipped cards and played an Emmy game with a flipped over shoe box with 3 small holes cut in the side 10,5,1 Pea shooters were popular. The Blizzard of 1947 covered the cars and we dug tunnels.
    I gave my first school performance on the stage in the auditorium the poem ” For want of a nail the shoe was lost”

45. I also was in attendance at PS 44 when President Kennedy was assassinated. I remember being in sewing when it was announced. I had many friends there but unfortunately I misplaced my yearbook after we moved from the Bronx. We just recently visited the area and so many of our favorite places are longer there.

46. I went to 44 in 1949 @1950 & then to PS 92 I noticed the name pryluck, did his family own the pharmacy on clinton & prospect ave. I lived in 1982 prospect ave. the building was destroyed when the cross bronx expressway was being built. the pharmacy next to hoffmans grocery was an intergral part of our families life.

47. Hi.

    I teach across the Cross Bronx Expressway at C.S. 211. We are a pre-k – 8th grade school (yes, before the advent of the middle school, many schools did go from k – 8th grade – and by the way, I think the first Junior High School in New York City was none other than JHS 98 aka Herman Ritter JHS).

    We, in any event, will celebrate our forieth Anniversary this fall on October 6th.
    I am the Library Teacher and I am very interested in finding some people from the neighborhood who could come in and tell our students about the neighborhood back in those days….

    Any one out there interested. We could make a power point or a video or some other project together. THen share it with our students. We could also share it with students at p.S. 44.
    Our students have so little historical perspective and this neighborhood is so rich with stories…..Our school does not have a name other than C.S. 211 – The Bilingual School, named because we were the first school in the Bronx to teach in two languages. This project might lead us to rediscover our roots as well as those at P.S. 44.

    So let’s get started, email me at rdfeld@aol.com or call me at 646 431 7734. Thanks

48. Hi Jack,
    I am so glad I found your site. I have been researching Lee H Oswald attending JHS 44 or Farrgut JHS to substantiate my reccolection of his attendance there. Ms. McKinley was my homeroom teacher in the 7th grade in 1967 and I distinctly remember her telling us the first day of school that he, LHO sat in the very same room we were in. I about died. This was monumental for me. I told everyone and until this day I tell people that story. Some look with disbelief and others do not have any comments. I though, am delighted to see that my minds serves me right and can now include your information (with your permission of course) this factual statement from another source.
    Thanks so much for posting your memories.
    Aida
    aka Mklanglo

49. Hi John. Glad I evoked some memories–still hoping to recover those school song lyrics. 🙂

    By the way, I’ve been back, last time two or three years ago. The school hasn’t changed all that much, the neighborhood was all but unrecognizable to me.

    Best regards,

    — Jack

50. I ATTENDED JHS 44 FROM 1961 TO 1964, I REMEMBER BEING LET OUT A LITTLE EARLY THE DAY OF KENNEDY’S ASSASINATION. I WAS ALSO IN WOOD SHOP. BUT NOT AT THAT MOMENT. THAT WAS SO LONG AGO, I CAN REMEMBER MR. POLICHEK,SCIENCE) AND MS. ORGANO.. (FRENCH). WE MOVED AWAY FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD THE SUMMER OF 64. I LIVED ON 176TH ST. TWO BLOCKS UP FROM SOUTHERN BLVD. ONE OF THESE DAYS I’LL MAKE A TRIP BACK THERE. I GUESS IT’S COMPLETELY CHANGED FROM SOME WEB SIGHTS I VISITED. MY DAUGHTER LIVES IN BROOKLYN, SEE HAS SHOWN AN INTEREST IN SEEING THE APT. BUILDING WHERE I GREW UP. I ALSO REMEMBER TRYING TO GET INTO THE BACKGROUND OF CAR 54. ALSO TRYING TO GET AN AUTOGRAPH SIGNED FROM ONE OF THEM. THE FRONT OF THE POLICE STATION, I THINK IT WAS THE 53RD. WAS ON 175TH ST. IT WAS THE FRONT OF THE STUDIO I THINK. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.

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