Camden High School

Camden High School opened in Camden in 1918 on the corner of Park Boulevard and Baird Avenue on land that was part of Forest Hill Park, renamed Farnham Park in 1927. The rapid growth in population necessitated the building of the new school, which replaced the earlier Camden Manual Training and High School that was located at Haddon and Newton Avenues. This school had opened up less than twenty years before. Camden continued to grow throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. In June of 1933 overcrowding caused Camden to convert a Woodrow Wilson Junior High School into a full high school.

The school was designed by architects Arthur Truscott and Paul Armon Davis III. Arthur Truscott had previously designed the Broadway School at Broadway and Clinton Streets and the Security Trust Building at 301 Market Street, as well as several homes on Cooper Street.

Camden High School has a long and distinguished history. Many of its graduates went on to careers in public service in the city, to success in business, sports, and in the arts.

1919 Purple & Gold Yearbook — 1923 Purple & Gold Yearbook — 1926 Purple & Gold Yearbook — January 1928 Purple & Gold Yearbook — 1942 Purple & Gold Yearbook

The Class of 1919 was the first to graduate from Camden High School.

Dr. Charles E. Beury, president of Temple University, Philadelphia, will address the graduating class of Camden High School at the mid-year commencement exercises Thursday night.

Eighty graduates will receive their diplomas from Edwin L. Seabrook, president of the Camden Board of Education.

Miss Clara S. Burrough, principal, will present each student to the audience; Miss Lucy Dean Wilson, head of the music department, will conduct the orchestra and the choruses, which will sing three selections, “Land of Hope and Glory” by Elgar, “Bedouin Song” by Foote, and “O Lord Most Holy” by Franck. The school orchestra will play selections from the musical comedy, ‘Yes, Yes, Yvette,’ and other numbers such as “Diane,” “Priest’s March from Athalie” by Mendelssohn; “The Red Mill” by Victor Herbert, and Sousa’s “Thunderer March.”

(Back in 1924)

By Otts Hulleberg

Camden High crushes Collingswood, 33 to 7!

Sounds good, doesn’t it, Purple and Gold fans? But wait a minute. That was “news” seven years ago, in 1924 to be exact, and for the last six years the shoe has been on the other foot.

Yes sir, believe it or not, the “Colls” have downed the “Purple Avalanche” for six straight seasons and suburban fans are just as confident that the present bunch of gridders under “Skeets” Irvine will run the string to seven in a row on next Saturday afternoon at Collingswood. Local fans, on the other hand, feel just as confident that all things must come to an end, and that this is a Camden High year.

Things were not always so. Camden and Collingswood have met on the field of battle 18 times, and the honors are all even. Each school can point to eight victories, while two games resulted in ties. Operations began back in 1911, but no games were played in 1919 or 1922, when the respective athletic directors were unable to agree on a suitable date.

It seems so long ago since the “Purple Avalanche” gained the upper hand on the “Colls,” that we are resurrecting that 1924 battle. It may serve as inspiration for the present Camden High team, and on the other hand it may make the 1931 “Colls” just a little bit more determined to win Saturday.

Come what may, however, here goes:

Locals Were Undefeated

Camden entered the 1924 battle against the “Colls” with a record of six straight victories under its belt, still smarting from defeats at the hands of Collingswood in 1921 and 1923, no game having been played in 1922. The last previous Camden High victory had been chalked up by Don Cragin, Doug Crate, George Grenhart, et al, in 1920.

Before game time, it was announced by Coach Phil Brooks that Capt. Johnny Carson and Bruce “Parry” Wallace, star backs, were nursing injuries. Carson, however, started at quarterback with Grover “Worm” Wearshing (present coach); Tony Gricco and “Reds” White as his ball-toting partners, while the line had Carl Purnell and Sam Godfrey at the wings; Ed Ferren and “Chinny” Weber, tackles; “Plumber” Jackson and Max Cylinder, guards and Pat O’Brien, center.

The game resulted in one of the worst shellackings ever handed to a Collingswood team, Camden scoring 250 yards from scrimmage against 10 yards for the “Colls,” whose backfield of Cliff Rubican, Herb Voight, Ken Brenner and Jack Moran was smothered completely. Camden scored 24 first downs against one for Collingswood, a forward pass on the last play of the game, Eddie Picken to “Toots” Shuster, giving the suburbanites their first down.

A case of “butter fingers” prevented Camden from scoring in the first half, despite the fact that the Brooksmen chalked up 12 first downs. However, the “Avalanche” rolled up five touchdowns in the last two periods on the same number of plays, Wearshing going over twice and Wallace, Gricco and “Cats” Winners each scoring one.

Wallace Goes Over

After losing chances galore to score in the first half, the Camden team began to click in the third period.

Taking Brenner’s kickoff on his own 20-yard line, Wallace returned it 15 yards and the locals then paraded down the field for the initial touchdown, with Gricco, Wearshing and Winners ripping huge holes in Collingswood’s forward wall. Wallace hit center for the score and Wearshing added the extra point with a dropkick.

Winners battered his way through tackle for the second score in the third period after an uninterrupted march of 50 yards, but Wearshing’s dropkick was wide to make the score read 13 to 0.

Soon after the fourth quarter got under way, Wearshing climaxed another long march by skimming around right end for the six-pointer and “Worm” kicked the extra point. A few minutes later, the locals marched from their own 32-yard line to the one-yard stripe of the “Colls,” Grieco smashing his way over and Wearshing kicked his third extra point. Then the score mounted to 33–0 when Wearshing climaxed another march by weaving through center for 18 yards and a touchdown. “Worm” again booted the extra point.

Near the end of the game, with nearly the entire Camden second team in action, Galbraith blocked Malmsbury’s punt, Shuster scooping up the ball and dashing 12 yards for a touchdown. “Chuck” Wise kicked the extra point to make the final score read 33–7.

All ‘Colls’ Since Then

And as we said before, since that decisive victory, Collingswood has held a “jinx” over Camden grid elevens. It mattered not whether the locals had a good season or bad previous to the annual conflict, those “Colls” just coasted to victory, despite the fact that in more than one instance the locals held their own in actual yardage gained.

So complete has been Collingswood’s mastery in the last six years that the locals have been able to score exactly 14 points against 92 for “Skeets” Irvine’s charges.

As to that 1924 season, Camden kept right on winning after that victory over Collingswood and the locals loomed a favorite to beat out Atlantic City for the South Jersey Class A diadem. It seemed that the entire City of Camden invaded the seashore for the fuss with Atlantic City which also was undefeated. What happened next has gone down in scholastic sports history as the biggest farce ever cooked up in South Jersey.

The Camden team, after a few minutes of action, was withdrawn from the field because of “raw” decisions by officials, and when all the fluff and flurry had subsided, Atlantic City was awarded the game by a 1–0 forfeit score, and with it the championship.

But that is another story. What we’re interested in just now is whether or not the local “Purple Avalanche” can duplicate the feat of the 1924 team — or whether the present Collingswood team will rise to the same heights enjoyed by the Blue and Gold machines of the past six years.

Saturday will tell the story!

Here’s the box score of the 1924 game:

Touchdowns— Wearshing 2, Wallace, Gricco, Winners, Shuster. Points after touchdowns, Wearshing 3, Wise 1 (placement)

Substitutions— Camden: Malmsbury for Wearshing, Lawrence for Jackson, Wallace for Carson, Winners for White, Wearshing for Malmsbury, Mozeleski for Gricco, Wisniewski for Weber, Gassel for Cylinder, Tommesetti for Purnell, White for Wallace, Smith for White, Egbert for Jackson.

Collingswood: Boggs for Wise, Pickens for Moran, Moran for Voight, Fortiner for Shuster, Wise for Boggs, Galbraith for Hood, Young for Webb.

Referees—Geiges, Swarthmore. Umpire— Tatnall, Haverford. Head linesman— Weller, Temple.

Click here for more about this game

Camden High School — Woodrow Wilson Junior High School — Leon N. Neulen — A. Gabriel Ungerleider — Cooper B. Hatch Junior High School — Elizabeth K. Williams — Harriet M. Reiners — Josephine H. Lewallen

Miriam F. Haines — Liberty School — Helen Ship — Fetters School — Olive W. McClure — H.H. Davis School — Sarah B. Grand — Yorkship School — Mary A. Becker — Cassady School — Elsie Schweitzer — Elizabeth O. Evans — Stephen A. Harding — Eleanor R. Kirkland — Ruth E. Callahan — B. Elizabeth Brown — John H. Reiners Jr. — Marjorie Van Horn — James G. Heard — Paul A. Shaffer — Ludmillie Thomas — Leon F. Marftin — Essie B. Morris — Helen Yoork — Charlotte A.B. Flack — Harriet J. Tobin — Paul E. Tweed — Edith D. Carson — Phoebe E. Carpenter — E. Woodward Wltz — Perle Titus — Mildred E. Wenz

Miss Annette Blaxland Heads Reception Committee for Affair on June 25; Dinner, Play and Dancing on Program; Frank Stevenson to Preside

Younger graduates of Camden High School have been named to the hostess committee for this year’s June Day to be held at the school, Park Boulevard and Baird Avenue, on Saturday, June 25.

June Day is planned by the Associate Alumni of the school as welcome to the June graduating class. The program includes a reception and business meeting to be conducted by Frank Stevenson, president of the alumni, a play and later dancing in the gymnasium.

Dinner, which in former years has been served members of the alumni in the gymnasium of the school, will be held this year at the Hotel Walt Whitman. The “five year” classes are planning special dinner parties as in former years.

“Kalana, Island of Destiny,” a musical comedy written by Robert M. Haley, is to be presented by an all-alumni cast under his direction. Mr. Haley is assistant musical director of the high school and a member of the Alumni.

In the cast will be Miss Dorothy Rodgers, Miss Constance Fish, Miss Dorothy Kritchmer, Miss Dorothy Kellar, Robert Gelston, Lewis Shearer, Russell Eisenhardt, Samuel McDermott, Harold Boogar, Walter Kruck and Thomas S. Weeks.

Edward O’Brien of Parkside is in charge of the dinner arrangements, and Miss Annette Blaxland is chairman of the hostess committee.

Hostesses will be Miss Margaret J. Rubino, Miss Ethel W. Dellmuth, Miss Ruth C. Powell, Miss Eleanor W. McLean, Miss Gladys Britt, Miss Eleanor B. Turner, Miss Ruth Keller, Miss Ruth Hickey, Miss Nellie G. Lucas, Miss Emily E. Dreher, Miss Jane N. Huhn, Miss Dorothy R. Pancoast, Miss Dorothy G. Hendrickson, Miss Marie Batten, Miss Louise J. Croneberger, Miss Ruth A. Myers, Miss Althea Saumenig, Miss Laura Pernier, Miss Evelyn L. Schwolow, Miss Dorothy M. Sexton, Miss Frances Warren, Miss Dorothy Heritage, Miss Dorothea M. Marlor, Miss Anna Smaldore, Miss Eleanor Malandra, Miss Dorothy M. McLaughlen, Miss Maud Crane, Miss Frances Lankford, Miss Evelyn Riddaugh, Miss Betty Hanna and Miss Mary G. Evens.

Ralph H. Suydam, graduate of Camden High school where he won fame as a football, basketball and track team member, received a degree of bachelor of science Monday at Albright College, Reading, Pa.

Suydam, who lives at 3803 Union Avenue, Pennsauken township, received state recognition as tackle on the Albright football team, playing three years. He also starred in basketball and track at Albright. He was a member of the Kappa Upsilon Phi Fraternity and Varsity “A” Club. After being graduated from Camden High school he attended Perkiomen Prep school where he also starred.

Three Camden residents, including two school teachers, were among the 4,000 students graduated from New York University yesterday at the 101^st commencement exercises at Ohio Field, University Heights, New York.

The Camden students are Miss May Marchant, 422 Linden Street, teacher at Woodrow Wilson Junior High School, Bachelor of Science degree in School of Education, Bella Polivnick, 1449 Ormond Avenue, teacher in Camden High School, Bachelor of Science degree in School of Education, and Charles E. Hutchinson, 1353 Park Boulevard, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering.

New System Gives Choice of Academic or Commercial and Arts Courses

SAVES $500,000 ANNEX, RELIEVES CROWDING

Hours Reduced; Study Programs Rebuilt; Omit Spanish; Music Optional

By FRANK SHERIDAN

Reorganization of Camden junior and senior high schools has been effected with the approval of the local and state boards of education.

By establishing the Camden Academic High School and Camden Commercial and Practical Arts High School the school population of the present Camden High School will be reduced 50 percent when the September terms begin, according to Dr. Leon N. Neulen, superintendent of schools.

It also will reduce the student roster of all junior high schools even with the promotions of this month added.

Saves $500,000

“This plan will give Camden room for expansion for years to come in high school education and preclude the necessity of building the $500,000 annex to the senior high school, plans for which have been drawn at the cost of thousands of dollars,” Dr. Neulen declares.

“It will eliminate a number of studies and give the students more education in the more essential subjects. The hours of instruction will be reduced from 30 hours per week to 23. The state law’s minimum is 19 hours.”

Dr. Neulen points out that 2400 students are now registered in Camden High School and promotions from junior school this month would have added 700 more. Under the new plan 1500 will attend the Academic High School and 1300 the Commercial school.

The balance will be redistributed back into the junior and seventh grade grammar schools.

Wilson High Commercial

The new plan will cause a general redistribution of pupils in East Camden because the Woodrow Wilson Junior High School will become the Commercial high. The present junior high pupils will be sent back to Cramer school, from which they originally were transferred. Students in the Garfield and Dudley Schools will take their seventh grade in those institutions instead of junior high.

Camden Junior High School No. 1, which now has 849 pupils, will have 730 next term. Hatch Junior High School has 1106 pupils now and will have 1127 next term. Woodrow Wilson Junior High School now has 970 pupils and will have 643 at the Cramer school.

Four Courses at Academic High

Dr. Neulen explained that the new Academic High School will teach four courses: College preparatory, college technical, normal preparatory and general. Students will be given four-year courses, in the first three mentioned courses and three years in the latter. Camden High is now a three-year school.

That will mean the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades will be taught in the college preparatory, college technical and normal preparatory and the tenth, eleventh and twelfth in the general course.

The Commercial and Practical Arts High School will teach commercial and practical arts courses in three-year courses in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth.

Practical arts will be taught exclusively to boys in the school because only 27 girls elected to take that course this year and they will be transferred to Academic in the Fall, Dr. Neulen explained.

Four Years Latin; No Spanish

The new plan provides for the teaching of general foreign languages but eliminates Spanish because of so few taking the subject. Latin will be taught four years, French three and German two.

A general business course is included in the plan known as introductory business to be taught at the Commercial High. Students will start this course in the last junior high year. The practical arts course to be taught at Commercial will enable a student to continue manual training and shop begun in the junior years. The student may elect from automobile mechanics and electrical, print shop or woodworking.

Art and Music Optional

Art and music no longer will be compulsory under the new plan. Students in Academic will be taught music and art appreciation during the first two years and may discontinue those studies in their last two years.

A complete business course has been mapped out for Commercial.

The students are given elementary business practice in their ninth year. During their first year at Commercial High bookkeeping, typewriting and shorthand is added.

During the third and fourth year they will elect from three sequences to fit them for secretarial positions and general business. Sequence A provides for the continuation of shorthand and typewriting in the third year and office practice is added in the fourth. Sequence B in the third year teaches bookkeeping, business organization and marketing. Common law, bookkeeping and practice is added in the fourth year. Sequence C provides business organization, marketing, exchange and selling. Commercial art and advertising is included in the fourth year.

As students advance through the Commercial course they may be transferred from one sequence to another. This will be guided by their adaptability or whether they desire to follow a secretarial or business career.

If students elect Sequence A they may have the option of bookkeeping or world history in the third year. Business organization may be taken instead of American history in the fourth year.

Commencement Next Thursday to Be Institution’s Farewell; Becomes Academic Next September; Veteran Teachers to Retire

Commencement exercises of Camden High School will be held June 22 when diplomas will be presented to 264 students.

It will be the thirty-fourth and last annual commencement as Camden High School. In September it will become Camden Academic High School under a reorganization plan that creates also a Camden Commercial High School, at what now is Woodrow Wilson Junior High School.

It will be the last class to be presented by Miss Clara S. Burrough, principal. She retires this month after 33 years as the head of the school and 44 years in the Camden school system.

Five Honor Students

The honor students are Esther E. Hill, Clara E. Marie Krause, Robert Knox Bishop, Caroline Emhof and Evelyn Harriet Ratcliffe. Bishop was selected by a committee of the faculty to represent the boys of the class and will deliver an essay on “Capital Punishment and Modern Civilization.” Miss Krause was selected by the committee to represent the girls. Her essay will be “Music and Moods.”

Judge Harold B. Wells, Bordentown, will be the principal orator. Samuel E. Fulton, president of the board of education, will present the diplomas.

The high school orchestra will present its annual program under the leadership of Miss Lucy Dean Wilson. Miss Wilson is also retiring after 37 years’ service.

The Graduates

The graduates are: Richard Adam, Nicholas Angelastro, Harry L. Bantle, Jr., Milton J. Barag, James Allen Barlow, Omar N. Barth, Leon Battaglia, John M. Bauer, Jr., Harold Berlin.

Michael A. Billy, Robert Knox Bishop, Alfred Bisti, Henry Blaszczynski, R. Walter Blattenberger, Samuel Joseph Bloodgood, Robert Lea Boertzel, Angelo Borghero, Thaddeus Bozymowski, Joseph Nicholson Bray, Harold Leon Brook, Kenneth Brown, Preston Huntington Brown, Allen Budinger, Joseph V. Caputi, John Carter, Otaldo Chierici, Alfred B. Christiansen, Jr., Samuel Cohen, William Connell, Leon W. Crane, Jr., and Louis W. Cranmer.

Alfonso John Davis, John B. Deacon, Morris DiAngelo, Filiberto DiMambro, Louis DiMartine, J. Donald Dollarton, William Dorfman, Frank Dunkelberger, Isadore Dvinsky, Melville Joseph Ellis, Louis Engleman, Gustave Essig, Charles Falkinburg, Paul Felsberg, Joseph Flood, Carlton A. Frew, Elmer Friedberg, Bennie S. Giletto, Horace Goehringer, Donald T. Gondolf, William H. Griffing and John A. Groch.

Michael Haday, Walter Hadtke, George Lynch Hallowell, Harry H. Haltzman, Ellwood S. Hare Jr., C. Albertus Hewitt, George Hildrew, Leon Hoffman, Charles Horwitz, Charles E. Howison, Herbert C. Hungridge, Albert C. Hurley Jr., J. Edward Jaques, Joseph Jensen, Robert T. Johnson, Morris Katz and Maurice T. Kirk.

Leonard Knecht, George R. Krattenmaker, Stanley Krystek, Joseph Lavitt, William F. Leidenroth, Paul Lightman, Joseph Litowitz, Stephen Lustina, George Edward MacKnight, Edward F. Mazur, Frank Mazza Jr., George S. McClain, Joseph McDermott, James McPhillips, Edward McVaugh, Allen R. Messick, Jr., Henshaw Miles, Lewes W. Miller, Louis E. Miller, Philip Moeszinger, William Russell Moll, John Murrow, Ralph Obus, Chester Orlik, Martin Parrangian and Francis Pomeroy Patterson.

Stanley T. Pawlak, Joseph Franklin Peel, James B. Peterson, William Pikus, Henry Pogroszewski, John Albert Quillin, Henry Redlus, Frank L. Helter, Wilson Allen Rickenbach, F. Leland Rose, Norman Rose, Bernard David Rosen, Milton Rose, Harold Raoul Rudnitsky, N. Harry Ruttenberg, William A. Samalonis, William T. Seaman, Jr., Carl Seifling, Alexander Serotkin, Harry R. Sharp, Jr., and Warren R. Smith.

Albert Soloff, Leon Sosnow, Carl Southard, Aaron Spiegel, Elijah J. Stevenson, Jr., Herbert Leonard Steelman, William Henry Harrison Swope, Harry Dudley Teat Jr., Preston Thomas Jr., John Tisso, Rico Tiziani, Ralph Troupe, Alfred Vitarelli, Samuel J. Watters, William C.R. Weber, Jr., Charles Wexlin, Charles S. Whiley, Howard P. Whilldin, Charles C. Wright and Leonard M. Zondler.

Mae Baler Anderson, Elizabeth Austermuhl, Edna May Avis, Sara T. Bakley, Rose Bardock, Rose Muriel Barnes, Ethel R. Bene, Mildred Berkowitz, Josephine Biasi, Martha May Bierschenk, Sylvia Evelyn Binder, Elizabeth Ruth Bobo, Frances Bonamassa, W. Evelyn Bond, Ruth Rebecca Brennan, Ann F. Budd, Louise Ellen Bunstein, Ruth Burgess, Dorothy Butcher, Dorothea W. Campbell, Rose Mae Carey, Martha Adele Chapman, Rosolia Cioffi, Bertha Carolyn Clayton, Mildred Adele Cooper, Julia A. Dahl and Helen Elizabeth Donaghy.

Jeanette Donien, Mary D’Oria, Sarah Hewett Doughten, Sara Duncan, Mildred Ruth Eggart, Martha Ellender, Caroline Emhof, Marjorie Euster, Anna Mae Joan Fields, Florence B. Fireman, Grace Fletcher, Bernice Fuhrman, Solo Gibbons, Rosalia Halicks, Florence Hallowell, Dorothy E. Hamilton, Olga Margaret Hardecker, Augusta E. Harrison, Beatrice Louise Hart, Grace E. Hemphill, and Anne E. Hesbacker.

Esther E. Hill, Lillian Viola Himmelein, Naomi Hofflinger, Frances Letitia Ingram, Mary Adele Jennings, Eleanor Margaret Johns, Mildred Ruth Jordan, Mary Louise King, Margaret M. Klenzing, Clara E. Marie Krause, Mary Martha Kreher, Ruth M. Lafferty, Minerva G. Lagakos, Mary M. Lambersky, Lola Eleanor Linthicum, Judith E. Lord, Dorothy H. Lynn, Elizabeth Maguire, Ida Elisabeth Marland, W. Bertha Mattes, Theresa Mazza, Ruth F. Melnik, Helen Mills.

Florence Molotsky, Miriam G. Morris, Eleanor Mae Nichols, Margaret B. Osborne, Dorothy Mae Osmond, Verna G. Otten, Alice E. Patryck, Amella L. Patten, Irene Peard, Beatrice E. Perry, Jennie K. Radziewicz, Evelyn Harriet Ratcliffe, Elizabeth M. Reid, Kathryn Van Dyke Richardson, Emma V. Riedinger, F. Mildred Riegraf, Emma Beatrice Ritchards, Marion M. Roberts, Doris Jean Rosenberg.

Sylvia Rosenberg, Jeannette Rozner, Catherine C. Ruggiero, Sadie M. Santanello, Almira M. Schofield, Kathryn V. Seybold, Ruth Lourin Shapiro, Pearl B. Sherman, Virginia N. Simensen, Lillian B. Simons, Pauline Lee Siris and Florence M. Skillon.

Angeleen M. Smiechowski, Mildred Elsie Smith, Grace V. Sochacki, Lillian Amelia Starke, Sally Stein, Irene L. Stern, Inez Rae Strubel, Verna E. Styer, Sabina Stypa, S. Frances Sullivan, Doris Gwendolyn Taylor, Betty H. Taylor, Geneva M. Terranova, Margaret E. Treble, Henrietta Varbalow, Cecelia Pearl Vaughan, Madeline Waeckel, Willetta A. Warner, Adele Alberta Wegrzynak, Rose Weinberg, Joyce V. Willis, Dorothy E. Wilson, Helen E. Yusk, Rae Zeit and Ruth Meriam Zilz.

Association Gives Banquet and Entertainment for 8 at Hotel Here

Eight retiring school principals were honored last night at a banquet in the junior ballroom of Hotel Walt Whitman by the Camden Principals’ Association.

Amid decorations of roses and spring flowers these teachers, who have served the city from 35 to 40 years, heard words of praise from their schoolmates and superiors.

They are Miss Daisy Furber, central school; Mrs. Margaret Thomson, Northeast; Miss Minerva Stackhouse, Davis; Miss Bessie Snyder, McKinley; Miss Clara S. Burrough, Camden High; Miss Helen Wescott, Mulford; Miss Loretta Ireland, Cooper; Miss Charlotte V. Dover, Washington.

Harry Showalter, president of the association, presided. Eighty guests represented the entire school system of 38 institutions. Showalter, Dr. Leon N. Neulen, superintendent of schools, and Dr. James E. Bryan, retired superintendent, joined in paying tribute to the retiring principals as having set a high example for Camden’s school system.

The male teachers serenaded the women instructors and vice versa with song. At the closing the teachers joined hands at the suggestion of Dr. Bryan and sang “Auld Lang Syne.”

264 Students Will Receive Diplomas at Exercises Today

LOCAL STAR ATHLETE WILL ASSIST BROOKS

Wearshing Shifted to Woodrow Wilson Hi; Lobley and O’Brien to Teach

SIAS AT CRAMER JR. WITH MARY LADEWIG

By FRANK KOPESKY

The appointments to the city’s educational staff announced by Samuel E. Fulton, president of the board of education, revealed last night that three former Camden High athletes are among the new appointees.

The trio are Mitchell Mozelski, Edward Lobley and Edward “Pat” O’Brien. In addition to the appointment of the above, shifts in the physical education department for Camden’s two senior high schools were also announced. Mozeleski, Lobley and O’Brien were stars of the first water while attending the local institution and also sparkled in college athletics. Mozeleski has been assigned to the physical education department at the Camden Academic High School at Farnham Park and will assist Phillip R. Brooks.

Brooks and Mozeleski will coach the various sports at the academic institution, with the latter more than likely taking over football and track and the former basketball and baseball. Brooks, however, will be in charge of the physical department.

Mozeleski comes back to his alma mater after having had wide success in college sports and in coaching. “Mitch” attended William and Mary College and captained the football and basketball teams in his senior year, while also earning a letter in track. Following graduation from the Virginia college, Mozeleski coached at a Virginia military academy.

Wearshing at Woodrow Wilson

Mozeleski is well versed in football and is expected to turn out a formidable team this year at the academic institution. Still, he will have to find plenty of new material, as a number of the present gridders have transferred to the Woodrow Wilson Commercial High School, located at 32nd and Federal Streets.

Grover “Worm” Wearshing, who assisted in the physical ed department at the local school during the past three years, and tutored the football and baseball teams, will take charge of that department and athletic teams at the Woodrow Wilson High School.

As yet no assistant has been named for Wearshing, but within the next few weeks an announcement will be made by the board of education.

Frank Sias, who was on the physical ed staff at the local high school and coached track, has been appointed as physical instructor at Cramer Junior High School and will be assisted by Mary Ladewig, another former Camden High grad, who has starred on the cinders for Temple University and Meadowbrook, holding a number of Middle Atlantic A.A.U. records.

Lobley and O’Brien have been appointed as teachers in grammar schools. The former will teach at Fetters School, while the latter will tutor at Stevens School.

Lobley and O’Brien Stars

Lobley, who was a three-letterman at Camden High, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and was on the varsity basketball team for three successive years, captaining the five in his senior year when the Red and Blue won the Eastern Intercollegiate Championship.

O’Brien, who was a star center at Camden High on the eleven, is a graduate of St. Joseph’s College, and performed for three years at that position for the Philadelphia institution. While both have been assigned as teachers, it is likely that they will build up a foundation of grammar school athletics, teaching the youngsters the fundamentals of various sports.

Fulton also announced last night that in dividing the present enrollment at Camden High into two separate institutions, that both will have the required number of male students to enter the Group 4 division in athletics.

Schedules are already being drawn up for football for teams at both the academic and commercial arts schools. Fulton also stated that in all likelihood the elevens of both schools will meet on Thanksgiving Day to decide the supremacy of the city public school football title. However, this cannot be decided upon definitely until the alumni agrees to abandon their regular Thanksgiving Day game with the senior high team.

Annual Commencement Gift in Memory of High Principal Decided On

In memory of Clara S. Burrough, principal of Camden High School, who died last Friday on the day her retirement became effective, students of the high school have established an annual commencement award to be presented to the student who leads in scholarship, character and interest in school activities.

Decision to establish this memorial to the beloved principal was reached last night by a committee of students.

The fund, which totals almost $700, had been collected by the students with a view to presenting a gift to Miss Burrough on her retirement. With her death it was decided to establish a lasting tribute to her memory.

The committee of students follows: Donald Dollarton, chairman; John Miller, Albertus Hewitt, Esther Hill, Bertha Mattes, Isadore Goncheroff, John Hall, Mary French, Stephen Shuster, Jack Sooy and Wallace Brewer.

New Athletic Grounds Are Grass-Covered and Completely Drained

An athletic field for Camden High School on par with the finest in the state is the object of members of the Board of Education.

This was revealed yesterday by Walter T. Gross, Superintendent of Buildings, who has been directing work on the project since March 6.

Faced with considerable expense in improving the old athletic field, negotiations were made with the Emergency Relief Board last Spring to secure labor from that source, and most of the work on the new field was done by unemployed men.

The new field, which will be in readiness for the forthcoming football season, will have a complete draining system and will consist of a football field encircled by a quarter-mile track.

The football field has been changed from its former location on the easterly side to the southerly side of the field and already is covered by a heavy growth of grass, which was not possible on the old layout.

Almost all the original plans have been carried out thus far, and only a few units of the proposition are still to be developed to make the field one of the best in the state.

Among those responsible for the new field are: Samuel E. Fulton, president of the board; William Wythe, treasurer of the athletic association, and Phillip Brooks, athletic director of the Camden Academic High School.

The field will be used by teams of both the Woodrow Wilson Commercial and Camden Academic high schools this Fall.

Members of Health Class Urge Areas to Cut Down Juvenile Delinquency

MRS. KOBUS’ AID SOUGHT

By E. CECILIA CUMMINGS

Camden High School senior girls in 12th year health classes recommend play streets, especially in South Camden, as a preventive measure for juvenile delinquency.

Death by automobile, vandalism and petty crime, they think, all spring from the same root—lack of safe places for supervised play.

This is a direct outcome of discussions in Miss Marjorie Van Horn’s health classes, and of a campaign whittled to make Camden residents “reform school disgrace” conscious.

In their study of child welfare, they have been impressed above the eyebrows by the effects poor housing, crowded conditions and lack of recreation have on health, and how all these tie together to mould the typical reform school occupant.

Discussions during class period weren’t getting them anywhere, however. Up spoke Frances Allebach impatiently: “We talk and talk, but why don’t we DO something.” She was promptly voted chairman, and Margaret Baker, secretary, of an embryo campaign.

But that was only the beginning.

It developed into a speech-making, propaganda-distributing, doorbell-pushing and petition-signing campaign, and it’s showing results.

A group went to Director of Public Safety Mary W. Kobus and asked her to authorize the roping off of little-traveled streets. Reconnoitering on auto trips, armed with city maps and pencils, showed them suitable locations for play streets. Mrs. Kobus promised them her hearty support, but reminded them the signatures of all residents on those thoroughfares were necessary to rope them off as playground substitutes.

Plan for Summer

They set forth in pairs to acquire those signatures, and obtained a high percentage, according to Miss Van Horn. Their present work is to complete the petitions, when they will again visit Mrs. Kobus. Since most school playgrounds will be closed, the play streets will be needed most in Summer time, and the seniors started their campaign early enough for it to be climaxed by then.

Indirectly, the need for more play opportunities has seeped out into county municipalities, Miss Van Horn reports, through Camden’s service clubs. Two seniors approached these clubs, various Parent Teacher associations and several churches, for their cooperation. Since numerous service club members do not reside in Camden, they carried ideas from the girls’ speeches out into the county, where they may take new growth.

Girls active in the campaign as speakers were Olive Patterson, Madeline Danner, Lois Davis, Dorothy Schoellkopf, Henrietta McCausland, Miss Allebach, Margaret Baker, Rose Shectman, Helen Brown, Mary Burke and Ruth Austermuhl.

So, that more or less theoretical, social service work which might be about as interesting as cold oatmeal, put these seniors all in a lather. However, graduation took some of them away from their pet project. To counteract this, the health department kept in reserve a volunteer group of 22 low senior girls to carry on their predecessors’ work. These girls became graduating seniors this week.

Campaign in February

Their definite work during February is to sound out all P.T.A. organizations, set their case before them, and encourage the members to sign petitions. Miss Van Horn’s plans make the campaign broaden during the next four months like compound interest—so that every city organization of any influence at all will be reached.

In their speeches to the various organizations, the girls emphasize that the largest one-age group of boys and girls in prisons is 19, and the second largest group, 18. More than half of all automobiles stolen, they have found, can be attributed to boys under 15.

Supervised recreation grounds in each crowded district, to keep idle youngsters out of mischief when not in school are the prime solutions to the increasing delinquency problem, the speeches assert.

Bertha Faber is chairman of a committee arranging dates for speeches and publicity. Posters have also been created and placed in approximately 30 Camden stores.

Appoints 2 Instructors and Pensions 2 Others; Wilson Enrollment High

The Camden Board of Education last night approved transfers of 14 teachers, the appointment of two new instructors and the retirement on pension of two others.

The board then adjourned until 11:45 a.m. today and it was announced the 1938–39 board will be organized at noon when Commissioner Mary W. Kobus is expected to be re-elected president.

When the report of the teachers committee making recommendations for appointments, transfers and retirements was read it was approved by unanimous vote and without comment.

Following the meeting Carlton W. Rowand explained that most of the transfers were made to meet emergencies in teaching classes at Woodrow Wilson High School, where more than 1500 students will be enrolled for the second semester, beginning today.

Rowand explained that enrollment at the Wilson school is the highest in its history, due to many students taking up English and commercial courses instead of entering Camden senior high school, which will have an enrollment of approximately 1540 students, the smallest in several years.

List of Transfers

Transfers affecting teachers in junior high schools are: Louis E. Feinstein from Hatch Junior High School to commercial business organization, Wilson High School; Frank E. Sias, from Cramer Junior High to physical education, Wilson High; Jessie W. McMurtrie from Cramer Junior High School, to physical education, Wilson High; Wilton D. Greenway, from Cramer Junior High School to mathematics, Camden High; Elizabeth Dickinson, from Bonsall; to English, Cramer Junior High; Mrs. Mildred C. Simmons, from English to mathematics, Cramer Junior High; Miss Celia Boudov, from Hatch Junior High to departmental geography, science, and penmanship, Liberty School; Mrs. Elizabeth R. Myers assigned to English, Hatch Junior High;

Thelma L. Little transferred from Grade 5 to Cooperative Departmental; Dudley school.

The following elementary school transfers, also effective today, are:

Beatrice W. Beideman from Starr to Sharp school; Mrs. Esther S. Finberg from Cramer to Broadway school; Dorothy M. Lippincott from Parkside to Dudley school; Mrs. Alva T. Corson from Washington to Broadway school, and Mary G. Cathell from Washington to Dudley school.

Teachers whose retirement was approved are Carolina W. Taylor, Grade 2, Broadway school, and William M. Thayer, mathematics [Camden] senior high school. Both teachers had resigned and applied for their pensions, the report read.

Appointments Made

Nathan Enten was appointed as physical education teacher in the Cramer school and Harry S. Manashil was appointed commercial teacher in Hatch school. Each will receive $1,400 annually. The board also approved the appointment of Florence M. Dickinson as principal of Lincoln school at a salary of $2,200 annually.

The assignment of Miss Grace Hankins as principal of Parkside school to succeed Miss Dickinson also was approved. Ethel Thegen was approved for appointment as assistant librarian at the Camden senior high school at a salary of $5.50 a day. All appointments are effective today.

To relieve overcrowded conditions among pupils the board approved the transfer of 7A and 7B classes from the Washington to the Cramer school.

The board voted to open a library in the Cramer school and Raymond G. Price, supervisor of building, was instructed to provide the necessary equipment.

A resolution of condolence upon the death of Ethel C. Wenderoth, for 19 years a teacher in the Broadway School, was passed and secretary Albert Austermuhl was instructed to send a copy to members of the deceased teacher’s family.

2 New Faces on Board

The board received and filed a letter from Mayor George E. Brunner in which he stated he had appointed Mrs. George W. Tash, Samuel T. French Jr. as new members and had re-appointed Robert Burk Johnson as a board member.

William B. Sullender, of the Tenth Ward, who was not re-appointed, was commended by the members for his services. E. George Aaron said he regretted the fact that Sullender was leaving as a member and wished him success. Others joined in this tribute.

Sullender in reply thanked the members for their co-operation during his term of office.

Honor, Merit, Scholarship Awards Made at Assembly by Principal Hopkins

Honor, merit and scholarship certificates have been awarded students at Camden High School by Carleton Hopkins, principal of the school.

Presentations took place during the school assembly on Monday. Certificates were also awarded orchestra and band members. Pins were presented to members of the Girls’ Athletic Association who had accrued necessary points. Camden High monograms were awarded to six girls of the association.

Honor certificates were presented to the following: Philip Levin, scholarship and student activity; Arthur Dorfman, scholarship; June Meunier, scholarship; Sara Cutler, scholarship; George Koehler, scholarship and student activity; Angelina Spina, scholarship; Carl Weyland, scholarship and student activity; Jacob Katzen, scholarship and student activity; Sydney Bush, Marie Richardson, student activity;

Betty Alden, student activity, art; Clara Paglione, student activity; James Wynn, student activity; Reuben Block, student activity, publications; Harriet Rupertus, student activity; Charles Ross, student activity; Walter Sobolewski, punctuality and attendance.

Merit certificates were awarded to Jack Gantz, student activity; Mary Mori, student activity; Betty Wittig, student activity; Mildred Bailey, John Visceglia, student activity; Laura Mutzer, student activity, art; Richard Barry, student activity; William Smith, student activity; Doris Krattenmaker, punctuality; David Babnew, attendance; Anthony Perrotti, attendance.

Scholarship certificates were given to June Abbot, Sylvia Cohen, Thelma Donohoe, Margaret Giannini, Betty Server, Joseph Armstrong, Wayne Howard, Nathan Shectman, Caroline Giordano, Bertram Ruttenberg, Frank Cecich, Clara Rubin, Laura Blank, Clara Cecich, Natalie Covert, Miriam Galloppi, Bernice Relkin, Ruth Steinberg, John Barnard, Robert Darlington, William Mandel, Eugene Schultz.

Orchestra members who received awards were: White certificates, Robert Lowden, Grayson Lutz, Edna King, Robert Darlington, Boone Clyborne, Howard Barrar, Robert Batten, Jack Abbott; red certificates, Joseph Zampino, Clara Rubin; purple certificates, Arnold Safran; gold certificates, Carl Weyland, James Riviello, George Pukas.

Band members were: Red certificate, Lynn Hewitt; gold certificate, Robert Lowden.

Awards made to members of the Girls’ Athletic Association included: Gold pin (60 points) Lillian Talbot; silver pin (50 points), Harriet Rupertus; big C’s (50 points), Patricia Barnet, Naomi Fritz, Dorothy Gehret, Marie Leitch, Dorothy Marthinson, Doris Stepler, Filomenia Zampino; C.H.S. monogram (25 points) Anna Hoffman, Grace Lamon, June Link, Virginia Raeuber, Betty Thomas, Gladys Cohen.

The Fathers’ Association of Camden High School will hold an annual card party and dance at 8:15 p.m. Friday in the high school.

Proceeds, according to S. J. Prevary, president, will be used to augment a student loan fund to aid students to continue their high school and advanced education.

Dancing will take place in the gymnasium beginning at 9 p.m., with music furnished by John Strang and his orchestra.

N. Parker Johnson is general chairman, assisted by S. Macintosh, W. Van Stan, C. Landenberger, Charles Gulik, Emmett Ross and A. V. Hammond.

Newly-Elected Governing Group Hold Session With Homeroom Council

State rethinks $120M renovation of iconic school

BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL, Star-Ledger Staff

For almost a century, the facade of Camden High School has towered over the Parkside neighborhood just southeast of the city’s downtown, offering inspiration to generations of residents as the community’s “Castle on the Hill.”

But it is a fading castle.

Emergency scaffolding protects students entering and leaving the school from pieces of plaster and masonry falling off the decaying high school. A new chain-link fence keeps pedestrians clear of other portions of the wall, and broken windows dot the three-story facade.

Now, officials at the state agency in charge of school repair and replacement in Camden are wondering whether the building is worth the $120 million experts have projected it will cost to modernize it.

“There’s some concern about the proper uses of limited resources,” said Preston Pinkett, a Prudential Financial Services executive who serves on the state Schools Development Authority board. “We should build in a way that makes sense, as opposed to throwing good money after bad.”

Pinkett suggested the $120 million the state plans to spend refurbishing the 92-year-old high school building might better be used to build an entirely new school.

Those concerns prompted the authority to hold off last week on advancing a $21 million plan to repair the high school’s crumbling facade. That work was scheduled to be a down payment on a subsequent $99 million renovation of the building’s interior.

“For $120 million we could build a 21st-century school,” said Pinkett. “As opposed to investing $21 million into a structure that is there that doesn’t address the needs of the kids.”

Camden officials, however, are adamant the venerable structure should remain, even as the school is upgraded to meet modern educational needs.

“This building is a symbol for the community; it’s an icon for the community,” said Camden schools spokesman Bart Leff, whose family has deep roots in the Parkside neighborhood. “This community is committed to the symbol of this building and the castle on the hill.”

“We’re trying to reach a common ground,” said Sen. Dana Redd (D-Camden), whose parents are graduates of the high school. “The castle is iconic. It represents a symbol.”

The drive to preserve that symbol puts Camden in conflict with state officials. After enduring years of criticism that they squandered millions in their effort to meet a state Supreme Court mandate to repair or replace hundreds of decrepit school buildings in 31 needy communities, officials are determined to wring the maximum number of school buildings from the balance of $8.5 billion lawmakers have authorized them to spend.

Early this month, for instance, state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said there is little chance the cavernous lobbies and other striking features that marked some of the authority’s early projects will be included in future schools.

And in Trenton, authority officials have been stymied for years over plans to replace the iconic Trenton Central High School building with a more modern structure.

“This isn’t just a program to build a school,” Kris Kolluri, the authority’s new chief executive officer, said during a recent visit to Camden High. “We need to figure out what the needs are.”

Scott Shephard, a 1978 Camden High School graduate who is president of a Camden-based sports and entertainment marketing firm, said the high school is “legendary” and holds a special meaning to thousands of alumni. He says he can understand both sides of the debate.

“I spent my four years there, I struggled, and now I run a huge marketing company,” said Shephard, who is organizing his 25th class reunion. “It’s nice to be able to go back and see that school and know that’s where I came from. Taking a school like that out of a city is like tearing down the house you grew up in.”

Shephard, however, also said that while alumni may “want to hold on to tradition, we need to do what helps the children the most. Maybe a nice state-of-the-art school is the way to go. You could do that and maybe keep up the front of the old building, so you keep the tradition.”

Redd, who serves on the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Schools, said she is willing to work with the authority to reach a compromise on the Camden High project.

“Certainly, we want to stay within the budget constraints,” she said. “But we need to make this facility adequate.”

Authority board members gave Kolluri a month to prepare a recommendation on how best to proceed with the $120 million earmarked for the Camden High upgrades.

He started that process within days, securing a commitment from Camden school officials that the venerable building will continue in use as a school if the state invests funds in the upgrade.

Now, he is grappling with the thornier question of whether the Castle on the Hill should remain. Already, he has identified savings that would cut the cost of the refurbishment to $109 million.

Among the most likely cuts: The decaying terra cotta adornments would be replaced with a cheaper, more modern material.

“Our job is to provide safe and efficient schools, and we will do that,” said Kolluri.

By Jonathan Tamari and Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writers

New Jersey officials are reconsidering how to use $110 million budgeted for refurbishing Camden High School.

Earlier this month, the Schools Development Authority, the state agency charged with building schools in urban areas, delayed plans to spend an initial $21 million to repair the high school’s facade, which in recent years has crumbled so badly it has been held up by scaffolding.

Authority officials say they are committed to investing in the 90-year-old school, but they have raised questions about how best to mesh efficient construction with preserving the building.

School officials and longtime Camden residents have opposed the idea of demolishing the building, known as the “castle on the hill” because its spires reach into the sky above the main entrance.

Yet building a new school could prove cheaper than refurbishing the old one.

“If you asked me on a personal level if I’d like to see the facade renovated and the rest of the building modernized, I would love that,” said Jose Delgado, school board member. “But that may not be the option I have because the money is finite and it’s somebody else’s money.”

Despite its academically troubled and chronically violent reputation, the 1,500-student school has a strong network of supporters and alumni.

“The community and the board want Camden High’s castle on the hill to remain the castle on the hill, at least the facade,” said Bart Leff, a spokesman for the district.

But the decision might not rest with the community. Authority and school officials expect to meet in January to decide how best to use the state money set aside for the school.

“Ultimately, our fiduciary obligation is to build schools which are safe, efficient and affordable,” authority chairman Kris Kolluri said. “We intend to do just that within the context of balancing the community needs with the needs of the students.”

Kolluri, who took over the authority at the start of December, hopes to spend a new infusion of cash wisely after an initial school-building program was mired in waste.

The agency, formerly the Schools Construction Corp., was roundly criticized for lax management as it spent $6 billion for schools in 31 mostly poor, urban districts.

Gov. Corzine recently approved $2.9 billion more in borrowing for those areas. State officials have made a point that they expect less-lavish plans this time.

“Our goal is to spend that money wisely and provide a 21st-century school,” Kolluri said.

By JOSEPH GIDJUNIS, Courier-Post Staff

Camden High School Alumni Association: www.thehighalumni.com

By Jonathan Tamari, Inquirer Trenton Bureau