1959 8th Grade Promotion Exercises

A Spring, 1959 photo of two students in the 1959 8th grade class: Seth McQuillan and Judy Delph (photo courtesy of Seth McQuillan)

Stockton School appears to have been only Kindergarten to 6th grade from its opening in 1905 until 1958, but after Stockton School West was built next to The Oval in 1958, 7th and 8th grades were added for the 1958/59 school year (the 8th graders had been at Columbian School for their 7th grade year). In 1959/60 the 8th grade was back at Columbian and Stockton became K to 7th. So the 8th grade graduation/promotion exercise was the first (and maybe only) of its kind at Stockton.
 

W. (William) George Hayward had been principal 1952 to 1955. Paul (Paul Alfred) Shelly was principal from 1955-60. Rev. Clark Van Auken was the minister for Park Avenue Methodist Church at the corner of Park Ave. and Grove St. (promotion exercises documents courtesy of Seth McQuillan, a member of the 1959 class)

Above:1959 graduation photo (right and left sides of original) above courtesy of Mary Keogh, a member of the class

Below: the two halves stitched back together using software ("stitching" courtesy of George Morgan)

1st row: Janice Korten, Mary Ann Griesinger, Maxine Gilchrist, Melinda Rudzinski, Lorraine Tate, Patricia LaBrew, Sheila Alston, ? , Betty Dunston, Sandra Grief,  Roberta Smith, Carole Sullivan, Judith Delph, Mary Keogh, Patricia Burke, Jean Anderson, Emma Bindi, Anna Janulis, Sandra Thomas, Claudine Cummings, Joyce Hines, Carol Nixon, Francine Watson;

2nd row: ?, Stephen Ferguson, Edward Johnson, Lawrence Davis, Donald Critchett, Peter Cino, Richard Reaves, James Pendorf, Frank Pendorf, George Alger, Seth McQuillan, Salvatore Meola, Michael Ehert, Steve Lowry, Gabriel Petrocelli, William Hoffman, Oreste Avallone (Orey), David Delph, William Abele; 

3rd row: Anthony Badalamenti, Kenneth Ruth, Alex Nastasi, Robert ?, Douglas Herig, Robert Gibson, Steve Polychrony, William Gerulsky, James Stark, ? , Thomas Parciak, Paul Pearsall, Luke Byrne, James Dowling

Photo identifications will be added or corrected as new information is received

As many as 15 students of the 73 names that appear on the promotion list are not in the above photo. A retyping of the 1959 list appears below.

1951 Stockton Annex

 A 1946 report showed that the Stockton student population had remained steady at between 390 and 450 for 20 years,* but officials knew the baby boom was coming and plans were made for adding on to the school. One plan even suggested closing Greenwood Ave from Grove Place to 19th Street to tie the school directly to The Oval playground (and possibly include a branch of the public library). In January 1951, the annex opened and housed kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade classrooms along with a library and an auditorium. The old auditorium had been on the 3rd floor of the 1905 building and was converted into a gymnasium. (the boys' and girls' gym(s) had been in the basement)

*Reports between 1905 and 1922 show Stockton having as many as 650 students enrolled at times.

 

The hexagonal shape of the classrooms was considered revolutionary at the time. Acting like a bay window, the shape of the room and the glass blocks above the windows brought in much more natural light and the room shape also allowed flexibilty in the arrangement of desks, tables and other classroom furniture. The architect for the project was Emil A Schmidlin,* an East Orange resident;   Dr. Henry E Kentopp, Superintendent of Schools, coordinated the planning process. 

Above photo From Progressive Architecture February 1953

* Mr. Emil Schmidlin (1907-1988), who supervised an architecture firm in East Orange, N.J., for more than 50 years, designed many of the first garden apartments and split-level homes in New Jersey, as well as schools and public and commercial buildings throughout the United States. The Swiss-born architect also designed several futuristic model homes, including a 1949 Pacesetter house in Orange, N.J., with a climate-control system and underground wiring to melt snow, and the Formica house for the 1964 New York World's Fair. (from his NY Times obituary)

Beginnings of The Oval Playground

In 1907 East Orange decided to purchase the land for the playground known as The Oval. At that time, the property (the land was part of the Aaron Peck estate) was already an athletic field called the "Orange Oval" and had been used by the Orange Athletic Club (the Club was referred to as "now defunct" in the City's 1907 playground planning documents) and others since about 1887 for football, baseball, bicycle races, and other sports. Formally named the "East Orange Playground," during its lifetime it's also been referred to as The Oval, The Orange Oval, The East Orange Oval, and The Grove Street Oval. The planners moved quickly, and the playground was dedicated on September 7, 1908.

Photo 1: Grandstand (seating capacity, 1800); Photo 2: Dedication Day (Sept 7, 1908) as seen from the Grove St Lackawanna Station; Photo 3: Dedication Day ball game between the State Senate and General Assembly, view from the Grandstand looking toward Greenwood Ave; Photo 4:  Dedication Day view of The Grandstand; Photo 5: Tennis courts as seen from the Grove Place entrance looking toward Grove Street. (photos are from 1908 and 1909 Annual Reports of the East Orange Board of Playgrounds Commissioners which are available at books.google .com)

Above photo: From the magazine Suburban Life, July 1912; view is looking toward the Grove Place entrance with grandstand just out of photo to the left

Above in the background: there was a carpentry business adjacent to The Oval behind the houses along Greenwood Avenue

　

1945 Proposal For Stockton School and The Oval

http://www.eohistory.info/EOTimeLine/1945-46School-RecReport/1945-46Report.pdf

Neighborhood Kids and Stockton Students, 1950's

Circa 1953: Left to right: Gerald Kamowski, Yvonne Klika, Jeff Smith, Jimmy Klika, small boy (name unknown; well, not remembered); the Klikas were our next door neighbors and moved to Belleville and then to Bloomfield in the 1950's

Above: John Tenney, circa 1959;
John lived on 15th or 16th St
between William St and Eaton Place


Left, circa 1951, Jeff Smith and Mark Lewis, backyard of 141 William Street. In the early 1950's, the Lewis family, Stan, Phyllis, and children Mark and Margie, moved to Caldwell and then to Mendham (Ironia Road).

The Draney family, Kenneth, Margaret, and son Bobby, then moved into that home. Robert Draney was a 1961 graduate of East Orange High.

Left, circa 1951, Jeff Smith and Cocker Spaniel named Blackie, back steps of 145 William St.


Some other neighborhood kids and Stockton students remembered from the 1950's but without blog photos: Nancy Ferrer (moved to Chatham and then Tommy and Carl Aiken's family moved into that William St house), Stevie Trask, Janice Harris, Yvonne Patterson, John Walker, Tommy Cosgrove (moved to Nutley about 1959), Don Orne, Johnny Rich and Maureen Rich (brother and sister who moved away in late 1950's, possibly to FL), Roger Young and Robin Young, twin brothers who lived on Vernon Terrace, Frank Wallenstein, Johnny Petrocelli, Warren Davis, John Lapointe, Chuckie Titus, Oscar McBride, Martha Vanderhoof (moved to Livingston about 1959). The 1965 EOHS yearbook is available on Classmates.com with senior photos of above students Janice Harris, Yvonne Patterson, Warren Davis, and Carl Aiken plus senior photos of students whose childhood photos appear in other posts on this blog including Sandra Ruffin, Pat Quinn, Robert Cunliffe, Tommy Aiken, and Alison Bedkowski.

Birthday Party in Backyard of 145 William St, 1954

One advantage of our house on William St is that I could get to The Oval in less than 30 seconds. In the first photo below my grandmother is standing in front of my secret passageway to The Oval. Squeeze through the opening between the tall white picket fence and the concrete block garage, scoot along the side of that white frame garage, run down the homeowner's driveway and I was immediately on Grove Place across from the Grove Place entrance to The Oval.

Above photo: Left side: Bobby James, Peggy Hackett, Jeff Smith (standing), Gerald Kamowski (glasses), 2 small boys (names unknown but one is possibly Stevie Trask); Right side: Pat Hackett, Barbara James, Harriet Albert, and Walter Albert. The woman in the above photo and the bottom right photo is my paternal grandmother, Elizabeth C Smith nee Rachel Weinglass. She lived in Hasbrouck Heights.

3rd Grade Students 1955-56 teacher: Bess R Orr

Top Row: Tommy Aiken, Robert Cunliffe, Lee Neal, Margaret ?; Bottom Row: Jeff Smith, Sandra Ruffin , Pat Quinn, Alison Bedkowski 

Right: Olivia D'amico

Velma Anne Todd, kindergarten teacher

Velma Anne Todd: Born in Banner, Kansas on Feb 25, 1910 to Francis Marion Todd and Rosa Gertrude Berger, she passed away on Dec 13, 1998 in Jamesburg, NJ.

Post about Miss Todd and her 1952/53 Morning Class here.

Photo of her 1946/47 Class Here

Principal Paul Alfred Shelly: July 5, 1926-January 20, 2005

 "Paul Alfred Shelly, one of New Jerseys most revered 20th century education leaders, 78, died Jan. 20, 2005, in Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown. Born in Quakertown on July 5, 1926, he grew up in Coopersburg. He was an associate professor of educational administration at Kean College, Union, N.J. Previously, he was superintendent of schools in Paramus, N.J., 1971-85. Prior to that, in Montclair, N.J., he was superintendent of schools, a director of curriculum, a director of instruction and Edgemont School principal, 1960-71. He began his career in 1950 as an educator in East Orange, N.J., later becoming principal of Stockton School in East Orange, 1955-60. At 26, he became one of the youngest elementary school principals in New Jersey at Ocean Grove School, Neptune, N.J. He received his B.S. in 1950 from Kutztown University and his masters degree in school administration from Lehigh University. His doctoral level work was in curriculum and supervision at Teachers College, Columbia University, 1956-60, and Rutgers University, 1965-70. He oversaw racial integration of Montclair schools in the turbulent late 1960s and was an early advocate of the Magnet School of incentive approach to integration."

(text summarized from an online obituary at The Morning Call)

Photo courtesy of the Shelly family

Stockton School West 1958

When they were finishing the separate, new section of Stockton in 1957 or 1958, the section next to The Oval, before there were walkways and landscaping, the building was locked but a couple of us found out that there was some kind of concrete tunnel you could drop into to get into the basement and then up into the new building. We were among the first kids to tour the new building and were very proud of (and a little guilty about) our caper. They put only the lower grades over there and it had its own library; those of us sixth graders who had worked in the main building library in 5th grade were allowed to go over and run the new little library.

The design of the building duplicated the revolutionary hexagonal classroom shape of the 1951 Stockton annex. (See blogpost on May 31, 2011 for more info on the design)