The Park School of Baltimore 1912-2012 the Park School of Baltimore 1912-2012
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The Park School of Baltimore 1912-2012 The Park School of Baltimore 1912-2012 Published by The Park School of Baltimore © 2013 For the past 18 months, it has been our privilege and pleasure to work on 100. Our research took us from The Park School Archives, with its assortment of documents, correspondence, photographs, varsity uniforms, and costume designs, to historical newspapers, library and museum collections, and even eBay, where we found antique postcards of Baltimore scenes and sites from 1912. We visited iconic addresses from the school’s history, tried to place the founding fathers in their home addresses on Eutaw Place, and were intrigued by questions of genealogy, marriages, and the place of Baltimore in the social, educational, and mercantile history of the United States in the early 20th century. We debated details of historic proportion and the minutiae of grammar and punctuation. Our greatest challenge, however, was limiting ourselves to 100. It seemed like an endless number until we started making lists and quickly, instead of struggling to meet a goal, we had to start eliminating. Perhaps one day we will write the supplemental volume which will simply be entitled, Park School: Everything Else. We did not – could not – do this by ourselves. We must first thank Larry Gilbert, Class of 1967 and longtime Middle School teacher, who heroically and singlehandedly maintained and protected the school’s treasures for many years. The fine work of the History of Park FACAs (2008 and 2009) saved us hours of research time. Jennifer Vess of the Jewish Museum of Maryland and Jeff Forman at the Enoch Pratt Free Library were dogged in their pursuit of important photographs and historical documents from their archives. Glenn Dellon, Class of 1995, designed and produced this beautiful volume. Susan Weintraub is an exacting editor who (we happily learned) finds excitement and elegance in a well-crafted index. And to Joan Shaull – gentle critic and peerless proofreader – thank you. The truth is, this was the best assignment we have ever had. We came to Park with different perspectives – native Baltimorean and Baltimoreans by choice; public school, Quaker school, and Park School; archivist, accountant, and publicist; parents of graduates and parent of a Lower School student. But we were all absolute zealots about presenting Park School accurately and affectionately. We hope we have accomplished that.Happy 100th Birthday, Park School. Hillary Jacobs coordinator of centennial exHibits and Publicity Julie andres scHwait Park’s 40th anniversary class of 1968, P ublications writer was celebrated at May Day 1952 with a Lower MicHelle feller-Kopman School birthday cake. arcHivist ii iii Table of Contents From the Head of School 1 26. The Parents’ Association 39 51. Silas Marner 76 76. Monarch Festival 113 1. 1912 2 27. September 30, 1912 40 52. On Stage 77 77. Residencies 114 2. The Founders 4 28. 2901 Liberty Heights Avenue 42 53. Integration 80 78. Halloween 115 3. Dr. Hans Froelicher Sr. 5 29. The Progressive 45 54. The Hunter Moss Report 82 79. Boots 116 Education Association 4. The Progressive School 6 55. The Decision to Move 85 80. Learn to Think 117 30. Margaret Fulton Coe 46 5. Invitation to a Meeting 7 56. Robert A. Thomason, 86 81. Travel Near and Far 119 at The Phoenix Club 31. John Leydon, 48 Headmaster, 1956-1967 82. Dr. David E. Jackson, 120 Headmaster, 1922-1925 6. A Non-Sectarian School 8 57. 2425 Old Court Road: 89 Head of School, 1995-2007 32. Lunch 49 Campus Additions 7. Funding the New School 10 83. Logos 122 33. Integrated Studies 51 58. On-Campus Service 90 8. Eugene Randolph Smith, 12 84. Teaching Teachers 123 Headmaster, 1912-1922 34. World War I 53 59. Thinking Chair 92 85. Housing, Habitat, and 125 9. Math Books 13 35. The Depression 53 60. The Birth of a Nation 93 Community Service 10. Grading 14 36. World War II 54 61. Charles R. Callanan, 94 86. From The P.S. to Postscript 126 Headmaster, 1967-1975 11. Citizenship 16 37. Fundraising 56 87. Athletics 127 62. Vietnam 95 12. Health and Sanitation 17 38. Marriages 57 88. Daniel J. Paradis, 130 63. The Middle School 96 Head of School, 2008- 13. Advertising 18 39. The Mallonees 58 64. Woods… 98 89. Archives 132 14. Admission Application 20 40. Emmit M. Sipple, 60 Headmaster, 1925-1932 65. …And Water 99 90. Anniversaries 133 15. Tuition 21 41. Bonser and Ryan 61 66. Stewards of the Environment 100 91. 10th Anniversary 134 16. 3440 Auchentoroly Terrace 23 42. The Park School Bus 64 67. Appalachian Challenge 101 92. 25th Anniversary 135 17. Druid Hill Park 24 43. The Bus Garage 65 68. Camps 103 93. 40th Anniversary 136 18. Open-Air Classroom 25 44. Carpool 66 69. Dr. F. Parvin Sharpless, 104 94. 50th Anniversary 137 19. Sweaters 26 Head of School, 1976-1995 45. Horses and Other Creatures 67 95. 75th Anniversary 138 20. Shoes 27 70. Snow, Wind, Rain 106 46. Gardens 69 96. Park Generations 139 21. The Park School Prayer 28 71. Professional Development 108 47. Mr. Tom 70 97. Commencement 140 22. The Park School Song 31 72. Faculty Writing 109 48. Hans Froelicher Jr., 72 98. Graduates 141 23. Brownie 32 Headmaster, 1932-1956 73. Park Fair 110 99. Faculty and Staff Tenure 142 24. May Day 35 49. College Recommendations 73 74. Auction 111 100. The Park School 144 25. Founding Mothers 36 50. The Whole Child 74 75. Brain Thrust 112 Philosophy and Objectives Index 148 All images and documents are from The Park School Archives unless otherwise identified. iv v In 1912, a confluence of events in Baltimore led a group of enlightened men to consider the possibility of establishing a new school. Unhappy with the political machinations of the City Board of School Commissioners and the subsequent decline in the quality of public education, they determined that there was a need to provide a private school option, one that was non- sectarian, to accommodate Jewish students, who were either subject to a quota system or unwelcome at other private schools. They sought the counsel of noted educator Dr. Hans Froelicher, a member of the Goucher College faculty since 1888, who advised them, “The school you want to found, to be a success, must be a better school, better than any now in existence. It must offer a superior type of education, so superior that…[no one] can ignore it.” A century later, we mark the evolution of that school, The Park School of Baltimore. A search through the Park Archives, resources of the Enoch Pratt Free Library and The Baltimore Sun, and careful reading of documents reveals that throughout a century of transformative world events, the explosive growth in technology, and the expansion of Park’s curriculum, student body, and campus, we have remained true to our founding ideals and practices. This year of celebration involved hundreds of volunteers and hundreds of meetings. Thank you to the many alumni, parents, staff, and students who participated in the planning. To our Centennial Chairs, Kevin Coll, Linda Halpert, Margot Baylin Lessans, Class of 1980, Rahsan Lindsay, Class of 1990, and David Sachs, Class of 1988, thank you for your inspired ideas and dedicated leadership. To the authors of 100 – Hillary Jacobs, Julie Andres Schwait, Class of 1968, and Michelle Feller-Kopman – congratulations. This splendid publication illustrates Park School’s history with a selection of 100 ideas and documents, objects, photos, and memories that chronicle who we were and who we are. daniel J. Paradis Head of scHool Upper School faculty and Park’s first Headmaster, Eugene Randolph Smith (front row, center), in 1921. vi 1 1912 ≤ 001 / 100 In this untitled document, written for an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland, with Park’s 25th anniversary, the author a loss of some 1500 lives. Dr. Alexis Carrel (presumably Hans Froelicher Jr.) recalls of Rockefeller Institute had received his first the year of Park’s founding. international recognition by being awarded the Nobel prize. Romain Holland’s Jean “It was June, 1912. Taft was President, but the Christophe was the most talked of book of the rift between him and Theodore Roosevelt day, with Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome a had widened into a chasm, and a new political close second. Otis Skinner in Kismet was party had just been born at the Republican packing the theatres, and J.M. Synge’s realistic National Convention at Chicago. As an plays of Irish peasant life were attended by outcome, a Democratic Administration was scenes of riot – especially in Boston. about to be launched, which would see eight years fraught with drama and the stirring “Baltimore was agog and astew with the events of the World War, which was waiting to Democratic National Convention, which was cast its shadow upon an unsuspecting world. being held at the Fifth Regiment Armory. Finley Peter Dunne, with his character of ‘Mr. The Baltimore Sun was militantly forwarding Right This photograph of Dooley,’ was the humorist of the day. W.J. the chances of Governor Woodrow Wilson of Charles Street looking Bryan, picturesque in appearance and speech, New Jersey in this convention. The trustees north from Redwood and the delight of the cartoonists, was the of Johns Hopkins University watched the Street was taken during the 1912 Democratic political dark horse, always just about to outcome with special interest. Dr. Ira Remsen Convention. Courtesy assume tremendous significance, but never had just resigned as the university’s president of the Maryland quite making the grade. The self-starter for and there was talk of calling Woodrow Wilson Historical Society.