50 years ago, we wore what at BFS Commencement?

BFS and the Class of 2014 may be gearing up for Commencement right now, but at this time 50 years ago, it was the Class of '64's big moment to graduate BFS. Fun to look back since many of our '64 alumni are planning to celebrate their 50th reunion on June 7 at BFS Alumni Day. And BFS is very fortunate to have both '64's commencement photo and the last edition of The Life for the 1963-64 year to shed a little light on how BFS celebrated the Class of '64 in 1964. BFS has neither complete collections of class and commencement photos nor of the student newspapers, so please share from your personal collections with BFS.

Commencement photo of the Class of 1964
wearing our school's former graduation attire of
black tuxedo pants and white suit jackets for the boys
and white semi-formal dresses for the girls
Photo donated to BFS by William Forgang, Ph.D. '64 (thanks again)

Commencement 1964 articles from The Life:
the guest speaker for the June 5, 1964 ceremony was
noted Quaker author and theologian D. Elton Trueblood, Ph.D.

Times change at BFS and everywhere else. The long-standing tradition of white dresses and jackets probably departed BFS Commencement around 1969 (this and other changes at graduation were intimated in the March, 1969 Life article "New Exercises"). Today's Class of 2014 will graduate with blue caps and gowns, a student-led decision and new tradition that began at BFS with the Class of 2007. 

Remembering Benjamin R. Burdsall, 1903-1968

Got to thinking about Benjamin R. Burdsall this week as our Upper School faculty has been doing its own thinking about recipients of our annual awards for the Upper School closing ceremony on June 9. Today seems a good day to remember who Mr. Burdsall was for so many at BFS and why BFS gives a scholarship in his memory. BFS encourages the entire BFS community to be deeply involved in and concerned with the life of the school. Among the myriad opportunities for involvement are celebrating reunions at Alumni Day and attending special events like the Spring Gala, giving annually to the Brooklyn Friends Fund, volunteering as a PAT class parent, a Brooklyn Friends Fund class agent or as a guest speaker at BFS - contact the Development and Alumni Office at 718-852-1029, ext. 211 or ext. 208 to learn about such opportunities and much more. BFS also encourages giving to the school to honor and celebrate special people and milestones in our lives. 

One special gift celebrated a 50th reunion and was sufficient to create a separate endowment fund which has enabled BFS to annually remember our 1934-1968 English teacher and Upper School Head Benjamin R. Burdsall, 1903-1968. Thanks to the generosity of the BFS Class of '49 in celebration of its 50th reunion, BFS has given an Upper School junior the Benjamin R. Burdsall Scholarship of $500 towards his/her senior year's tuition for the last decade. The recipient demonstrates the commitment to public service that Mr. Burdsall encouraged in his students and the scholarship helps BFS honor its excellent students of today who emulate the enduring values of a Brooklyn Friends education, the same values Mr. Burdsall helped his students develop in themselves. Through his actions and words and his deep sense of responsibility and commitment to international law and peace, Mr. Burdsall guided his students at BFS to a deeper and more internalized understanding of Quakerism, of what the values of integrity and excellence, compassion and community can help achieve for our own selves and for our world.

After his death, the Class of '69 included this line in their yearbook: "Benjamin R. Burdsall was a man of that peace and gentleness which inspired love in all who met him." One '69 graduate included the following on his personal page of that yearbook: "Mr. Benjamin Burdsall - The only person I had ever met who always had time to guide and advise no matter how complicated or trivial the question or problem." In the words of his student, the late L. Ronald Scheman '49, founder of the Pan American Development Foundation, "I am sure today Mr. Burdsall would be deeply involved in getting students to address the issues of climate change, nuclear non-proliferation, and education. In all, he was a man who, with his gentle, caring manner, opened the world to us and wanted to help his students to be positive, constructive global citizens. If he had the opportunity to talk to BFS students today I am sure he would ask them about their primary concerns for our country and for ensuring the health and safety of our planet. And he would give them a lot to think about to help them define the vision for their lives. "

For generations at BFS, Mr. Burdsall inspired many of his students and the Class of '49 was further inspired to give that inspiration back to BFS. How are we inspired today, individually and collectively, and by whom and by what? 

Tribute to Mr. Benjamin R. Burdsall from the October 30, 1968 edition of The Life

Mr. Burdsall must have had a fine sense of humor as shown
on the right in this photo from a 1940s BFS Variety Show

In Meeting
by Benjamin R. Burdsall
published in Friends Journal, June 15, 1968

My ship is now in harbor;

Its sails are furled,

And gentle waves

Make peaceful murmurings

Along the shore

My friends are here to greet me

And to tell

Of what is closest to their hearts

Now that the journey of the week is o'er.

Tomorrow I shall once more set the sails

And head again for an uncertain sea,

But I shall have a compass and a star

And vision that this hour has given me.

Join us for Alumni Day, June 7

Dick Begelman, 1968

BFS Alumni Day is June 7 and it will be a fabulous event as always. Our annual Alumni Day is for all alumni, faculty and friends. Alumni of all graduating years are welcome, yet Alumni Day is also the day for alumni class reunions. BFS often recognizes faculty at Alumni Day and this year we are delighted to honor Dick Begelman, English and Drama teacher from 1967 to 1988. Mr. Begelman will be there and we hope you will be too.  For more information, please contact Director of Alumni Lekeia Varlack, lvarlack@brooklynfriends.org. 

BFS Alumni Day Schedule, Saturday, June 7, 2014
1:00 pm - Alumni Basketball Game, 375 Pearl Street Gymnasium
2:00 pm - Tour of School Buildings at Pearl and Willoughby
3:00 pm - Meeting for Worship, 375 Pearl Street Meetinghouse
4:00 pm - Celebration of former Upper School teacher Dick Begelman
4:30 pm to 7:00 pm - Cocktail Party toasting Alumni, Special reunion classes, and Faculty

Thought it might be fun to take a look back at when Mr. Begelman first came to BFS. We are fortunate to have several issues of The Life from his first year at BFS, 1967-1968. Of course, Mr. Begelman had numerous mentions in The Life over the years, but readers can discover them and much more on their own in the Newspapers Section of the BFS Digital Archives. 

Mr. Begelman was first mentioned in the October 10, 1967 edition of The Life article, "Varied Backgrounds Distinguish Faculty" on page 1. Mr. Begelman was first hired as a reading specialist for the Upper School. At the time, the Upper School consisted of grades 7-12 and the Lower School, grades K-6; our Middle School was created a few years later. 

A terrific feature about Mr. Begelman, "Versatile Teacher Instructs in Reading; Experienced in Dramatics, Film-Making," is on page 2 of the March 26, 1968 issue of The Life, and it was written by Alexandra Levitt '71, author of the highly acclaimed, Deadly Outbreaks: How Medical Detectives Save Lives Threatened by Killer Pandemics, Exotic Viruses, and Drug-Resistant Parasites. On Alumni Day, perhaps we will learn if Mr. Begelman's favorite book is still "the dictionary." 

Hope you can join us for BFS Alumni Day on June 7!