The Literary Life of BFS, Part Two

Delighted to follow up last week's post about the BFS Literary Magazine Collection by adding the years 1961 to 1974. Literary magazines of this period evidence an enormous change in BFS history: the late 1960s to early 1970s, when BFS shifted from a traditional college preparatory model to an incredibly progressive school. While many things led to this institutional shift at BFS, a few of the most pertinent were direction from the New York Monthly Meeting Schools Committee, Middle States Association's accreditations of BFS and general interest in cutting-edge progressive education.

This collection also contains a lesser-known student publication. Surviving in the BFS Archives are four editions of the 1974 BFS Upper School underground publication Friends Anonymous and its successor Friends Uncensored in which contributors revealed their identities. The Life (newspaper) was being published in 1974 and some might say it had a counter-culture feel, but Friends Anonymous/Uncensored took things to a very different level. Print has faded in sections, but issues remain readable overall. One Lower School Junior Level Magazine from 1973-1974 also survives in the Literary Magazine Collection in the BFS Archives.

BFS literary magazines have gone through many titles since at least 1971. Today our literary magazines are annual publications which include Wordflirt for the Upper School, Scribe for the Middle School, and Write Now for the Lower School and Preschool. Hopefully looking forward to publishing the rest of the BFS literary magazine collection next year. 

Please remember that the BFS Archives are incomplete: if you have copies of any BFS publications or class photos, please share them with the school here or by directly contacting me, Susan Price '86, BFS historian. 

The Literary Life of BFS, Part One (1926-1960)

All good things are worth waiting for, and our literary magazines are no exception. At this time, the surviving BFS literary magazines from 1926 to 1960 are available in the Literary Magazine Collection of the BFS Digital Archives, along with the 2003 edition of Wordflirt, the present Upper School literary magazine. 1961 to 1974 literary magazines will be added next week, but still later BFS literary magazines will become available as they are digitized. Quite a few BFS alumni have gone on to notable careers in the arts and publishing, worlds they often first entered at BFS, as shown in many BFS alumni profiles.

The literary magazines in this earliest part of the collection are titled Friends School Life. Originally published from 1919 to 1931, Friends School Life contained school news and literary submissions and was published quarterly in magazine format, with the final edition for Commencement (the BFS yearbook of the time). In October, 1931, Friends School Life became a traditional newspaper titled The Life, published 10 times per year and included occasional literary submissions. There was no dedicated literary magazine until the Fall of 1935 when student interest resulted in the biannual literary publication also titled The Life, a magazine similar to the earlier one, yet devoted to entirely to literary endeavors, and it replaced two editions of its newspaper sibling. 

A lesser known student publication, Junior Life, is also part of our literary magazine collection. Only the second edition of the Junior Life, from May, 1930 is known to survive: published biannually from 1930 to at least 1942, Junior Life gives insight into Lower School curriculum and activities of the time and was published by our our oldest Lower Schoolers, the 6th grade (the BFS Middle School was born with the 1968-1969 school year). The Class of 1936, as 6th graders, saw the possibility of a publication for the younger students of BFS and made it happen and they are the very same class that wanted and published our first true literary magazine as mentioned above, The Life in 1935 - only the second edition from its first year of publication survives.

Please remember that the BFS Archives are incomplete: if you have copies of any BFS publications or class photos, please share them with the school here or by directly contacting Susan Price '86, BFS historian. 

Celebrating a new BFS newspaper

The Willoughby Street Journal, the latest BFS student newspaper

BFS has a new student newspaper, Willoughby Street Journal. First published less than one year ago, Willoughby Street Journal, named for our present Upper School building, has started this new school year strongly. WSJ (of BFS) is published in blog format and features editorials, articles and reviews of events at and beyond Brooklyn Friends School. At BFS, student newspapers are a co-curricular activity, yet all know student newspapers are one of the great academic fruits of all schools. WSJ is a young publication and it is great to see journalism back at BFS! 

BFS students have published magazines and newspapers for over 100 years, of course. Our earliest publications - The Squealer of 1912, The Junior Outlook, and1919-1931 editions of The Life - seem to have been published quarterly in magazine format and apparently more focused on student literature. 83 years ago this month, BFS published its first student newspaper in October of 1931, The Life, which, along with later BFS student newspapers like The Panther Press can be consulted in digital format at the Newspaper Section of the BFS Archives.

School journalism of any kind is a challenging commitment for already hardworking students, as known by all who have ever been involved in student publications. Please read The Willoughby Street Journal and encourage our students' continuing efforts. A little poem found in the BFS Archives seems appropriate today:

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. 

BFS and the 1971 Bomb Scare

It proved to be a false alarm the morning of March 1,1971, at our historic home of 116 Schermerhorn, when BFS received a ominous phone call threatening, "There is a bomb planted in your building." The fire alarm was soon activated and the buildings were evacuated, searched, then given the all-clear and BFS was able to resume a normal school day. It all took about a half-hour in 1971 - seems amazing today, but it was a smaller building and we had fewer students and employees. The March, 1971 edition of The Life tells the story and readers can learn about one of the earlier middle school carnivals which raised funds for worthy causes.

Thankfully, it was only a scare at BFS in 1971, but a planted bomb was certainly possible at that moment: bombings and bomb threats seemed to be happening all too regularly, and often at colleges and schools. In fact, two very real bombings occurred only the night before the BFS bomb threat and are mentioned in The Life article. The first was the well-known bomb explosion in the U.S. Capitol building by the Weather Underground to protest the U.S. bombing of Laos. The second was closer to home that night before: the New School for Social Research in Manhattan was the victim of a pipe bomb explosion that was allegedly planted by Puerto Rican nationalists according to 2005's Political Violence and Terrorism in Modern America: A Chronology by Christopher Hewitt.

In case you choose to read The Life online, many articles in The Life at BFS, particularly after 1968, were written with tongue-in-cheek and were not meant to be taken literally.  "Bomb Scare Strikes School" seems to have been very straightforward reporting.

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!

For Earth Day, join BFS for an Earth Hour today, 1:30-2:30 pm Eastern

The Earth Flag

Today is Earth Day. 44 years ago on this day, BFS students were part of the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, and you can read all about it on page 6 of the May, 1970 edition of The Life and journalist Stephen Magagnini, BFS Class of '72, briefly recalled that first Earth Day in his 2002 BFS Alum Profile. Many of our Upper School students attended rallies throughout New York City that day, joining millions in raising awareness of the need for environmental protection and stewardship. One of the concerns students raised in that article was that BFS itself did not recognize Earth Day school-wide in 1970, but we do today as we have done for several years and we so hope you will join BFS today! 

In 2014, BFS reduces, reuses, and recycles as much as possible every day, but Earth Day offers a special opportunity to educate the BFS community about our environment and our world. Individual classes often approach Earth Day uniquely, but among our larger school-wide initiatives are several of note:

The amazing team in our Cafeteria has responded to Upper School students suggestions by providing strictly vegan offerings for the entirety of Earth Day, a first at BFS. Chef Tom Buckley wrote to our faculty this week: "This is probably the most ambitious Earth Day project that my department has ever been asked to be a part of...  Please show your support for what these upper schoolers are doing..." 

Also happening in the BFS cafeteria, middle and upper school students will compete in a food weigh-in to raise awareness of food waste. Lower and pre-school students have been welcomed to join the effort in their classrooms and several of our juniors are creating a video PSA to explain more. Waste is deeply rooted in the economics of our food system and between one-quarter and one-half of the United States' food supply is wasted or destroyed every year. A food weigh-in can help raise awareness of what it takes to get food to our tables and reduce food waste. 

And finally, please join BFS as it observes an "Earth Hour" from 1:30 to 2:30 pm today. All it takes is for you to shut off your lights, power down your devices and reduce your use of electricity for one hour. As Janet Villas, BFS science teacher and environmental action coordinator wrote of Earth Day this week, "... green initiatives should be part of our daily lives and not wasting food and shutting the lights for one hour is something we all can easily do."

And, if you can, get outside today. Whether it's sunny or rainy, we can each take a moment to renew our commitment as stewards of this planet Earth and in the hope of making every day Earth Day. 

Facing Truth in BFS History

1928-1936 BFS Lower School Scrapbook,
news clipping of the first May Day, 1928
"Emulating the May Day Celebration of the Early Settlers..."

Sometimes history reveals a past that is not always what we want it to be, even at BFS. A few months back, I wrote about our school's path to enrolling students of color, particularly to enrolling African American students. Honesty in researching, interpreting and presenting history frees us from the fallacy of unintentional reinvention while it gives us greater understanding of ourselves. My historical work at BFS often reminds me of the West African Akan word "Sankofa" which means, "We must go back and reclaim our past so we can move forward; so we understand why and how we came to be who we are today." I first came to know and appreciate the concept behind Sankofa when I worked as a historical researcher for the African Burial Ground Office of Public Information and Interpretation many years ago.

Great moments in BFS Basketball, 1925 and today

1925, BFS Boys Basketball Team,
with the Friends School League
Championship Trophy

It's a great basketball season for BFS teams, so today let's look back 89 years ago to February of 1925, when BFS won the Friends Schools national title in boys basketball by defeating Wilmington Friends. The BFS Digital Archives has this photo of our 1925 boys basketball team, with the Friends School trophy, which rests just outside our lower gym at Pearl Street today.

1947-48, the year BFS was nearly lost, Part II

Celebrating our school having been saved,
The Friends School Life, February 16, 1948

This week, I'm following up on last week's post concerning the discovery of the 1947-1948 Fight to Save BFS Scrapbook which allowed us to finally remember an incredibly important moment in our school's history. I'd like to share a few items since historical events are deeply nuanced and people's actions even more so.

1947-48, the year BFS was nearly lost, Part I

A jaw-dropping BFS moment of my last ten years working at my alma mater occurred in 2006, during preparations to renovate the MS/US Library on the 3rd floor of 375 Pearl Street. I came to work one day to find a large and worn scrapbook on my desk chair, accompanied by a tiny note from MS/US librarian Angela Ungaro which read, "You are going to love me." She was right.

100 Years of BFS - The 1967 Centennial

BFS Centennial in the
New York Daily News,
September 10, 1967
Click for the full PDF

Celebrating our school's 100th anniversary proved an incredible start to  the 1967-1968 school year at Brooklyn Friends School. An item related to our Centennial emerged while I was recently hand-scanning the tattered scrapbook from the late 1940s about the fight to save Brooklyn Friends School and the Brooklyn Meeting House from becoming the site of the Brooklyn House of Detention. This newspaper clipping from the New York Daily News, dated September 10, 1967, was likely placed in the 1940s scrapbook for safekeeping.

BFS Yearbooks - know all words are faint

These days BFS yearbooks are hard-bound volumes, about 200 pages in length, often have color photos, and provide an overview of the year for the entire school. The earliest known BFS Yearbooks, from 1927 to 1932, differ in many aspects from today's norm.

The 1927 BFS Yearbook was the Commencement Edition of The Life, which then was a quarterly magazine (an earlier blog post delved a bit into the history of The Life). The yearbook's focus in 1927 was on the senior class, with portraits of each graduate on individual pages, with their high school activities and a poetic quote for each. Other features of this yearbook also celebrated the graduating class and were yearbook traditions for several years: the valedictory, a class history, the class's last will and testament, and the class prophecy. Also included were an overview of the year in sports, the latest news at BFS, and, finally, charming advertisements from businesses of the day which were much needed as our students not only wrote all publications, but were charged also with raising funds to cover the costs of their publications through advertising, magazine sales and subscriptions.

History, Weiss Style - 40 years ago...

Welcome back to a new year at Brooklyn Friends School! For those who may not have attended opening days at BFS this year, Head of School Larry Weiss pointed out that it has been 40 years since he first came to BFS, at the start of the 1973-74 school year. Our former student newspaper The Life actually published the article below about Larry in its November, 1973 edition.

Our First Meeting for Worship, 1941

Meeting for Worship is such an important element of the Brooklyn Friends School experience that it is difficult to imagine that it did not exist in its present form at Brooklyn Friends School until October 30, 1941. We can thank Douglas G. Grafflin and S. Archibald Smith, two former BFS Heads of School, for introducing the Meeting for Worship we know today to both Brooklyn Friends School and

The Life, the paper of record

The paper of record at BFS was once known as The Life. An award-winning student publication,  The Life was published continuously at BFS from December of 1919 until, we believe, 1995. For its first 50 years or so, The Life was made available to the entire BFS community for a small annual fee because it functioned not only as a student publication, but it also chronicled school, parent and student events, activities for all grades, sports, alumni class notes, interviews, and much more. The Life became more student-focused after the BFS administration went forth with its own publications in the late 1960s.