It must not have been easy graduating high school in the middle of the Great Depression, even if you were one of the brainiest kids in your graduating class, as each of these 12 boys must have been. They’re part of Bed-Stuy’s Boys High School class of 1934.
Captions under the photo list the usual smart-kid school activities: tennis, orchestra, captain of the handball team, and something called “study patrol.”
In 1934 they would have been around 18 years old. If any are still alive, they’re in their 90s now. I hope they had good lives.
Tags: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Boys High School brooklyn, class of 1934, Scholastic Hall of Fame
April 22, 2009 at 5:28 am |
From a distance, Milton Ost looks a lot like Barney Fife. And Sidney Houben bears a mild resemblance to Charles Schumer.
April 22, 2009 at 7:06 pm |
It seems that David Grob became quite famous — Bronze star winner in WW II, pioneer medical researcher, etc. Died in 2008. The age, date of birth, etc seems to fit.
A newspaper articles is at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/07/AR2008040702730.html
April 22, 2009 at 7:29 pm |
I think you’re right; thank you so much for sending this article. And he does look young enough to be 14 in that school photo. What a life.
October 7, 2009 at 3:20 pm |
From the Summer/Fall 1997 issue of Long Island University Magazine,
“Class of 1941 – Robert Gemson, a retired Englishteacher, was honored with the DistinguishedAchievement Award of Boys High School ofBrooklyn. Since 1979,Robert has been directingthe popular variety show,“Have Cast,Will Travel,”which has been performed more than 300 times at community and senior centers.”
October 7, 2009 at 4:15 pm |
Great find! I would love to track down all these boys and find out how they lived their lives.
October 7, 2009 at 4:56 pm |
OK, let’s see if I can help. Here is the third one I found — an article about his wife in the Jan 21, 1952 issue of the Brooklyn Eagle (http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%205/Brooklyn%20NY%20Daily%20Eagle/Brooklyn%20NY%20Daily%20Eagle%201952%20Grayscale/Brooklyn%20NY%20Daily%20Eagle%201952%20Grayscale%20-%200548.pdf) with photo, top right, states that Harry Sand attended Boys High, his wife attended Girls High School, and he was a well-known Brooklyn attorney.
October 12, 2009 at 3:42 am |
Wow, thanks for digging that up! I love how they were sweethearts in high school and that their son was attending Erasmus.
I found two death notices in the New York Times archive, dated August 12, 1975, concerning Harry Sand, Flatbush resident. That must be our Harry.
November 25, 2009 at 4:04 am |
I’d love to know where this picture came from! My father was the Class of June ’42. Also Norman Mailer was a graduate of this school. I keep in touch with two old alumni who head East and West Coast Reunions for BHS. They love seeing any of these old pictures that I alert them to. Thanks for this new one!
November 23, 2010 at 6:45 pm |
My dad graduated from Boys High in 1946. He’s trying to track down some of his high school friends. What’s the best way to do this?
December 5, 2010 at 7:29 am |
If you email me I will give you the email addresses of the East and West Coast heads of the BHS Alumni Associations. Maybe they can give you some information. Randee….randini49@hotmail.com
March 14, 2011 at 9:22 am |
Wow, so there’s my Dad – Milton Ost! I never knew this; he never told us. Even my mother is surprised to see this. Not that we’re surprised to see him there as a ‘brainiac’ – he always had that great introspective analytical approach to things, always thinking .. something that has clearly rubbed off on me. He did have a good life, yes – active in radical politics (probably many of that 1930s graduating class did), then in the advertising world, involved with social movements in the 1960s. Died in 1987, Alzheimer’s, a tragic way for a ‘brainiac’, I think..
March 14, 2011 at 1:26 pm |
Thanks for writing in. Sounds like he lived a rich, full life. If you’d like more photos of your father, I can send them to you; I have his yearbook, and in my copy he signed his yearbook photo.
March 14, 2011 at 5:40 pm |
Hi, wildnewyork. I’m Milt’s older son; Dave’s brother. You’ve got a yearbook? Wow! If you could send a photo or photos of our father to Dave and me, we’d love that. And we’ll share it with our mom. Thanks!
March 14, 2011 at 6:13 pm |
Of course, I’ll scan any mention of your father and send everything to you probably tonight. There’s the main yearbook photo and a few other clubs/groups he was involved in. I’ll use the email address you used to send me your comment.
March 14, 2011 at 6:48 pm |
Great, wild. Thanks much. Send them to me (boojum8@aol.com) and then I’ll share them with Dave and my mom.
Regards,
Fred Ost
Skokie, IL
March 15, 2011 at 10:07 am |
Hi wildnewyork. I got the four mentions of my father that you sent, and I forwarded the email to my mom and brother. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this; we really appreciate it!
Fred