This Web site is by and for the students of the Hunter College Elementary School Class of 1947.
HCES is New York City's famous experimental teaching school for intellectually-gifted children. Our Class of 1947 was the first of its high-IQ-selected classes to graduate with attendance all the way from Kindergarten. We received unusual attention then, and some professional studies later.
In August 1999, some HCES '47 graduates began to reassemble a comprehensive list of our old classmates. We want to say hello to each other, so please help us to complete this list!
A First Class of 1947 Reunion was held in NYC on Friday, June 8, 2001. Contact was Aben Rudy, 11Z (see below).
An Informal 11X Reunion was hosted in Westbury, Long Island on Sunday, June 24th, 2001. Contact was Alice Lowenbraun Funk, 11X (see below).
*
The
School
(HCES descriptions, building photos
and Web
links)
*
Professional
studies of HCES (and our class)
*
Our
classmates
*
To
volunteer further information, etc.
The School (HCES descriptions, building photos and Web links):
HCES Newsletter (first issue is May 2001)
"Genius School", Life Magazine, March 22th, 1948, pp.113-117 (not March 27th, as published in some books!).
During the past decade Hunter College in New York City has
been
interested
in finding ways and means of conserving and developing the superior
abilities
of mentally gifted children. Ever since 1941, when the Hunter College
Elementary
School was set up as an experiment for the education of the gifted, the
school has been making a contribution to the existing knowledge about
these
children. The study has had the aid and support of many persons who
believe
that the cause of democracy will be furthered by better provision for
training
the gifted. The school, now internationally known as a laboratory for
the
study of gifted children, has steadily exerted leadership in all phases
of experimental work with the gifted; it has served as a center of
information
about the gifted, as a training center for teachers of the gifted, and
as a source of assistance to other institutions working toward the same
goals.
The following HCES teachers (and our HCES
Principal, Dr.
Florence N. Brumbaugh) participated in the workshop and served on the
committees
that prepared the preliminary report: Margaret Maybury, Gertrude
Czinner,
Nancy Farris, Elaine Pairaudeau, Alice Hunt, Margaret Rooney, Elizabeth
Barry, Gertrude Dever, Katheryn Fitzpatrick, Helene Kilcullen, Grace
Crystal,
Julia Duffy, Jane Carey, Catharine Carney, Lillian Rice, Providence
Gambaro
Rini, Marie Boylan, Anna C. Chandler, Minnie R. Hopstein, Helen
Rustland,
William Pollard, Mary Burgess.
(From the 1952 preface to Educating
gifted
children at Hunter College Elementary School.)
From 68th to 69th, from Lexington to Park,
There stands an elementary school that makes its own landmark.
Chorus:
Oh, Hunter, you we hail. Your precepts never fail.
Alma Hunter! Oh, Alma Hunter! You're our Mother School!
(As we sang it then.)
Hunter College Elementary School initiated its new policy as a
school
for the intellectually gifted in 1941... High-IQ children residing
within
specified geographical parameters (including most of Manhattan) were
solicited,
screened, and selected. Three floors of a wing of Hunter College's new
Park Avenue building ... were allocated to the new school. Within
minutes
of the finest museums, art galleries, libraires, and theaters, Hunter's
high-rise campus held promise for its newest clients as a facility that
offered better and more numerous cultural resources than perhaps any
other
in the world.
Requirements for admission to
Hunter's campus
school were so stringent that it earned a reputation as one of the most
highly selective grade schools in the nation... A score of 130 or above
on the individually administered 1937 revision of the Stanford-Binet
test
(Form L-M) was required for entrance... The second screening involved
detailed
observation and interviews with parent and child.
(from Genius Revisited; High IQ Children Grown Up)
Hunter College Elementary School, New York City, is a lab
school for
gifted children. In general, the children who attend Hunter
College
Elementary School are self-motivated, independent, and inventive. They
tend to be curious, persistent, and questioning youngsters who love the
challenge of learning new concepts. They often have artistic/creative
talents
in addition to their strengths in school tasks. Most of the students
have
outstanding verbal skills and have developed large vocabularies. The
children
are also characterized by having good memories and exceptional critical
thinking skills.
(From Hunter College's own current HCES Web site)
The Hunter College Campus Schools (HCCS) consist of an
elementary
school
(nursery grade 6) and a high school (grades 7-12), with enrollments
of approximately 360 and 1,200 students, respectively. The schools are
publicly
funded (tuition-free), chartered by the Board of Trustees of the City
University
of New York, and administered by Hunter College. The Campus
Schools
serve as coeducational laboratory schools, organized as research and
demonstration
centers for students who exhibit superior cognitive ability.
History of the Campus Schools
In 1869, The Female Normal and High School was established to educate
young women for the teaching profession. In 1870, the name was changed
to the Normal College of the City of New York; the school encompassed
both
high school and college-level courses. In 1902, the high school and
college
courses were separated. In 1914, the High School and the College were
named
for their first president, Dr. Thomas Hunter. The High School was
officially
designated as a "laboratory school for the education of intellectually
gifted girls" in 1955, and in 1974 boys were admitted for the first
time.
For many years Hunter College High School and Hunter College were on
the
same campus. Since 1977 the Campus Schools (Hunter College Elementary
and
Hunter College High School) have been located on 94th Street, between
Park
and Madison Avenues in Manhattan.
Hunter College High School is a combination junior and senior high
school. It is a six-year program that begins in the seventh grade. Each
year approximately 2,500 sixth-grade students from the five boroughs of
New York City take the Hunter College High School entrance exam,
competing
for roughly 240 spaces in the entering class. The seventh grade is the
only entry point. Students must remain New York City
residents as
long as they are in attendance.
Hunter College Elementary School was established in 1870 as part of
the Hunter College Teacher Education Program. It was
originally
known
as the Hunter Model School; its name changed to its present form in
1941.
Its curriculum includes instruction in foreign languages, art, computer
technology, math, music, science, and physical education. Children
who are admitted to the HCES may continue their education at the high
school
as long as academic, residency, and personal conduct requirements are
met. The elementary school is open to students who live in Manhattan.
(From a 2001 news
release:; but note that a lot more than the name changed in
1941!)
|
|
|
Richard Miller's June, 2001 photographs of the 69th Street entrance to Hunter College: looking west past Park Avenue to Central Park, the side entrance just to its east, and a close-up of that side entrance. Hunter College Elementary School has moved elsewhere, but you can still see where the words "Elementary School" once welcomed us into that side entrance (and the elevator to our upper floor) every school morning.
Professional studies of HCES (and our class):
"A
School for Gifted
Children",
Childhood
Education (20:325),
1944 Dr. Florence
Newell Brumbaugh.
Educating
gifted children at Hunter College Elementary School,
1952 Hildreth,
Gertrude Howell,1898- [LC3983.N4 H5 1952].
Educating
gifted children at Hunter College Elementary School,
1970 by Gertrude
Howell Hildreth, in collaboration with
Florence Newell
Brumbaugh and Frank Thompson Wilson [LC3995.N5 H5 1970].
The
Hunter College campus schools for the gifted : the challenge of equity
and excellence,
1992 Elizabeth
Stone [LD7501.N5145 S76 1992].
Genius
revisited : high IQ children grown up,
1993 Rena
Subotnik,
Ellen Summers, Lee Kassan and Alan Wasser
[BF723.G5 G365 1993].
A Brief History of the Education of
the Gifted Child,
2004? by Ellen Summers
(from its pp.16-18)
In
1940 a conference on the gifted paid homage to Dr. Leta S.
Hollingworth of Teachers College, Columbia, who administered the
Speyer School, an experimental venture in a public school that
catered to the highly gifted student. The classes, called Terman
Classes, in recognition of the man who had brought a wealth of
valuable information to the field of gifted education, were centered
around a course of study inspired by Dr. Hollingworth’s “belief
that high ability students should be provided with an educational
program that promotes both cognitive and affective development”
(White, Renzulli, p. 89). Enrichment, rather than acceleration, was
the key change in philosophy practiced and advocated by those who
observed the Terman Classes.
Dr. Hollingworth and Dr. Jacob Theobald, principal of P.S. 165 in Manhattan, initiated a project whose goal was to carry on an intensive study of the gifted. Having intensively investigated those children of prodigious mentality, with IQs of 180 or higher, Dr. Hollingworth was singularly equipped to contribute to the field. She offered a course on educating gifted children at Columbia University, and experimented with the gifted of The Speyer School (a component branch of P.S. 55, established at the end of the l9th century) that set the stage for a 1935 policy of providing special classes for the gifted.
Before l940, Hunter College administered a model elementary school to serve as a training ground for its students intending to become teachers. As a result of Dr. Hollingworth’s Speyer School work, it was revealed that among many other factors, highly gifted children present special challengers to teachers, administrators and to themselves; that to a large degree, the success or failure of such students later in life is contingent upon their early education; the earlier the recognition and tailoring of special programs for the gifted, the better for them; those who have made the best adjustment in life are those who received parental and professional recognition early and were guided by those experts of gifted education; and the most well adjusted students of superior intellect are those who are educated with their peer group, a relatively small but elite portion of the general population.
The Hunter College Elementary School administration decided to devote their efforts in the Model School to serve high IQ children from nursery school to sixth grade. New York City schools in the private sector, while not specifically exclusive to superior students nevertheless attracted and enrolled a major portion (75%) of the gifted. Horace Mann and later The Lincoln School, both under the auspices of Teachers College, attracted students who exhibited superior intellect. Townsend Harris High School, Stuyvesant High, The Bronx High School of Science and Brooklyn Technical High School later followed the pattern of accepting only the most outstanding of students from the elementary schools of New York City. While schools like Townsend Harris, Bronx Science, Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech were designated for boys only, Hunter College High School was established solely for girls of exceptional ability in 1955. It later became co-ed along with the aforementioned schools.
[ARMiller- Apropos the final two sentences above, Susan Berlin (HCES 1947, 11X) notes that Hunter's JHS and HS required high scores on admission tests in 1947, and she is unaware of any 1955 policy change.The
students in our three
classrooms:
(where AU=Address Unknown, AC=Address
Confidential)
Please
help us to complete
this list!
| Graduating Class: 11X Homeroom Teacher: Miss Julia Duffy |
 Top row: Billy Joseph, Johnny Friedman, Richard Miller, Marie Caspe, Joan Gershweir, Victor Braunstein, Morton Gumpel. Middle row: Candace Orcott, Mary Carol Davies, Dora Lilienthal, Miss Duffy, Gay Sourian, Alice Lowenbraun. Bottom Row: Judy Smith, Mara Unterman, Ellen Fogelson, Jane Fass, Diana Lilienfeld, Elizabeth Kaplan, Carolyn Weir, Norma Stinson. |
| Faith Avidon (Wohl) HCES K-10, HS of Music and Art, Adelphi University |
One Great Circle Road., Newark, DE 19711 302/234-8418 FWohl@childcareaction.org |
| Walter Benenson | 6111 Skyline Drive, East Lansing, MI 48823 Home: 517/351-1848; Michigan State Univ., NSCL: 517/333-6312 Benenson@nscl.msu.edu and http://www.nscl.msu.edu/~benenson/ |
| Susan Berlin Bronx HS of Science In 1982, Susan interviewed about half of her 11X classmates. |
66 Sugarbush Rd., Lanark, Ontario, CANADA K0G 1K0 613/259-5036 susan@susanberlin.ca Ways We Live : Exploring Community (1997, Susan's text for TV documentary series) |
| Leah Binger (Lenney) | 1019 Esplanade, Pelham Manor, NY 10803 |
| David Bloom | Died Jan. 24, 2003. Mrs. Sherri Bloom 90 Pinewood Road, Apt. 1B, Hartsdale, NY 10530 |
| Victor Braunstein | 175 West 13th Street, New York, NY 10011 212/243-4387 |
| Marie Caspe | 80 Waller Avenue, White Plains, NY 10605 |
| Mary Carol Davies | AU |
| Jane Fass (Kavy) | 24 Grace Lane, Ossining, NY 10652 |
| Ellen Fogelson (Liman) | 1 East 87th Street, New York, NY 10128 Or, is she now at 435 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10022 |
| Ellen Franzen (Kaplan) | 106 Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 617/876-4693 Kaplan@math.harvard.edu |
| John Friedman | AU |
| Joan Gershweir (Kadushin) | 131 Bank Street, New York, NY 10014 212/989-3701 |
| Morton Gumpel | AU |
| William (Billy) Joseph | 229 E 80th Street, Apt. 3C, New York, NY
10021 212/734-9054 |
| Karen Kagey (Brink) | 730 Main Street, Shrewsbury, MA 01545 (moved) |
| Elizabeth ("Liz") Kaplan (Woy) HS of Music and Art |
13-K Academy House, 1420 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA
19102 215/732-8968 SecorWoy@snip.net |
| Diana March Lilienfeld | Died ca. 1989. |
| Dora Linenthal (LoBianco) | 66 Lockwood Road, South Salem, New York 10590 |
| Alice Lowenbraun (Funk) | Died January 2006. Her husband is Alan Funk, 1966 Ladenburg Drive, Westbury, NY 11590-5918 516/997-9049 |
| A. Richard Miller Richard (a.k.a. "Dick" to newer friends) created this Web site. Richard was the only K-11 student from Queens; from Kindergarten, he commuted by subway. JHS 125, Brooklyn Tech, RPI, Queens College |
A. Richard Miller, Partner, Miller Microcomputer
Services 61 Lake Shore Road, Natick, MA 01760 508/653-6136, 9am-9pm TheMillers@millermicro.com and http://millermicro.com/ Richard has been an engineering physicist at Polarad Corp., Kollsman Instrument Corp., Block Engineering, and Edgerton, Germeshausen and Grier (EG&G). He's been Executive Director of the Lake Cochituate Watershed Assn., and as an environmental activist he has participated in projects and conferences in Massachusetts and nationally. He and his wife Jill are partners in Miller Microcomputer Services. He has helped develop new medical equipment, worked to save lakes and to build trails, developed MMSFORTH and other computer software, and has his own garbage on the Moon. |
| Jeremy Musher | Jeremy died of brain cancer in 1974. |
| Joel Norman HCES K-10 Joel emigrated to Israel in 1946. |
Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa
31905,
ISRAEL +972-48249675; Fax: +972-4-8240546 JNorman@psy.haifa.ac.il |
| Candace Orcutt | 313 Herrick Ave., Teaneck, NJ 07666 201/836-5881 (also: 45 Eastern Promenade, Portland, ME 04101) |
| Prudence Schwabe (Peterson) | 61 West Rayburn Road, Millington, NJ 07946 |
| Anthony (Tony) Segal | AU |
| Judy Smith (MacDonald) | AU |
| Gay Sourian (Cropper) | 188 E. 109th St, New York, NY 10029 212/369-4639 |
| Judy Smith (MacDonald) | 644 W. Melrose, Chicago, IL 60657 (moved; no forwarding addr.) |
| John (Johnny) Steele | AU |
| Norma Stinson (Liberty Stinson Bain) | Died 2005. Was: 6216 Agee St., Apt 114, San Diego, CA 92122 858/558-6440 LibertyBain@aol.com |
| Maureen Sweeney | AU |
| Jerome Tarshis | 25 Sanchez Street #424, San Francisco, CA
94114-1142 415/436-9082 (E-mail unlisted.) |
| Mara Unterman (Rivera) | 15 Bessie Street, San Francisco, CA 94110 415/824-2738 |
| Carolyn Weir | 386 Plaza Road North, Fairlawn, NJ 07410 201/797-5928 |
| Graduating Class: 11Y Homeroom Teacher: Mrs. Katheryn Fitzpatrick |
|
| Hubert Cecil Birnbaum | 3425 East Utopia Road, Phoenix, AZ 85050 602/569-3433 |
| Theodore (Theo, Ted) Cosmides | Deceased, November 15, 2000 2604 Arbor Dr, Madison, WI 53711-1980 608/231-2602 |
| Jane Croll (Wolfe) | 1420 Gerard Street, Mamaroneck, NY 10543 |
| Jeri Fluegelman (Josephson) | 3 Hanover Road, Scarsdale, NY 10563 |
| Earl Ford PS 6, Stuyvesant HS |
Earl P. Ford 536 Wadsworth Avenue, Plainfield, NJ 07060 908/561-5128 EPF536@bellatlantic.net |
| Anne Marie Frieden (or Friedin, Freiden?) | AU |
| Ernest Gilbert Trinity Prep, PS 6, Music and Art |
3513 North 27th Street, Waco, TX 76708 254/755-7879 EGilbert@swbell.net |
| Joan Handleman (Lazerson) | 935 Glenhaven, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 310/454-0727 |
| Miriam Herman (Hoffberg) | 39 Vardon Road, West Hartford, CT 06117 860/232-0337 MiriamHoffberg@hotmail.com |
| Jeffrey (Jeff) Krebs | 390 Birch Lane, Irvington, NY 10533 914/591-5733 JCK1936@cs.com |
| Paula Kurzband (Feder) | PO Box 68, Centerbrook, CT 06409-0068 860/767-1725 |
| Barbara Loebenstein (Michaels) | 336 Central Park West, Apt. 6F, New York, NY
10025 212/662-4986; Fax: 212/531-0193 BL_Michaels@msn.com |
| Maxine Marcus (Boshes) | 5450 Diller Avenue, Culver City, CA 90230 310/391-9884 |
| Herbert Morris Brooklyn Technical HS (grad. June 1953) |
AU |
| Lois Otten (Robbins) Left before graduation | 40 East 88th Street, New York, NY 10128 212/722-7447 lor.mdr@verizon.net |
| George Patterson PS 6, Stuyvesant HS, Webb Institute for Naval Engineering |
301 Sand Pine Road, Indialantic, FL 32903 407/777-3721 George3141@aol.com |
| Lawrence Posner | AU |
| Ruth Prager (Cogen) | 2010 Hillyer Place NW, Washington, DC 20009 202/387-0274 RPCogen@aol.com |
| Eva Preminger | Surrogates Court of the County of New York, 1 Chambers Street, New York, NY Attn: Judge Eva Preminger Premeva@aol.com |
| Leonard R. Prosnitz, M.D. | 114 Stoneridge Drive, Chapel Hill, NC
27514-9772 919/942-7296 Department of Radiation Oncology, Box 3085, Duke Univ. Med. Center, Durham, N.C. 27710 919/660-2110; Fax: 919/684-3953 Prosnitz@radonc.duke.edu |
| Ariane Ruskin (Batterberry) | 1100 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10028 212/744-4514 |
| Fred Synes | Died ca. 1949. |
| Anne Walker | P.O. Box 502, Millwood, NY 10546 |
| Mary Lou Weiss (Kavaler) | 360 West 36th Street, New York, NY 10080 212/268-0176 |
| Robert Yaris | 7241 Maryland Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63130 314/726-0518 |
| Graduating Class: 11Z Homeroom Teacher: Miss Grace Crystal |
|
| Donald Aronson | 77 Brayton Street, Englewood, NJ 07631 201/568-6751 DAronson@worldnet.att.net |
| Bessima Bach | AU |
| Louise Bender (Hecht) Cooper Union |
1055 Malbrough Drive, Alpharetta, GA 30004 770/410-9010 |
| Faye Bergner Bronx HS of Science |
264 South Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills, CA
90212 310/277-2275 |
| Ilene Edelstein (Beckerman) | P.O. Box 112, Hampton, NJ 08827 908-537-1122 gingyib@earthlink.net |
| Nancy Fish | 8834 Hollywood Hills Rd., Los Angeles, CA
90046 323/650-1203 MissNFish@aol.com |
| Abby G. Frank | 111 Third Avenue, #8D, New York, NY
10003-5520 212/228-4844 |
| Judith Gellert (Haun) | 16540 Akron Street, Pacific Palisades, CA
90272 310/454-7911 310/454-8611 fax J.Haun@gte.net |
| Marilyn Gellis The Dalton School, Cornell University |
From Palm Springs Obit (California): Marilyn J. Gellis, 66, of Palm Springs died on March 16, 2002, at home. She taught at Palm Springs Unified School District for more than 30 years, and was nominated for its Teacher of the Year award. She also taught at Charter Hospital. An author, she founded the Public Awareness Institute. |
| Adam Goodman | 115 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023 212/362-6401 |
| Helen Hanson | AU (was child model) |
| Miriam Kaplan | 3 Washington Square Village, New York, NY
10012 212/533-3191 |
| Henry Lambert | 171 East 80 Street, New York, NY 10021 212/570-2918 |
| Alan Landis | 18 Patrick Lane, Westport, CT 06880 203/227-6112 |
| A. Michael (Mike) Lipper | 47 Maple Street, Summit, NJ 07901 908/273-2772 |
| Jean Lowrie | AU |
| Linda Marcus (Nelson) | 50 East 79th Street, New York, NY 10021 212/288-8883 SKN01@aol.com |
| Susan Masback (Thomsen) | Died Fall 2006. Was: 1591 North Siano Loop, Florence, OR 97439 bobsusie@mymailstation.com |
| Margery Marton | Institutionalized; Aben Rudy is in contact with her brother. |
| Betsy Miller (Landis) | 14 Colonial Road, White Plains, NY 10605 914/949-6337 home; 212/824-2240 work LandisBD@ix.netcom.com |
| Lucy Pederson-Krag (Baddeley) | 1011 Grant Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405 310/452-3612 emmaj@apexmail.com |
| Billy Rosenblum (William F. "Bill" Rosenblum, Jr.) |
199 Highland Rd., Scarsdale, NY 10583 914/725-5319 |
| Michael Rosenwasser | 1366 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021 212/737-0059 |
| Aben Rudy Aben, assisted by others, builds this list of addresses. |
5051 N. Sabino Canyon Rd., Apt 1103, Tucson, AZ
85750 520/615-1415 Lobster@ultrasw.com |
| Carl Schiffman | 210 Devoe Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211 718/388-3878 |
| Evelyn Schnabel (Hunt) | Evelyn S. Hunt, Attorney 84 Sotelo Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94116 |
| David Silver left early for Fieldston Academy |
AU |
| Merle Skoler (Becker) HS of Music and Art |
3800 Atlantic Avenue, Apt. 803, Virginia Beach, VA
23451 Phone probably is 757/437-9633 MLSBecker9@hotmail.com |
| Iris Slater, M.D. | 245A East 61 Street, New York, NY 11211 212/988-5165 |
| Barbara Weil (Fox) | 47 E. 88th St., New York, NY 10024 212/289-5322 |
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