On Friday morning June 11, 1948, 187 boys and 186 girls would march in the Paramount Theater to Sir Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance." The commencement for the Haverhill High School Class of 1948 would begin at 10:30 a.m. as Maj. Albert W. Glynn would officially welcome the graduates on behalf of the city.
Sharing the stage that morning were Lyman B. Owen, superintendent of Haverhill Schools; Dr. Paul Nettle, Haverhill School Committee; Dr. Albert Consentino, Chesley Bixby and Francis Cronin. Also present was Haverhill High Principal Earle H. MacLeod, who would proudly announce to the audience that Haverhill High had been accredited by the Massachusetts State Department of Education with an "A" rating.
Professor J. Wendell Yeo of Boston University delivered the commencement address.
The class was still recalling its Senior Class Chapel of Tuesday morning, when Rabbi Abraham Jacobson delivered a memorable talk about the four chaplains who sacrificed their own lives on Feb. 3, 1943, when the SS Dorchester, after being torpedoed, sank, taking the lives of 678 of the 904-member crew. Rabbi Jacobson related an eyewitness account of one the survivors, Grady Clark, who saw the chaplains give their life jackets to fellow seamen and comfort those destined to go down with the Dorchester. Rabbi Jacobson would close with by saying an old rabbinic saying to the effect that "whoever rescues a person from death in a sense creates a new world." Each member of the Class of 1948 that morning received from Rabbi Jacobson a commemorative stamp honoring the four chaplains.
Ironically, that evening about 150 members of the Haverhill High Class of 1918 would gather at the Pentucket Club to celebrate their 30th reunion. Ken Ash of WHAV was the guest speaker. Stanley Lovejoy, class president, said Haverhill had been one of the earliest clock-making centers in 1720 and his class was planning to help with the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Historical Society.
As the Class of 1948 prepares to celebrate its 60th reunion on Oct. 15 at DiBurro's in Ward Hill, let's take a look back at what our city was like in those good old days.
The Haverhill of 1948 had a population of 46,162. Our mayor was Albert W. Glynn, and four aldermen served the city: Joseph Willett, Joseph Durso, Phillip Stacy and Thomas Monahan.
Bernard H. Donahue was clerk of council.
Police Chief Henry J. Lynch led a force of 64 and fire Chief Benjamin Chase a force of 74. Haverhill had a variety of stores, approximately 750 that offered merchandise at various price points.
We would pay 3 cents for a stamp, 16 cents for a gallon of gas, 14 cents for a loaf of bread (How many remember 20th Century Bakery on Fleet Street?) and 45 cents for a pound of ground beef.
On that graduation day of June 11, 1948, the Paramount Theater would show "The Iron Curtain" with Dana Andrews, the Colonial would run "Winter Melting" with Bette Davis, The Strand offered "Fuller Brush Man" with Red Skelton, The Lafayette showed "Sea Wolf" with Edward G. Robinson and appearing at the Hampton Beach Casino was "Green Eyes" singer Tex Beneke.
If one perused the Haverhill Gazette, the comic page of 1948 carried panels of the adventures of Vic Flint, Red Ryder, Alley Oop, and Freckles and Boots.
In the Gazette that Friday was a picture of Fred Battistini graduating from St. Anselm College. Years later this successful business man would become a "friend" through the "Rudy's Tigers" at the Haverhill YMCA.
Finally, the Gazette's sports page would have pictures of Bartlett, Tilton and Greenleaf's baseball teams. Appearing respectively were Danny Rourke, Claude Cristan, Lou Muradian, Billy Wright, Joe Giampa, Bob Belmont and Frank Palleria. Each would go on to distinguish himself athletically and scholastically.
On a personal note, researching June 11, 1948, would unlock a memory of 60 years old, from my long-ago youth. That very night, Tony Zale, "The Iron Man of Glory, Indiana" would knock out Rocky Graziano to retain the middle-weight title. My father was a big boxing fan, and I recall sitting on our porch listening to his version of the main event.
I am not the only one for whom memories have come flooding back.
When the 1948 Class Reunion Committee met on Friday, Sept. 12, at the Public Library, Frank Pingree, who played center for the 1948 Brown and Gold, recalled a game against Lynn Classical, played in the Manning Bowl. Pingree laughed as he recalled centering the ball to quarterback Norm Mercier, who heaved the football though the goal posts as the Hillies would ultimately lose, 42-0, to the "Lynn Eleven" with the legendary Harry Agganis.
Phil Wightman, also on that 1948 Brown and Gold team, later that year would captain the 1948 Haverhill basketball team. Wightman recalls Agganis would come to Haverhill with the Lynn Classical team.
This particular game was virtually sold out, despite the St. Valentine's Day blizzard. Haverhill would win that night, 43-40, but it was Agganis who everyone had come to see!
Pingree and Wightman, along with fellow classmates, worked for the city shoveling following the blizzard for 40 cents an hour.
The Best of 1948
The Noble Prize for Literature awarded to T.S. Eliot
Tennessee Williams receives a Pulitzer Prize for "A Streetcar Named Desire"
"Gentlemen's Agreement" wins the Oscar for best picture
Laurence Olivier and Jane Wyman win Oscars for their roles of Hamlet and Johnny Belinda
The Cleveland Indians won the World Series of 1948 by defeating the Boston Braves
Citation would win the vaunted Triple Crown of horse racing
Michigan was the No. 1 team in college football
Kentucky was the No. 1 team in basketball.
Bob Mathias was the gold medal-winner in the decathlon at the summer Olympics held in London, England
Dick Button won the gold medal in men's figure skating in St. Moritz, Switzerland
Joe Lewis was the heavyweight champion of the world in boxing
Ben Hogan would win the PGA and the US Open, while Babe Didrikson would be the first female golfer winning the LPGA's US Open
What a year
Births: Figure skater Peggy Fleming, Boston Bruins defenseman Bobby Orr, comedian and actor Billy Crystal, actor Jerry Mathers (The Beaver) and Charles, Prince of Wales.
Deaths: "Sultan of Swat" Babe Ruth, Gen. John "Black Jack" Pershing, film director D.W. Griffith ("Birth of a Nation"), Boys Town founder Father Flanagan and Mahatma Gandhi
Media: WBZ-TV would be inaugurated.
Entertainment: The Texaco Theater premiered, featuring Milton Berle; pop singer Vaughn Monroe had two of the year's top 10 songs; the big Christmas song of that year was Spike Jones' recording of "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth."
Politics: "Berlin Airlift," when the Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin; Israel becomes a state; President Truman implements the Marshall Plan to aid war-torn Europe; Chicago Daily Tribune declares "Dewey beats Truman"
Art: Andrew Wyeth introduces "Christina's World" to great acclaim
Literature: Norman Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead" becomes a best-seller
