87d-Junior goes to High School, 1957-1960: Confraternity Classes

Introduction

During the week, Junior had a long trip to and from The New York School of Printing, located on the West Side of Manhattan.  He no longer saw his friends on the block as often as when he attended Mc Kinley Junior High School.  He did, though, socialize with many teenagers from his neighborhood each weekend when he attended Confraternity Classes at the church of St. Rosalia-Regina Pacis. 

In this posting we take an informal look at some activities sponsored by Confraternities in Brooklyn in 1950-52 and 1954.  These activities were written about in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle.  The examples selected pre-date the time Junior and his friend Butchie attended high school from 1957 to 1960.  We cannot, however, use The Brooklyn Daily Eagle as a resource for 1957 to 1960. The Eagle stopped publication in 1955 after an extended strike by workers for higher wages rendered it unable to stay in business.  We have used these earlier examples because they are part of the history of the borough.  They also offer a good representation of the variety of programs available to teenager members of Confraternities during the 1950s.  The elements varied from parish to parish but two staples remained constant: dance nights for teens and the cultivation of faith.

There were other limitations in preparing this posting.  Very little was written by Baby Boomers about their time as members of a parish confraternity at sites where memories of growing up in Brooklyn are shared.  There are many anecdotes about being an Altar Boy but none about attending Confraternity.  We hope that what we have gathered here and the memories shared will go some way to offer a record of what the experience was like.  The New York Times Archives also did not offer any reportage of local events in parish confraternities during the 1950s.

Relationship Notes

Sam “Junior” Serrapede – Junior was the nickname given to Sammy by his parents and friends since his name in Italian is Sabbatino, a derivative of his father’s name Sabato (a/k/a Sam).  Sammy turned 15 in November of 1957, the year his big adventure in high school began.  Junior lived with his parents, Sam and Josie Serrapede on 66^th Street between 11^th and 12^th Avenues.

Anthony “Butchie”Mormando – Like Junior, Butchie used his nickname amongst friends and family.  He was one of Junior’s close friends from Mc Kinley Junior High School.  Butchie lived on 65^th Street up from the Aievolli Funeral Parlor at the corner of 13^th Avenue and 65^th Street.

Family Story:  Get ready for dance night!

Whenever we hear the words “Confraternity Class” the same thought comes to my mind and Uncle Sammy’s mind.  A sense of excitement colored by happy memories rushes in along with a soundtrack of pop music and the warmth of the church hall.

And what is the memory?  What are the words that come to mind?

“The Friday night dance!” or “Saturday night’s dance!”

87d-Junior Goes to High School 1957-1960-Learning Letterpress Printing

Introduction

Junior and his friend Butchie were accepted into The New York School of Printing in 1957.  They began their vocational studies in September of that year at a time when the printing industry was a major employer in the country. 

When Junior and Butchie were in their Junior Year beginning in September of 1959, the New York Times reported that over 100,000 members of the graphic arts and printing industries attended the 7^th Annual Educational Graphic Arts Exposition.  The Exposition took place in Manhattan which was fitting for the event since many major newspapers and publishers had executive offices and printing plants in New York.

The New York Times reporter went on to say that during their time in Manhattan attendees were,

“…are also visiting the New York School of Printing, one of the finest of its kind in the world.”

For the focus of this posting we do our best to show why the printing and graphic arts industry was able to employ such large numbers of people.  The reason being that even though technological advances in printing techniques and automation proceeded at a quick pace after WWII, the process still depended upon the skills and intelligence of the people who operated the machinery or were part of a labor-intensive manual portion of the process.  We do not intend to present an in-depth examination of the printing techniques as these require a level of knowledge in many aspects of the process during the Post WWII era as well as a good knowledge of the history of printing and the differences between the many different kinds of processes.

Relationship Notes

Sam “Junior” Serrapede – Junior was the nickname given to Sammy by his parents and friends since his name in Italian is Sabbatino, a derivative of his father’s name Sabato (a/k/a Sam).  Sammy turned 15 in November of 1957, the year his big adventure in high school began.  Junior lived with his parents, Sam and Josie Serrapede, in a 6-family apartment house on 66^th Street between 11^th and 12^th Avenues.

Anthony “Butchie” Mormando – Like Junior, Butchie used his nickname amongst friends and family.  He was one of Junior’s close friends from Mc Kinley Junior High School.  Butchie lived on 65^th Street up from the Aievolli Funeral Parlor at the corner of 13^th Avenue and 65^th Street.

Uncle Sammy’s Coursework at The New York School of Printing:  The California Job Case and Letterpress Printing

California Job Case.  Illustration by HiTechHiTouch.  Placed into public domain by the illustrator.  Wikimedia Commons.  See Resources for link.

Rather than share a family story in this posting, Uncle Sammy shared his memories of the California Job Case and Letterpress Printing as a means to get me on track for the focus of this posting.  These were very important parts of his education at The New York School of Printing.

87c-Junior goes to High School 1957-1960 – Meeting new people

INTRODUCTION

In this posting we present a brief history of the neighborhood where the New York School of Printing was located and the changes in demographics it experienced during the 1950s.  The neighborhood is called Hell’s Kitchen although as it gentrifies in the 21^st century there is a movement to call it Clinton.  Still, the name Hell’s Kitchen is preferred by residents past and present.  The name stirs up some very nightmarish imaginings and past news reportage dwells only on the negative aspects of the neighborhood’s history.  Uncle Sammy, though, has different memories of the neighborhood around the school.  In fact, he challenged me to look beyond my own preconceptions of the area by searching for any material that tells about the life in Hell’s Kitchen from the resident’s experiences.  What I found was that many former residents looked at Hell’s Kitchen as their old neighborhood, taking the good and the bad as part of that time in their life.

RELATIONSHIP NOTES

Sam “Junior” Serrapede – Junior was the nickname given to Sammy by his parents and friends since his name in Italian is Sabbatino, a derivative of his father’s name Sabato (a/k/a Sam).  Sammy turned 15 in November of 1957, the year his big adventure in high school began.  Junior lived with his parents, Sam and Josie Serrapede on 66^th Street between 11^th and 12^th Avenues.

Anthony “Butchie” Mormando – Like Junior, Butchie used his nickname amongst friends and family.  He was one of Junior’s close friends from Mc Kinley Junior High School.  Butchie lived on 65^th Street up from the Aievolli Funeral Parlor at the corner of 13^th Avenue and 65^th Street.

FAMILY STORY:  Meeting New People

For Junior and Butchie, Hell’s Kitchen was a residential neighborhood where families lived, shopped and went about the daily activities of life just as families did back in Brooklyn.  As they walked to school after leaving the hustle and bustle of the subway station at 49^th Street and 7^th Avenue, the business district seemed very far away. 

When Junior and Butchie went to school from the Fall of 1957 to the Spring of 1960, Puerto Ricans were the predominant group residing in Hell’s Kitchen. Many boys from the neighborhood attended New York School of Printing.  This was the first time Junior experienced being in a setting where Italians and Italian-Americans were not the majority group.

Junior and Butchie enjoyed their experiences of going to school in Manhattan.  Junior especially liked meeting young boys of his age from different backgrounds.  The Puerto Rican students were amused when he could not pronounce their names correctly.  A boy named Jorge told him that his name was not pronounced as if it were the English language George.  Since Junior could not pronounce the J as it is in Spanish, his schoolmate said “Horhay” was a good pronunciation.  It was somewhat close to the Spanish but not really that close.  Another Puerto Rican classmate did the same thing when Junior pronounced his name Angel instead of Anhel, which again is somewhat like the Spanish pronunciation but not quite.