87f2-Junior goes to High School-The New York School of Printing Yearbook-Class of 1961

Introduction

Uncle Sammy and I had a big surprise when we logged into Ancestry on Sunday, September 1, 2019.  There was a banner on the Home page of our Family Tree announcing that many high school yearbooks were now available.  This was an exciting announcement.  We wasted no time searching and finding several relatives’ yearbook entries as well as our own.  In this posting we will share relevant pages from the New York High School of Printing – Class of 1961 Yearbook that provide a glimpse of what Senior Year was like for Uncle Sammy.  We also share some humorous memories he had about one page in the yearbook and a classmate who is also featured on that page.

Relationship Notes

Sammy (Sabbatino) “Junior” Serrapede was born in 1942 in Brooklyn, NY to Sam (Sabato) and Josie (nee Muro) Serrapede.  He attended public elementary and junior high schools in Brooklyn.  In 1957 he began vocational studies at The New York School of Printing which enjoyed a reputation as one of the best vocational schools for printing and graphic arts in the country. Thanks to the good advice of his teachers and Guidance Counselor Junior began preparation for full-time employment in January of 1960 by entering The New York School of Printing’s Work-Study Program.  This job went full-time when Sammy graduated in January of 1961.

The New York High School of Printing-Class of 1961 Yearbook

The entire yearbook is available at Ancestry, but each page has to be downloaded and saved individually.  For expediency we feature a few relevant pages that communicate key parts of senior year and the impact the school made from the point of view of what is most relevant for Uncle Sammy and our family history.

The yearbook’s name is “Type-Hi”, no doubt inspired by the fact that the students learned typography as one of their occupational training courses.

The cover features the modern campus that was located on 10th Avenue and West 49th Street.

Principal’s Message

Dear Graduates:

     To you go the fondest congratulations and the sincerest of good wishes.  Congratulations for having met the high standards set by your Alma Mater which have made it imperative that you diligently apply yourselves to research, study, and the acquisition of the fundamental skills of your chosen vocation.  Sincerest good wishes that you may find success both in life’s work and in your social and civic undertakings.

     You may now go forward with the confidence, unhesitatingly, that you are adequately prepared with the basic skills and the technical experience upon which you can depend for the easy assimilation of the practical problems you will encounter in your daily work.  The academic and cultural education which you have received has provided you with the knowledge needed to understand the complex problems of every-day life and to meet them with a firm resolve that each experience shall serve to make you more tolerant of your fellow man and more appreciative of the rich heritage of opportunity open to you in this great land of ours.

     The printing industry needs young men of your ability.  Opportunities for advancement and leadership are available to those who “believe that new achievements in printing…will be accomplished through the devotion and the effort of those engaged in its progress.”  I am confident that in the years ahead the key positions in the industry will be occupied by many of you who are graduating at this time.

Most sincerely,

Ferdy J. Tagle

June 26, 1961

87g-William E. Grady Vocational High School: The other high school Junior and Butchie considered

Introduction

Junior discussed plans for high school and the choice of a vocation with his parents starting in late 1955 and the beginning of 1956.  Early in the discussions, he considered applying to the best vocational school in Brooklyn, William E. Grady Vocational High School.  At the prompting of his good friend Butchie, Junior reconsidered going to Grady.  Both boys applied to the New York School of Printing and were accepted.  At the New York School of Printing, Junior and Butchie attended classes in the old location during Freshman Year.  For Junior and Senior Years they attended classes in the brand new building for the New York School of Printing located at 8^th Avenue and West 49^th Street.  This location offered students all the classroom, workshop, assembly, gymnasium and recreational space in one building. 

A few years before Junior and Butchie began high school, William E. Grady Vocational School opened at a new location in Brooklyn that offered students exposure to the latest technology with classrooms and workshops that simulated workplace settings.  The move to the new location was preceded by a long, protracted battle of 13 years that pitted parents and the Board of Education against the City Planning Commission.  It was also a battle between factions which favored a school that gave more emphasis to academics versus those in favor of a school that offered real-world training and experience for students interested in a vocation.  This latter faction held that there was a place for academics and vocational education.  The students should be considered first and have a variety of choices.  After all, they were the ones choosing which occupation they wanted in life.

While these two factions exercised influence through the Board of Education and the City Planning Commission, the ones who suffered were the students attending Grady.  Until the battle was over, the students had to attend classes spread out in space that was available at four different elementary schools.  These facilities were inadequate, uncomfortable and incompatible with the needs of teenage boys and the coursework they tried so hard to stay interested in and complete.

In this posting we present highlights of the causes behind the long battle and delay in the construction and the hardships this caused on the students and their families.  We also conclude the posting with a look at Butchie’s post-high school career path.

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 Aievoli Funeral Parlor at the corner of 13^th Avenue and 65^th Street.

Topic presented in this posting

A concise overview about the long struggle to locate William E. Grady Vocational High School in its own school building was created by selecting news coverage from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle online archive at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Brooklyn Newsstand database.  In order to present this overview, we have eliminated coverage that went deeper into the tug-and-pull that occurred between well-known public figures and branches of New York City government during the time period.  This enables us to summarize what happened and, if anyone is interested, provide a basis for further in-depth reading at The Eagle archive or through other sources.

1944: Planning for new schools in the Post-WWII Era

Artist’s drawing for the proposed new building for William E. Grady Vocational High School.  Published in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, November 26, 1944.

Milt Smith covered the plans for new schools in Brooklyn that were in the works and scheduled to begin after WWII ended.  In the Sunday, November 26, 1944 edition of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Smith reported that:

• The need for modernized school buildings was recognized when plans were drawn up for new construction of schools in Brooklyn after WWII ended. 

87f-Junior goes to High School, 1957-1960: The Work-Study Program

Introduction

Before Summer of 1960 even started politicians, parents and small businesses were uncertain about New York City’s young adults and teens getting jobs.   There were not enough companies hiring teens for summer jobs or full-time work after graduation in June.  For High School drop-outs the outlook was even worse:  they could not even anticipate the possibility of securing employment. 

The then Governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller, established Youth Employment Service (YES) to help young people find work.  The program, though, was off to a very slow start.  Of the 1,170 applicants in the program, YES was only able to place 115 youth with neighborhood level employers.

Junior was not affected by this employment problem.  In this posting we present the reasons why that was so. 

Relationship Notes

Sammy (Sabbatino) “Junior” Serrapede was born in 1942 in Brooklyn, NY to Sam (Sabato) and Josie (nee Muro) Serrapede.  He attended public elementary and junior high schools in Brooklyn.  In 1957 he began vocational studies at The New York School of Printing which enjoyed a reputation as one of the best vocational schools for printing and graphic arts in the country. Thanks to the good advice of his teachers and Guidance Counselor Junior began preparation for full-time employment in January of 1960 by entering The New York School of Printing’s Work-Study Program.  Upon graduation he was in the right place, at the right time to get a full-time job.

Family Story:  Junior’s First Job

Junior did not experience the difficulties other teens faced during the Spring and Summer of 1960 when jobs for youth were scarce.  He was in the process of completing studies at a well-respected vocational high school, The New York School of Printing.  In addition, he had selected an industry that was capable of providing many jobs to young graduates. 

The New York School of Printing worked with printing and graphic arts companies in Manhattan to provide students with part-time jobs while they were still in school.  This was how Junior began the position that resulted with him being hired full-time after graduation in June 1960.  The program enabled the participating students to attend classes in the morning and then work at a part-time job in the afternoon.

Through the Work-Study Program, Junior was placed at an office services company located near Grand Central Station on Lexington Avenue between East 43^rd and East 44^th Streets.  The company was owned by two sisters and a brother.  The business offered mailroom, duplicating and printing services.  Junior was assigned the responsibility of operating the mimeograph machine.  He enjoyed the work very much.  The company took to Junior very quickly and he soon felt like part of the family.  Part of this was due to the owners also being of Italian descent. 

In mid-late 1961 Junior began considering the big picture for his career direction.  It is true he was very comfortable at the office services company but that was no longer enough.  He kept thinking about where he wanted to work next.   The owners of the company did their best to persuade him to remain with then. Despite the good relationships and his enjoyment of the work Junior felt something was missing.  He saw only very limited opportunities for further growth at the current job. 

Junior resigned from the job and parted on very good terms with the owners and his co-workers.  He looked ahead with anticipation on where he would work next.

Topic Covered in This Posting

Working in the Grand Central neighborhood brought Junior right into the heart of the mid-town business district and commuter hub of Grand Central Station.  The hustle and bustle along 42^nd Street and the sight of the towering skyscrapers added to the feeling Junior had of taking a big step forward in his life.  There was also a new experience in store for the teenager from Dyker Heights:  meal time at the Horn & Hardart Automat across the street from Grand Central Station.  In this posting we present three topics that give more background to the family story.  The topics are:

• 1960 Next Stop: Grand Central Station
• What is a mimeograph machine?
• Creating a stencil and operating a mimeograph machine

Junior’s friend Anthony “Butchie” Mormando, also successfully completed his coursework and graduated.  We will update readers on Butchie’s professional direction in the next posting.