wave, but hope to take another run at 71 in the fall. Aside from that, we’re enjoying life at the Delaware seashore. Karen hopes to retire at the end of this school year, so looking forward to more time to beachin’ it.” [Editor’s note: it’s much easier to bike your age if you have a fake ID.] Mike Palmieri chimed in: “Hope all is well. It has been a beautiful fall here in Colorado. Free is working with kindergarteners this year and loves it. My photographic art continues to nourish my soul as I await the break- through to the big time. I am also working for a wonderful candidate running for the Colorado legislature. Best wishes to all that your daily walk is one of joy, peace, love, and harmony.” Finally, Jonathan Wright wrote, “I am approaching my last months with a paycheck, after nearly 50 years with Wright Builders Inc. Time for Next Gen. I will continue writing and consulting on sustainability, electrification, and housing justice from our net-zero-energy home. It’s so comfy! Meg is an accomplished pianist and has prepared several concerts recently that include everything from Schumann to tangos, expanding her Four Hands and Eight Hands collaborative repertoire. Amazing stuff. Our eldest grandson is a senior at Palisades High School in Los Angeles.” As always, it is great to hear from anyone who wants to tell us what’s going on in their lives. It never ceases to amaze me all the different and wonderful directions our lives have taken. I can’t wait to see all of you at the 55th in 2024! How did that happen?
Mrs. Day’s School (1916–30) and the Prospect Hill School (1931–60) accepted boys, though the Prospect Hill School soon changed its admissions policy to girls only. DPH as we knew it had existed for only nine years when we graduated, so our tradition was others’ innovation. That we loved our school so much speaks to the progressive educational philosophy, teaching skill, warmth, flexibility, and integrity of the faculty. Having come from what was considered an excellent public school, I can say that there was no comparison. When I went off to college, I felt well prepared, and I’m sure you did too. Approaching the 50th anniversary of the merger, I considered what the fate of DPH might have been if it had tried to continue as a girls school. Could we have afforded the laboratory upgrades necessary for first-rate science and technology studies? Expanded our athletic program to accommodate Title IX policies? More important, would young women after 1972 have wanted to attend an all-girls school at a time when such institutions seemed to be going out of style? There are no certain answers, of course. Still, 50 years after the merger of DPH with Hopkins, our old school lives on, albeit in a different form and in a different part of town. Some other girls or women’s schools have died out completely. We are fortunate that DPH exists in accounts recorded in the little book that three dedicated women thought to write; in the historical collection archived at Hopkins; in our yearbooks, reunion photos, memorabilia, and class notes; and even in a term paper written by a Hopkins student several years ago. But maybe the best way that DPH survives is in the several scholarship funds, including one bearing its name, which continue to give deserving young women a superb secondary education they could not otherwise afford. DPH has left its mark on Hopkins in another way too. At the time of the merger, some felt that Hopkins’ academic standards had slipped, in favor of a stronger sports program. The excellence of DPH’s faculty and academic rigor helped Hopkins to regain its stature in the
classroom. The authors of the concise history expressed this as “a gift from Day Prospect Hill that breathes life into Hopkins as Hopkins keeps those girls’ schools alive.” If you have news you’d like to share, please send it for publication in the next issue.
1970 HGS Brian Smith bcsmitty@gmail.com 1970 DPH Ruth Martz ruthm.joy@gmail.com
Warmest thanks to those of you who sent me news for the last issue. For those who did not receive my email, I may not have everyone’s updated contact information. Please send me a tidbit about what you’ve been up to or what you are doing now (ruthm.joy@gmail.com). Got photos of grandchildren? Recipes? DPH memories fit to print? I myself just turned 70, and I’m feeling pretty nostalgic as I’ve started going through boxes of old photos and diplomas. I found a 45 LP record of The Beatles as well as some John Lennon memorabilia… And I’ve been trying to remember the names of my teachers… It really is crazy how young we all look in our class photo. I remember that my mini-skirt kilt was barely a foot long in my senior year! I know that some of us are dealing with challenging health issues, grieving the loss of someone we love, or struggling in other ways. I send you loving support. And I hope to hear from one or two of you so that I don’t have to dig up some profound wisdom for every issue… Peace, Ruth (aka Poofie).
1969 DPH Susan Ward jcnynlnds2@aol.com
Recently, Donna Vinci, in the Hopkins alumni office, lent me a booklet from the school’s historical collection. It’s called The Girls’ Schools of New Haven, 1907– 1972 , and it was written by Betty Benedict ’40 day , Heidi Dawidoff, and DPH’s original headmistress, Marillyn Schuman Mulholland. It was published in 2011, when DPH and Hopkins were nearing 40 years together. The booklet is a concise summary of each of the predecessor schools, through the merger with Hopkins. A major theme in that 65-year story is change. For example, some DPH-ers may not realize that both
1971 HGS Brian Smith bcsmitty@gmail.com Mark Epstein writes that he is a
psychiatrist and author living in New York City and the Hudson Valley. He works as a therapist trying to bring together the worlds of Buddhist and psychodynamic thought. He has written a number of books on the subject, including titles like Thoughts Without a Thinker , Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart , and the
VIEWS FROM THE HILL | 2023 • ISSUE 1
55
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online