User talk:WHSAlumnus

“4 Years Before Brown vs. Board of Education”
At request of many alumni, we have put together this reminiscence of how Greenburgh District 8 and later Central 7 came to be. Sadly, most of the people who made this dream come true are no longer with us. These are remembrances from childhood, there are bound to be inaccuracies, for which we apologize. We appreciate any additional information, corrections and memories that anyone can send. We cannot thank all the people who worked so hard to make our schools what they were, so with apologies to the many, many people not mentioned here, we would like to take the time to thank some of those who were there at the beginning: Dr. Reverend Hughes, The Tucker Family, Phyllis Shearer, Natalie Herold, Irene Duncan, Richard Bailey, Arthur and Adele Startz, all of whom worked tirelessly to make their dream of ‘equal education for all’ come true. For all our classmates who remember the good and survived the bad,

In 1950, Greenburgh Union-Free School District #8 embarked on a landmark undertaking. At a time when virtually all public schools in the United States were segregated either by law or by a neighborhood school system, a small group of individuals decided they wanted the children of the community to grow up differently.

The school district itself was not in the best shape. The New York State Department of Education was threatening to condemn some or all of the schools: Old Tarrytown Road School (OTR), Dobbs Ferry Road School and the school which is now called R.J. Bailey. School children attended the elementary school they lived closest to. In the late 1940’s students were sent to White Plains to attend high school, rather than to the Dobbs Ferry Road School. The schools were not in the best of repair. Contrary to the classrooms and education styles that came to fruition in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, classrooms were filled with wooden benches and desks nailed down to the floor. This was how many members of the existing School Board attended school, and they honestly saw no reason to change any of it. At least one exception to this was Dr. Reverend Hughes, who in 1932 became the first African-American to be elected to any School Board in New York State. He had a vision of possibilities and the charisma to gather around him a group of like-minded individuals from many backgrounds.

At the same time, the community was rich in diversity. It was still semi-rural compared to the rest of southern Westchester County. There were working farms, and it was not unusual to see deer and fox in the woods. It was populated by people who had lived in Westchester for generations and by people who had migrated from both the South and from New York City looking for a better life. It was filled with Americans whose ancestors had come generations before and those whose parents had immigrated to the United States, or who had emigrated themselves. There were many races, mostly either Caucasian or African-American. At a time when many communities in Westchester were “restricted” – meaning Jews, African-American and others were denied the right to buy property; District 8 was open to all. While income levels ranged from poor to the grand estates on Hartsdale Avenue, it became the home of a substantial upwardly mobile middle class, both white and black. Compared to other communities, Greenburgh District 8 was a relatively “safe” community for inter-racial couples. It was the home of baseball great Roy Campanella and photographer Gordon Parks. The comedian Moms Mabley lived on Hillside Avenue, next door to her was the home of R&B singer Lavern Baker and her husband, comedian Slappy White. Made out of an unincorporated area in the township of Greenburgh, the District included families with addresses in White Plains, Hartsdale or Elmsford. Each of these areas also had their own, separate school systems which did not include District 8.

Greenburgh District 8, specifically Fairview, had been integrated since 1886. The Westchester County Fair was held here on approximately 54 acres every September. The last Fair was held in 1922. In 1924, the Long Family sold the fairgrounds and the land was developed for residential housing. This does not mean that District 8 was free of racism or intolerance. When Dr. Reverend Hughes was elected to the School Board, his election was followed by cross burnings on his lawn and the lawn of the Union Baptist Church. A soft spoken man who chose his words wisely, his response was "Let 'em burn it down, I'll rebuild..." He continued to serve on the Board for 30 years and as a community leader for the rest of his life.

One of the biggest challenges the District faced in the 1950’s, and for many years to come, was the lack of a tax base. Unlike neighboring schools districts, District 8 was almost entirely residential. There was no “village” of shops and stores. With no commercial tax base, school taxes were borne almost entirely by the families that lived there. With no viable commercial tax base and a mixed income base, improving the schools was a daunting task. The group of people who saw the need for change saw it not for themselves, but for the future of their children and all the children who lived there. Their vision was simple: a good education, an equal education for every child regardless of race, religion, family background or family income. How to bring this about? There were no other models to go by, and they knew that many in the community were not guided by the same idealism and beliefs they were. Three very fortunate events collided to bring it all to fruition: a brilliant plan, the ability of Dr. Reverend Hughes to unite the Fairview community, and Mrs. Frieda Warburg, who decided to bequeath the majority of her estate to the school district for the future benefit of the schools.

The plan was brilliant in its simplicity. Get rid of neighborhood schools. Completely. Have each grade taught in only one school, therefore all children in a given grade would attend the same school. For example, 5 th grade would be taught solely at the Bailey School. If you were a 5 th grader, this was the only school for you. Because all children did not live in walking distance of the school, this meant busing. Instead of the busing plans that were put in place years later to desegregate large school districts, in which children were bussed past their existing neighborhood school to attend school in another neighborhood, District 8 was small and a school bus became just a means to get to school, not a symbol of a social policy. Even so, the plan had to be voted on by the community. For the most part, the community was interested in keeping expenses down, not social idealism. So this group of idealists got practical. They were able to show that this plan was actually the cheapest way to go. Also helping was the fact that the segment of the community who were apathetic towards the schools tended not to vote on school issues. The results were determined by those who cared enough to vote. And so, without a lot of fanfare, it happened.

In the mid-1950’s, about 150 acres of the Warburg property, including their mansion, came into the school district’s possession. The original idea was that all schools would be located on the campus. Warburg Mansion was turned into the kindergarten, as well as district offices. Juniper Hill, a brand new elementary school, was built. Much later, it was re-named Lee Jackson Elementary School for an alumnus who died tragically in a plane crash over Yugoslavia while serving in President Clinton’s administration. Soon, plans began in earnest for a new High School. The high school opened in the 1960’s and was named Woodlands to honor the gift by Mrs. Warburg. “Woodlands” was the name she had given her estate. District students would not have to attend high school in White Plains anymore. The grooms quarters and stables later became the setting for the Head Start Program. The Dobbs Ferry Road School was closed and later became the first site of the Greenburgh Public Library. Books were simply placed in an old classroom, but having a public library was a big deal for the community. The Mansion held the kindergarten. The new Juniper Hill Elementary School held grades 1 and 2, and for a short time two grade 3 classes. OTR had grades 3 and 4 (with 2 overflow 4 th grades going to Bailey) and R.J. Bailey held grades 5 & 6. Woodlands was built for grades 7-12. The students already attending White Plains High School remained there, so it took a few years for all grades levels to be at Woodlands. Now that the logistics were settled, realizing the dream came down to a lot of hard work and learning along the way. With “equal education for all” as their goal, the Board, community and school employees constantly evaluated how the schools were doing, listened to feedback, and did not hesitate to make changes along the way. There would be no “tracking” system, common then in other schools, where children were evaluated early on and then placed in “college” or “vocational” learning paths. Children would not know the economic background of their classmates. For example, after Juniper Hill Elementary School was built, all children who wanted a school lunch or milk with lunch would go to the cafeteria individually in the morning to get a token. Some would pay; others were on a subsidized program for low-income families. When lunch time came, every child’s token looked the same and no one knew whether it had been bought or provided. Class trips came out of district funds. No child was denied attendance on a trip because of lack of family funds. Either everyone could go or the trip did not take place. “Heterogeneous grouping” was guide for every class – meaning every class was to have a mix of races, backgrounds and abilities.

Over the years, changes were made as problems came up. For example, to prevent traffic congestion, each school bus delivered students to one of two entrances at Woodlands High School. They dropped the students off at the closest entrance from the bus route. Because many neighborhoods were still segregated, this had the effect that many white students were dropped off at the auditorium entrance at the front of the school, while many black students were dropped off at the gym entrance at the back of the school. When a group of black students expressed their hurt over this, the drop-off locations were changed to correct the situation.

In 1954, the Supreme Court laid down its seminal decision in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education. They decreed that “separate is not equal”. What the leaders of District 8 had accomplished 4 years earlier was now something the entire country was being told to achieve. As a result, District 8 received more attention than it ever had. We fell under a microscope as a community that worked and lived together and whose children attended school together. Educational articles were written about District 8, and one reporter won a major journalism award for a series of articles he published in the New York World Telegram. Of course, not everyone agreed with the dream or the ways to accomplish it. But the original group grew in size over the years, and teachers were sought who cared about the success of the children and the dream. A tremendous amount of time and energy was put into every school bond issue and every school board election. In these early, “Camelot” days, the excitement and energy was contagious. Families packed Woodlands auditorium for band concerts, even when they did not have children in the band or even at Woodlands yet.

At the same time, a lot of these same people realized that as long as neighborhoods were segregated, racial inequities would continue. In addition to working on school issues, they worked hard for Fair Housing and scatter-site public housing. The Civil Rights movement loomed large in the 1960’s, and Greenburgh District 8 embraced it. Two busses where chartered and took District 8 residents to the March on Washington in 1963, where they heard Martin Luther King give his “I Have a Dream” speech. While today this is a revered part of American history, it was considered quite radical at the time. Many thought the March would become a place of violence, if not by those participating than by those against it. It took bravery to go. One edition of the local paper, the Reporter Dispatch, ran a headline entitled “School Board President Marches on Washington.” As with any dream, the reality was far from perfect. There were still racial tensions and problems between students of different ethnic backgrounds. Some students had friends from many backgrounds, others tended to stay with friends from their own neighborhood or similar background. Not surprisingly, these differences were more apparent, and sometimes explosive, at the high school. Like the rest of the country, these issues became more pronounced in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Still, compared to most schools around the country, it remained a success. With all the hard work, educational and social success the District was experiencing, the lack of a commercial tax base continued to be a problem. It became more and more difficult to pass school bond issues. Earlier, the State of New York had wanted a 3-way merger of Greenburgh, Hartsdale and Elmsford. Now, the State was pushing harder for a change with the Hartsdale District 7 schools. Hartsdale 7 had an even smaller population than District 8. It was too small to support a high school and the State was exerting pressure for a merger to take place. The State’s idea was that Greenburgh District 8 would get a commercial tax base and Hartsdale 7 would get viable schools. While many residents of Hartsdale 7 understood the need for a larger school population, they wished to merge with Edgemont or Scarsdale, or perhaps anyone other than District 8. While District 8 had accomplished many things, it was still a mixed community of race and income, and had to deal with the social challenges that came from this. In addition, its reputation outside the District was much worse than the fact. Many people in surrounding majority-white districts feared District 8 schools and thought they were unsafe. The social issues of the Civil Rights era and the Viet Nam War just added to this.

Despite the misgivings on both sides, 3 votes later the merger of the two districts took place. Because District 8 was larger than District 7, the name of the new school district became Greenburgh Central 7 with the hope that the Hartsdale 7 residents would not feel that they had been entirely obliterated. Former Hartsdale 7 students would now attend Woodlands High School. In order to make room, Woodlands changed from a grade 7-12 high school to grades 9-12. Perspectives on the merger are as varied as the community itself. Some District 8 students feared the loss of the district name was a sign of the loss of the values they had been taught in school. Hartsdale 7 students were walking into a very different world on their first day at Woodlands. A former student, from the Woodlands High School Class of 1972, shares some of his memories: “School in district 7 ended upon graduation from ES Webb junior high after grade 9. Life after that was a mystery as grads then disbursed to White Plains, Scarsdale, or Private Schools like Stepinac, Rye Country Day, Maria Regina. All places of mystery… There was no sense of ‘wholeness’ in District 7 because of the lack of a high school, I now think. “When talk of the merger began, my clearest memory is of everyone in Manor Woods being against it to the point that they all talked about taking their kids out of public school if it passed. Talk was of a drop in educational standards, but it was as much about fear of the outside world in general as it was a race thing. I think 7 rejected the merger twice by a large margin while 8 approved. Eventually the court ruled that the vote total from both districts would be combined to determine the verdict. Since 7 was maybe a quarter of the size of 8, the merger was thus approved. “I was the only one of the gang that made that walk down the hill to board the bus to Woodlands (the rest went to private schools). I had always walked to school before, my whole life. When I got to the bus stop, I saw that almost all the other riders were kids from the apartments; the wall of class had slammed down… “All of my old classmates from 7 seemed to have disappeared. My classes were filled with new kids who all seemed to know each other. Eventually I made some friends on the fringes of this new society, and slowly worked my way into their social system. By 10 th grade I was for all purposes one of them. ‘8’ showed me a richness of life I had not seen before the merger.”

While Hartsdale 7 students were entering a new school system, many students from Greenburgh District 8 felt the same way. Perhaps it was summed up for many while sitting in homeroom on their first day back at Woodlands after the merger. When roll was called, some homerooms were missing as many as one-half of the names on the roster. When these names were called, a former Hartsdale 7 student would tell the homeroom teacher, “Private school”. As “Private school” was repeated over and over, the students from old 8 and old 7 grew even farther apart. But, as Dean remembers, over time most students made friends without regard to whether a classmate lived in the former 7 or 8. Whether you started school in District 8 in kindergarten, came to the new Central 7 as a result of the merger, or moved to Greenburgh District 8/Central 7 sometime during your school years, you were part of a special history. We hope by virtue of the years you spent in our schools you developed the gifts of strength during adversity, hope for the future, and pride in our varied backgrounds. While it was not perfect, we were all part of a dream that did not happen in many other communities. We wish you all the best.