The Gilded Age of Education in Paterson

1)Were the classes at Eastside High School in Paterson during the 1950’s and 1960’s as great as they seemed to be?
2)Were the students in those classes as terrific as they seemed to be?
3)Were the families of those students as admirable as they seemed to be?

The answer to all three questions is a definitive YES! Many of the factors that had contributed a couple of centuries ago to a cluster of European colonies’ evolving into a new nation governed by principles and practices of democracy also contributed to the establishment of public schools. Public schools provided free education to all children in a community to prepare them for their eventual roles as adults in the community. For more than two centuries, the ideals of socio-economic –political democracy and free public education have had proponents and champions, but also detractors and enemies – and exploiters.

The two decades after World War II probably were the ‘Golden Age of Public Schools’, fulfilling the goal and ideal of free education for all children in every community and providing equal opportunity to achieve both personal fulfillment and fulfillment as responsible and beneficial citizens of community, nation, and world.  Urban centers with heterogeneous populations were especially suited to have school systems that could best provide universal education for success in a democratic society.  Paterson was such an urban center.

Probably everyone in Paterson had been directly affected by WWII and many by the pernicious political forces responsible for the war.  For them and for people throughout the United States, victory in that war was the triumph of democracy over dictatorship.  The democratic nature of American public schools made them ideal places to teach children the principles and the practices of democracy and to motivate them to follow those principles to their own advantage and for the good of all others. 

I began teaching in Paterson at the Paterson Technical and Vocational High school in the 1940’s. P.T.V.H.S. adhered to some old-world principles not altogether compatible with American democratic principles.  All the students were white males mainly from Italian, Irish, or Dutch Reform families – no “minorities,” except in the generally excellent all-male faculty . Only five faculty members were Jewish – Felix Gould, Harry Levin, Mel Rose, and I, and a superb administrator Herb Lipsitz. (And there were those who would have much preferred our not being there!) Curriculum was designed to prepare students for a narrow range of career options.

Being with the students and most of the staff at P.T.V.H.S. was personally and professionally enjoyable and fulfilling, but the narrow homogeneity and the questionable exclusivity were not.  Thus, after nearly three years, I welcomed transfer to the English Department of Eastside High School, which I hoped would be the kind of inclusive school with a diverse population that I had gone to in New York City and in which I fervently believed.

Yes, E.H.S. was boldly inclusive with an exhilaratingly diverse student body and faculty which became more and more diverse in the 1950s and 1960s as the population of Paterson became more and more diverse.  It was exactly the kind of school with exactly the kinds of students and the kinds of people on its faculty I wanted, and I loved my many years there.  I especially loved the Golden Age decades after WW II, when most of my students and most of my colleagues loved being at E.H.S. as much as I did.
In the decade after WWII, E.H.S. had more students from Jewish and Italian families than from any other cultural or ethnic backgrounds, but during the 1950s and 1960s diversity kept increasing, as did recognition and acceptance of that diversity. 

How exhilarating it was having co-ed classes homogeneous in the students’ shared Anglo-American culture and in their strong United States/New Jersey/Paterson citizenship, but heterogeneous in their socio-economic-ethnic-religious-cultural diversity and in the individual students’ interests, ambitions, and goals!
All students had to take English every semester, so English classes tended to have a cross-section of the diversity of E.H.S.  How the students were alike was far more important than how they were different.  It was rewarding to see how quickly and easily each class became its own microcosm, a true democracy in which all students were equal and all students had the same motivation and the same opportunities to participate and to learn.

The subject matter of English classes was Anglo-American language and literature.  The purpose of English classes was to provide on-going practice in using language and on-going expansion of knowledge and understanding of Anglo-American literature and culture.  The prevailing methodology was to make everything in the class rewarding, enjoyable – even fun - to establish positive associations with learning and using language and with experiencing literature and culture and doing all this in a compatible, inclusive, diverse small community in which  everyone else’s enjoyment and learning were as important as one’s own.

Perhaps what may have been most valuable about these classes was the socialization which quickly transformed a diverse group of children into a community of friends having a good time together and enjoying learning together – learning from each other, encouraging each other to learn and to enjoy – all proudly retaining individuality, and respecting and admiring each other’s individuality - with an admirable class spirit bolstered by strong school spirit and shared pride in being an Eastsider!

A bonus for teachers was the support we got from the parents. Their active interest in what their children were doing in school and their positive reinforcement of what their children were learning made my job as a teacher easy and even more of a pleasure to do.

How realistic is what I have just said about what I contend was the Golden Age of E.H.S., a shining example of the ‘Golden Age of Public Education’ in America?  We have abundant evidence that students and staff members knew then that it was indeed the Golden Age and for the rest of their lives have appreciated the advantages they had. We have copious evidence that a gratifying large number of those students did fulfill their potential and have lived successful, rewarding, beneficial,  and happy lives.
Evidence:  Most of the classes during that era have had and continue to have class reunions, gratifyingly well-attended and gratifyingly successful as reminders of how happy their lives at E.H.S. were even as the reunions themselves become new happy highlights – proof of how special E.H.S. was.
More evidence:  The remarkable number of graduates from E.H.S. who eagerly return to teach there or to serve as other staff members there.
More evidence:  Special Gala Paterson Days in Florida or in Paterson have had so many attendees who were at E.H.S. that they are de facto E.H.S. Reunions.
More evidence: Twice-a-year convivial luncheons of ex-Eastsiders who enjoy being together again to celebrate how very special E.H.S. was and how very special the people who went there and/or worked there were and are.
Crowning evidence:  The Jewish Historical Society of North Jersey! How many, many of those who were and are board members, staff members, support members, volunteers, participants in such celebrations as the Annual Gala Dinner throughout the forty glorious years of the Jewish Historical Society of North Jersey proudly proclaim themselves “Once-a-Ghost-Always –a-Ghost!”
Were the classes at Eastside High School in Paterson during the 1950’s and 1960’s and the students in those classes and their families as great as they seemed to be? YES! A Golden Age even more golden than nearly all others.

Mr. Al Weiss, member of the Jewish Historical Society of North Jersey

I have requested that some pictures of my former Eastside H.S. students currently serving at the JHSNJ appear following my newsletter