1940 THE BRECKY — CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK
Washington, D.C. | 34th Issue | Pre-WWII Student & Genealogy History
Offered here is an original 1940 Brecky yearbook from Central High School in Washington, D.C.
Published by the Senior Class of Central High School in June 1940, this was the Thirty-Fourth Issue of The Brecky.
This is an especially fascinating American time capsule. These students graduated as war was already underway in Europe and approximately 18 months before the attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II. For many members of this graduating class, the world was about to change dramatically.
MORE THAN JUST NAMES AND PHOTOGRAPHS
One of the most valuable features of this yearbook for genealogy and family history is the information accompanying many of the senior portraits.
Individual profiles can include a student's:
Birthplace • School activities • Clubs • Athletic participation • Student leadership • Honors • Plans following graduation
That makes this book potentially valuable to descendants researching parents, grandparents and other relatives who attended Central High School.
STUDENTS IDENTIFIED IN THE YEARBOOK
Among the students appearing in the photographed senior pages are:
Everett Crispin Alexis • James Patton Armstrong • Mary Elizabeth Bass • Thomas Edward Beatty • Faye Elizabeth Beaver • Frances Norma Bedell • Riddell Beebe • John Eugene Behrend • Clynard Ritchie Beighlie • Charles Lindsay Birth Jr. • Paul Frank O'Connell Jr. • Isadore Oler • James Warren Palmer • William Hamilton Parker • Aileen Ruth Phipps • Ralph Eugene Pickett • John Constantine Plakas • Louise Marcella Antonia Pugliese • Jack Charles Purcell • Victor Lyle Quick • Eloise Mildred Scott • Helen Teresa Sesso • Rhoda Winifred Sevely • Edith Florella Shade • John Edward Sherman • Cecelia Silver • Vincent Lewis Simbulan • Matthew Stanley Smith • Mary Ann Spadaro • James Whitney Stacy • Isadore Junior Widre • Howard Thatcher Willey • Jane West Williamson • Dorothy Josephine Wilson • Mary Marjorie Wilson • Franklin Edwin Winter • Basil Clyde Zickafoose Jr. and others.
THE STUDENTS CAME FROM ACROSS AMERICA — AND BEYOND
The profiles also preserve birthplaces.
Students on the photographed pages were born in Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia and Sayre, Pennsylvania; New York City; New Orleans; San Francisco; Huntington, West Virginia; Brookings, South Dakota; Detroit; Salt Lake City; Hays, Kansas; New Bern, North Carolina; Riverdale and Landover, Maryland; Pittsburgh; Fort Smith, Arkansas; Charleston; and other communities.
One student, Louise Marcella Antonia Pugliese, lists her birthplace as Bari, Italy.
WHAT CAME NEXT?
The senior profiles frequently answer the question “Next year what?”
Students listed plans including the University of Maryland, George Washington University, Catholic University, University of Michigan, Michigan State College, Corcoran Art School, Strayer College, Benjamin Franklin University, engineering school, nursing training, business college, work and other pursuits.
These small details transform a yearbook portrait into part of a person's life story.
THE BRECKY STAFF
The yearbook also identifies many of the students responsible for producing the book.
Names appearing among the literary, photographic, art and business staffs include:
Leon Pear, Doris Park, Richard Farr, Stanley Lavallee, June Cohen, Elizabeth Birnman, William Philips, Jacqueline Mestekin, Louise Odor, Francile Jones, Eileen Shanahan, Phyllis Landis, Donald Campbell, Richard Jones, Randall Hogan, Blair Slaughter, Emil Jettmar, George Drury, Leroy Owens, James Porter, Frank Riley, Dorothy Winstead, Barbara Avelar, Frank Smith, Richard Berkley, Jack Silver, John Gurney, Jack Wilhelm, Paul Twiddy, Betty Bond, Olin Gochenour, Raymond Tarrant, Charles Dixon, Jack Purcell, Sophie Cokenias, Helen Taylor, Myron Eanet, Don Frederick, Armando Peverini, Elizabeth Gedney, Emil Ventre and Rachel Solomon.
Faculty committee members identified include Ruth M. Denham, Seward H. Rathbun and M. Gertrude Smith.
A REMARKABLE PRE-WORLD WAR II TIME CAPSULE
Perhaps the most compelling historical aspect of this book is its date: June 1940.
France fell to Germany that same month. Britain was entering one of the most consequential periods of World War II. The United States had not yet entered the war.
Against that backdrop, these Washington, D.C., teenagers were graduating, making plans for college, work and careers.
Within a year and a half, Pearl Harbor would dramatically alter the lives of their generation.
For descendants of the students represented here, this yearbook may preserve a remarkable glimpse of a family member immediately before that transformation.
GENEALOGY & FAMILY HISTORY
Vintage yearbooks can preserve information that is difficult to find elsewhere—particularly photographs combined with clubs, activities, honors, birthplaces and future plans.
Bible Rescue is working to index these names so descendants searching for family members have another opportunity to discover them.
CONDITION
Original vintage 1940 yearbook, now more than 85 years old. Expect age-appropriate wear from storage and handling. Please examine all photographs carefully for cover, binding, pages, writing, markings and overall condition. Photographs form part of the description.
ABOUT BIBLE RESCUE
Bible Rescue works to rescue and preserve family history found in old family Bibles, yearbooks, photographs, handwritten records and other historical materials.
Our goal is to preserve the names, photographs and stories contained in these materials and, whenever possible, help reconnect them with families and descendants or find a new home.
Together, we rescue and restore family history.
Related Items:
1940s Illinois Central Railroad Steam Locomotive Snapshot Photo Lot Of 15
$125.00
Antique Ww2 Era Central European Unique Ring Bronze Europe Rare 1940s
$105.00
1940 Central High School Washington DC Yearbook The Brecky WWII Era Genealogy
$29.95
