HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATIONS 1934-1938
One of the great resources I found in the Local History Archive at the Simon Fairfield Public Library were newspaper scrapbooks. While browsing through them, I came across articles about graduations from Douglas Memorial High School. Naturally, I was interested to find an article about my mother's graduation as well as those for Coppola brothers and sisters.
I searched from 1934 to 1938 in the scrapbooks and found Tony graduated in 1934 and Frankie in 1938. In addition, I found Nancy Vecchione graduated in 1935.
Unfortunately, I did not find my mother's name listed in 1936 or 1937 (the years I expected she would have graduated). That was perplexing since I assumed she did graduate from high school, but honestly did not know. I then looked at the 1940 U.S. Federal Census which listed highest year of school completed, and saw grade 8 was designated. While I will never know if that is absolutely true, I can only speculate she had to quit high school and go to work to help out the family. And I imagine the same would be true for her sisters.
I searched from 1934 to 1938 in the scrapbooks and found Tony graduated in 1934 and Frankie in 1938. In addition, I found Nancy Vecchione graduated in 1935.
- Click the links above to find graduation articles for that particular year. They are fascinating to read.
Unfortunately, I did not find my mother's name listed in 1936 or 1937 (the years I expected she would have graduated). That was perplexing since I assumed she did graduate from high school, but honestly did not know. I then looked at the 1940 U.S. Federal Census which listed highest year of school completed, and saw grade 8 was designated. While I will never know if that is absolutely true, I can only speculate she had to quit high school and go to work to help out the family. And I imagine the same would be true for her sisters.
Last Revised: June 22, 2020