BFS Arti-Facts

Each week in The Weekly, BFS Arti-Facts examines a moment in history from the Brooklyn Friends Archives. These short stories remember people, places, and events from the rich 154 year history of our school. Here are a few of our favorites from this school year:

1  Memories of Brooklyn

When writing history pieces, I often think deeply of where and when I am writing about—in this case the borough of Brooklyn itself and the important place that BFS fits into its history. We say, almost too casually, that Brooklyn Friends School has been a part of the Brooklyn community since 1867. Let’s just put that into perspective a bit. When BFS opened its doors, the Brooklyn Bridge—one of the most iconic landmarks in the most iconic city in the nation—was literally a sparkle in New York City’s eye. It was in February of 1867, in fact, that the New York State Senate passed a bill that allowed the construction of a suspension bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan. That construction would not begin until 1870. Another building that lives in the nostalgia of Brooklyn is Ebbets Field, which was the home of the beloved Brooklyn Dodgers. However, in 1867 there was no Ebbets Field. Construction on that building would not start until 1912. There were two other baseball stadiums in Brooklyn at that point, however. One was called the Union Grounds in Williamsburg, which is considered one of baseball’s first true stadiums. Opened in 1862, the admission price was raised in 1867 from 10-cents to 25-cents, equivalent to about $5 today. The Capitoline Base Ball Grounds were conceived in 1863 as a rival to the immediately successful Union Grounds. Located in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Capitoline Grounds not only hosted baseball games, but also hosted the ill-fated sport of baseball on ice skates when the grounds were purposely flooded for winter skating. Both Union and Capitoline were gone by the early 1880s and few know that they ever existed. I wonder how the Mets and Yankees would do on skates?

2  Gala Then, Gala Now

This past May, Brooklyn Friends held its first Gala since 2019—a terrific celebration of BFS and honoree, Sara Soll! It was a spectacular event, filled with joy, music, food and drinks, laughs, and—most importantly—our community! One of the most impactful parts of the evening was the generosity of BFS families and friends donating to the newly-launched Sara Soll Student Engagement Fund. This should not be a surprise to anyone, as BFS has a long-standing tradition of generosity. Back in May of 1963, Brooklyn Friends held a benefit to raise funds for the BFS Teachers’ Retirement Fund. In an event packed with nearly 300 people in the Schermerhorn Gym, guests enjoyed a luncheon, card playing, and “friendly chatter,” according to The Life newspaper from 1963. The decorative theme of the party was that of a flower garden, with panels of flowers mounted around the room. Ninth grade waitresses dressed in the traditional garb of Quaker maidens mingled among the guests. In all, the event raised $2,000 for the BFS Teachers’ Retirement Fund, comparable to more than $18,000 in 2022 value. “The tremendous social, as well as the financial success of the affair gratified us greatly,” the chairman of the 1963 gala said. The same could be said of the 2022 event!

3  Bravo to Our Facilities Team

Exactly who is Elias Morgan? I am quite sure that if you ask any of the students or the one teacher at BFS in 1867, they would not hesitate to explain the importance—and really, the crucial position that Elias held. You see, when there were less than 50 students at the school and only Mary Haviland as a teacher, Elias was hired for $10 per week as the school janitor for his “brawn and brains.” While Elias’ responsibilities are not exactly documented, in 1867 Brooklyn still had streetlights that needed to be lighted and extinguished by hand. That is to say, there were not all that many ways of doing things that we would consider “modern.” Was lighting the street lamp outside the small building on Schermerhorn Street Elias’ responsibility? As I think of Elias, I am moved to think about our absolutely amazing facilities team today at Brooklyn Friends School. Always ensuring that all of BFS’ buildings—and all their nooks and crannies—are always looking their best. However, our facilities team is much more than what they do—it’s who they are. Their hard work is equal to their smiles, their daily greetings, their true passion for making sure that all of the students and adults at Brooklyn Friends have everything they need. We do not have a “janitor” any more at BFS, but we do have a long list of men and women who are appreciated for their “brawn and brains” on a daily basis. Some of these friends are out in the open and some remain behind the scenes—but they are all beloved colleagues. Elias Morgan would be proud of the extremely high standards being carried on at Brooklyn Friends School so many years after he started on the job.

4  Events of the Past—and Present

We are going to travel back nearly 65 years to the day that BFS held two important annual events, not unlike the events we have today. First was the Athletics Award Celebration—which this year we held on May 23rd. Back in May of 1957, the guest speaker for the event was George “Snuffy” Stirnwiess, who played for the New York Yankees in the 1940s. He was said to have given a “very stimulating and entertaining talk.” Of course, anything Snuffy might have said will be far surpassed when Brooklyn Friends AD David Gardella steps to the mic. Still, David doesn’t have a cool nickname like Snuffy—but we can work on that. Just a week

1

VIEW MORE ARTI-FACTS

2 4

1 Capitoline Grounds 2 Brooklyn Friends School students dressed as Quaker Maids 4 George “Snuffy” Stirnwiess

after the awards event in 1957 was the annual Weenie Roast, signifying the end of exams. Of note in the published account was the fact that each attendee also received a bottle of coke and some mustard. While I am sure that the event—which was held at Friends Field—was fun for all, it is without question that Chef Tom will be providing a nicer spread of home-made goodies. However, everyone should bring their own mustard! (That was a joke, please do not BYOM).