East High School - Redjacket Yearbook (Pawtucket, RI)

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i r!H m m Dr. R 1 chard DR. RICHARD DAY ALLEN was born on May 18. 1887. in Milwaukee. Wisconsin. With his family he moved to Providence and later to Pawtucket, where he entered high school in 1904, his junior year. While in the high school, which was then housed in the Broadway building, he worked nights in the telephone office, and before Thanksgiving of his first year at Pawtucket he left school to devote more of his time to work. Later in the same year Prof. Elmer S. Hosmer. who was then the principal, persuaded Dick to return to his studies. Although he continued in the telephone office' and had a great deal of back work to make up in school, he still found time to play football, manage the baseball team, organize the first track team and first glee club, and to be a leader in the debating society. Coincident-ally, at his graduation in 1906 he was captain of one debating team and Joseph B. Keenan, our other honor graduate, was captain of the other. After commencement Dick” had no hope for any further education, but in the summer Professor Hosmer. who had taken a great interest in the boy. went to “Dick's home and told him that he would like to see him enter Brown in the fall. As a result of much hard studying, some high marks in examinations, and a scholarship, the young man was able to do just that. At Brown he was also one of the most active students, and he obtained his A. B. degree in 1910. From 1910 to 1911 he was physical director at Wayne, Pennsylvania. After a year away from home. Mr. Allen returned to Pawtucket High School, where he was received by Professor Hosmer as a member of the English staff. For four years he taught at his alma mater , and during those years he coached debating and organized Pawtucket’s first society of Thespians. His kind Day Allen friend. Professor Hosmer. urged him to apply for a teaching position in the Providence school system. Mr. Allen was soon accepted in Providence, and in a short span of years he filled the offices of teacher, assistant grammar school principal, principal of a grammar school. Director of Research and Guidance, and finally Assistant Superintendent of Schools. By this time he was Dr. Allen, for in 1 9 1 2 he obtained his A. M. degree and in 1921 his Ph. D. Dr. Allen has the greatest admiration for Professor Hosmer and he attributes his success to him more than to any other person. Dr. Allen’s ambition in life is to organize the public schools sO that every student coming through secondary schools will have someone who will take the same personal interest in him that Professor Hosmer took in me.” And this is exactly what he is doing. In the educational field Dr. Allen is nationally known. He is assistant to Dr. Stude-baker. National Director of Education, on a oart-time basis. He is a graduate lecturer at Brown. Boston University, and Harvard. He is the author of five books and joint author of two 1938 yearbooks, one for the Department of Superintendents, the other for the National Society for the Study of Education. As a speaker on educational subjects he is in great demand throughout the country. No matter how much he has done Dr. Allen is still striving to make the way easier for the student of high school age who is hesitating at the crossroads in his life. In his fifty-third year he is a kind, lively gentleman with sparkling eyes, who exudes personality and vitality to all who are privileged to come in contact with him. To this man who has climbed to the very top in his profession belong all the laudation and honor of the Class of 1939 of the Pawtucket Senior High School. R. L. Knapp [ 13 ] m :

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DR. RICHARD DAY ALLEN

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Joseph 13. Keen an TN June. 1906. the man who was to become the Nemesis of gangsters the country over, graduated from Pawtucket High School! Few people present at that graduation ever dreamed of the success that lay ahead of Joseph B. Keenan, one of the nervous seniors on the stage that night. From Pawtucket High School he went to Brown University, where in 1910 he was graduated with the degrees of A. B. and A. M. In 1913. after a three-year course at Harvard Law School, he received the degree of L. L. B. Immediately after his graduation he left New England and went to Cleveland, where he passed the Ohio bar examinations and began the practice of law in late 1913. By hard work he soon became prominent in his profession. and won the respect and admiration of his neighbors and colleagues. The World War found Mr. Keenan a member of the A. E. F. in France. In July, 1918, he was cited by General Pershing for meritorious service to his country, and received the thanks of the French government. He was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant, and was honorably discharged from the service soon after the Armistice. Back to Cleveland and the practice of law went Joseph Keenan, and he quickly regained all that the war had cost him. He enlarged his practice and soon became one of the best attorneys in the state. He served for a time as district attorney, but preferred private practice. After thirteen years as a successful lawyer his admiration for Governor Roosevelt of New York caused him to participate in Roosevelt’s presidential campaign of 1932. He was a leader in the success of the “Roosevelt for President” movement in Ohio, and was the organizer of a political club which had a mem- bership of sixty thousand throughout the country. He continued his career in Cleveland until he was called to the aid of the Federal government in 1933. Then he was appointed special assistant to the United States Attorney-General, and assigned to lead a drive to end racketeering in the United States. Six months later he was promoted to the position of Assistant Attorney-General of the United States in direct charge of the Criminal Division. In his new position Mr. Keenan organized a “campaign against crime . It was he who caused the downfall of racketeers and gangsters in New York. Chicago, the Middle West, and the Pacific Coast. His administration saw the capture and death of America’s worst public enemies, the John Dillinger gang, and gave American citizens a security they had not known in years. After nearly six years in this high office he retired from public service on February 16, 1939. President Roosevelt, on receiving his resignation, said in a letter to him: “You have served with enthusiasm, distinction, and unswerving loyalty. Your future career will always be a matter of affectionate interest to me, and 1 wish for you in it every success and happiness.” The Class of 1939 echoes the President's sentiments, and is indeed proud to honor such an illustrious graduate of Pawtucket High School. In a visit to Rhode Island during his campaign against kidnappers, Mr. Keenan said to a high school audience here: Pawtucket on the Blackstone River will always be the great city of the world to me. because it always means our old high school and my friends who have been so kind. James Schora [ 14]