Durfee High School - Durfee Record Yearbook (Fall River, MA)

Page 5 text:

 PRINCIPAL TO THE CLASS OF 1956: You pause momentarily at a threshold today, happy yet touched by a fleeting sadness. Suddenly you realize what Durfee has meant to you in these few years that have passed so rapidly, and you are reluctant to leave the old familiar school. But no. The future waves you on. This threshold you must cross, and others lie ahead, fascinating, tantalizing, and ever challenging. There is work to be done, and you are ready to do it. To the extent that you have succeeded in disciplining yourself, your success will be rapid and sure or gradual and elusive. But successes there will be, despite the hazards of the way; for you have taught yourself throughout your school years to confront problems with calm, to analyze them with restraint, and to attempt their solution with vigor. If there is any one word of advice that I would give you now, it is this. Be a man or a woman of principle. Hold fast to the ethical and moral standards which you know to be right, precisely as you maintain your faith in God. Ignore the siren promises of reward without effort. Use your powers of discrimination to seek the essential truths in a welter of conflicting opinion. Above all, do not fear to reach conclusions of your own, weighing them in the balance of truth and justice. As you graduate from B. M. C. Durfee High School, my best wishes go with you. May you enjoy happiness and health, and may the years bring you success in full measure.

Page 4 text:

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE GRADUATING CLASS OF THE B. M. C. DDR FEE HIGH SCHOOL It is my happy privilege to be allowed to congratulate the Durfee graduates of 1956. As the spokesman for the entire school staff and for the members of the School Committee, I wash you all the very best of happiness and good fortune. You young people leaving Durfee are going into a world that is in many respects one of the most exciting in history— one that opens up opportunities unknown at any previous time. You do not need to be reminded by me of the tremendous advances in science, technology—in the growth of leisure and of the other things about which you have heard so much which mark the social revolution of our day. I do not need to remind you either, that the same revolutionary changes have brought with them several problems ranging from insecurity of the individal to the un- certainties of world affairs. In any event, the nation needs and is looking for young men and women whose ideals of citizenship will be high—whose courage will be great—and whose intellectual training will be superior. Get as much training as you can. All of you, regardless of what part you take, must follow a course of study—must maintain the habits of mental discipline which your school has attempted to instill in you. Go forth with high heart but with firm determination and go, too, with the best wishes of all of us. Sincerely yours,

Page 6 text:

FACULTY Ambrose F. Keeley, Principal Herbert W. Pickup, Vice-Principal Amasa F. Williston, Vice-Principal Thomas P. Cullen, Assistant Director of Vocational Guidance Yolande B. La liberte, Associate Dean of Girls Alice C. Harrington, Associate Dean of Girls Helen G. Amiot Eugenie W. Bent Clinton A. Borden Paul G. Buckley M. Dolores Burns Emily B. Campbell Joseph O. Carroll Mildred V. Carroll Nancy Carroll William M. Cleare Hazel M. Conaty James F. Conlin Mary F. Corcoran Angeline B. Crispo John T. Crowley Joseph B. D’Adamo Frederick A Dagata Margaret G. Dailey Armand A. Dallaire Edna U. Delahanty Margaret G. Doran Ruth N. Dow Edward B. Downs, Ruth Downs Wilfred C. Driscoll Romeo J. Dufour Grace M. Dunn Ralph J, Fletcher Carrie T. Foulkes Virginia W. Frost Elinor F. Gilbert Leonora G. Goltz Chester Gosciminski Frederic J. Gottwald Mary C, T. Grandfield Marjorie Gray Frederick J. Harrington John J. Harrington Margaret M. Harty Joseph R, Hathaway George C. Hoar Katherine L. Hogan Matthew S. Jagielski Frank J. Jordan Mary E. Judge Margaret F. Keefe Helena A. Kelley Daniel Kelly John E. Kilev Joseph J. Lawlor Herve B. Lem a ire Elizabeth L. Leonard Katherine F. Lomax Marga re tt E, Macdonald Earl V. Malmborg Grace L, Martin Rose E. Me Hale William B. Mcllwaine George A. Mitchie Stephen Nawrocki Ruth W, Newkirk Caesar Nobrega William A. Nugent Anne L. O’Neil Margaret H. Powers H. Elton Sanford Antonio A. Serpa Henry J. Shea Jose M. Silva, Jr. Charles D. Smith Dominick R. Sperduti Anna L. Sullivan Dorothy C. Sullivan Helena V. Sullivan Mary E. Sweeney Marion L. Torphy Louis J. Urban Barbara Wei 1 ington Margaret J. W ha Ion A. Wilson Whitman Helena H, Withrow Dorothy E. Wolstenholme Mary Yankopou los Kathryn A. Lenehan, clerk Florence M. Burns, clerk Ann T. Coughlin, clerk Lauretta K. Dahill, clerk