West Hempstead High School/Middle School 70th year dedication ceremony with a presentation and display donated by the West Hempstead Historical Society and presented by Lesley McAvoy.
Full transcript from the Historical Society:
In 2023, the West Hempstead Historical Society donated this
display to all past, present, and future students attending this
learning facility. It captures a period of history when the high
school was planned, constructed, and graduated its first class.
While it is meant to honor this, it is also meant to give students a
historical perspective in that while a place on earth remains
geographically constant, humans change the culture. And while
any decade could show a very different high school, the good
wishes of the West Hempstead community remain the same.
Before 1952, secondary students from Roosevelt, East and
West Hempstead, and East Meadow all attended Hempstead
High School. By 1952, population increases caused by improved
transportation, suburbanization and the end of WWII made it
necessary for Hempstead to bar these students after September
1953. West Hempstead scrambled to get the vote for a $100,000
to purchase a 16-acre state mandated plot and a $2,750,000
facility. The first vote failed 917 to 797. Board of Education
members were considering renting stores and churches for
students. A site on Duryea Terrace/Walton Street as it was
central in the district was considered but was rejected as it
would be a stress on the WH Fire Department. Finally, a second
vote for the Gustke-Lindner site passed by 138 votes and would
be serviced by the Lakeview Fire Department. Ground was
broken on St. Patrick’s Day 1952 and the cornerstone laid by
Arnold Southwood, President of the Board of Education.
Construction was hindered by a fire but by September 8, 1953
West Hempstead High School opened and welcomed new
teachers and students. Students who were Juniors and Seniors at
Hempstead High school were given the option to graduate from
there but many switched to West Hempstead. Prior to opening
students had met in groups to pick the school colors, “black and
gold,” and the mascot, “the Ram.” The school served grades 7-
12. It offered over forty clubs and teams-10 student government,
10 athletic, 8 music and 11 various other disciplines.
The dedication was held on January 10 th , 1954. Parents,
students, and teachers filled the auditorium. The address was
given by Fred Hechinger of the New York Herald Tribune.
Members of the Board of Education, the Rabbi from the Nassau
Community Temple, the Reverend from the Church of the Good
Shepherd and the Reverend from St. Thomas The Apostle all
took part in the festivities.
And so, on January 29 th in 1954 West Hempstead High School
celebrated its first Senior Ball, “Rhapsody in Blue” in the
auditorium. The ball was a homespun production of students,
faculty, parents, and the community. And then it was on to the
first commencement from West Hempstead High School!
One hundred and ten students graduated at the first West
Hempstead High School Commencement. Fifty-five would go
on to college. Forty had already accepted full time positions, one
with the FBI; two with the Navy. Thirty-one students had
attended West Hempstead Schools exclusively, and one of those,
Robert DiMonda had never missed a day! Student speakers
spoke out against Communism and addressed issues of freedom
and responsibility. “No man is educated unless he is fully aware
of the society of which he is a part.” Timeless words……….
