1946 - 1969

After World War II, Elizabeth Parmelee and Beatrice Cosmey became co-headmistresses of Calhoun. Calhoun’s main focus became college preparation as students competed with returning GIs for places at colleges around the country and standardized tests became increasingly important. But other educational goals were also valued at Calhoun. A new global outlook pervaded the school during the Parmelee/ Cosmey administration. The school introduced a program in community service as well as courses in comparative religion, world problems, creative writing, African history and the study of Spanish. By the late 1950s, a tradition had been established that continues into the 1990s, of providing financial support for the professional development of faculty. Some voices in the community urged the recruitment of more students from diverse religious and socio-economic backgrounds.          

Prom 1950	A favorite hang-out

Students participated in Model United Nations programs and hosted an Inter-School Congress Committee to “promote better understanding among the schools of New York City.” They waited for news of The Marshall Plan and the partition of Palestine, and heard about fear of Communism; they “survived long Civil Defense Drills by playing games in the closet.” They took field trips to the Stock Exchange and the opera, and continued to go on school-sponsored ski trips, which began in the ’40s. In 1953–54, students were involved in the self-study process for the Middle States evaluation—not a standard practice in schools at this time. Community service continued at the University Settlement, as well as other organizations.

But the 1950s also brought changes in the West Side neighborhood that made some families reluctant to send their daughters to the school on West 92nd Street, and flight to the suburbs was an issue.

At the same time, the administration was distressed by the weak preparation of students entering Calhoun’s seventh grade from other schools, and anticipated that larger baby boom classes would ultimately make the 92nd Street building too cramped. According to Miss Parmelee, Calhoun needed to create its own “feeder” school that would provide a sound preparation for those entering its secondary school program. And, she said, “we are determined to have it inter-racial and inter-religious as well as coeducational.”

The question was, where to look for larger quarters? Hopeful about the impact of new projects on the West Side—Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the new Fordham University Campus, the Coliseum, and Morningside Garden Apartments—Calhoun’s Board of Trustees chose to stay on the West Side and work to improve neighborhood conditions under the auspices of the League of West Side Organizations.

At a gala dinner held at the Hotel Pierre in 1953 to raise money for new construction, Barnard Dean Millicent McIntosh spoke about democracy and diversity on the West Side, and praised Calhoun students as among the best prepared at Barnard. She acknowledged that the leaders of the school had never been bound by “seclusiveness.” Instead she said that they had always linked “high standards” with “new discoveries in education.”

While the school’s Board searched for funds for a new building, a sixth grade class was started in a rented first floor apartment at 650 West End Avenue on the corner of West 92nd Street. Two years later, in 1958, a co-educational Lower School was reopened under the directorship of Wilhelmina Kraber, in two townhouses that were purchased from the Children’s Colony School at 431–433 West End Avenue. For the first time in 21 years, The Calhoun School once again offered classes from pre-K through the 12th grade—in two different locations. Miss Parmelee, Miss Cosmey and the Board continued to look for affordable property where they hoped to house all the school’s programs at the same address. In 1965, the school purchased three more townhouses adjacent to the Lower School on the corner of West 81st Street. One of the townhouses was immediately renovated for use by the Lower School, while the two at the corner awaited future plans. The stage was set.

Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, while talk of moving and rebuilding dominated, the Alumnae Association raised money for scholarships by sponsoring bazaars. The annual mother-daughter luncheon and fashion show continued at the Plaza, the Waldorf Astoria, the Pierre Hotel and other well known sites. The Parents Association was equally involved with fund-raising and social events, instituting a Holiday Fund for the faculty in 1956 and a Spring Fair in 1963—both of which continue today. A Lower School Parents Association was formed, and morning parent workshops and book fairs became regular events.
 
In 1962, the French club was a popular after-school activity with French teacher/faculty advisor Mme. Isabelle Pitzele (front, second from left).  Perhaps it was the promise of the trip to France that encouraged high participation?  Today, Calhoun's Upper School students continue to take advantage of the annual school-sponsored trip to Europe--albeit to a different destination each year.  

In 1964, the Assembly Committee brought speakers to talk about Africa, Greece, UNICEF, Civil Rights, Urban Renewal, the arts and education. Advisor and history teacher June Williams, meets with students Teddy Levine '64 and Marilyn Allman '65.

But the mid-’60s was also the beginning of remarkable political and cultural changes that had lasting effects on the Calhoun community. Students mourned the deaths of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, Jr., and began to question the Vietnam War. In 1964, students sang “500 Miles” at a “hootenanny.” The Calhounder (the student newspaper begun in 1938) reported on a public school boycott protesting segregation in New York City schools. The Calhoun community coped with a transit strike and the Eastern power failure known as “The Blackout.”

The English Department inaugurated a new policy of giving a failing grade to any paper with more than ten “mechanical errors,” a new class was offered on the History of the Non-Western World, and students were studying world poverty with a grant from the Leadership and World Society program. “New math,” interdisciplinary work, individual research, senior projects, team teaching, drug and sex education, double periods for biology labs, philosophy seminars, and Advanced Placement courses could be found at Calhoun.

While enthusiasm for proms and formal dances declined during these turbulent times, for much of this era Calhoun continued to compete with other schools in athletic events. But toward the end of the 1960s, interest in team sports waned, and there was no basketball team in 1969. Two issues of an “underground” paper appeared in the spring of 1969, and the dress code was changed to allow girls to wear pants.