MEMORIES OF
ST. ELIZABETH SCHOOL

Please post your own memories of your years at St. Elizabeth School.  Send an email with your name, class year and memory to officedev@steliznyc.org.  The subject line should read St. E Memory. 

Check back frequently for updates!

John McGuiness '49 sent us the following excerpt from Ron Chernow's biography "Alexander Hamilton", regarding some land near the school:

"Like her evangelical colleagues, Eliza believed passionately that all children should be literate in order to study the Bible. In 1818, she returned to the state legislature and won a charter for the Hamilton Free Scgool, which was the first educational institution in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. It stood on land Eliza donated on Broadway between 187th and 188th Streets in upper Manhattan and was established in honor of her husband's memory."

A neighborhood memory from the 1950s.  This came up on a Freerepublic.com thread, posted by "dead," whose father instigated this incident. As he explains ...

"My father was in a bar back in Washington Heights, NYC back in the fifties. Some drunk guy in the bar insisted he was a pilot, but they all just kept scoffing at him, so the guy left furious. A few hours later, at 3 in the morning, he walked back in the bar and told him he had proof. They went outside and he showed them the plane he had just landed outside the bar on St. Nicholas avenue. He had taken a bus to Teterboro NJ, stole a plane, and landed it on a street in Manhattan, just to prove a point."

Some memories from Sheila Donohue Cooney '60 about the sisters who taught at St. Elizabeth.

"Mother Philomena. (Ellen Sullivan) taught me in the 8th grade and was a lovely warm person. In later years we kept in touch and my husband and I visited her in retirement in 1991 in New Jersey. She died later that year from surgery complications.

Mother Christopher Mary also taught 8th grade and was very much liked. 

Mother John Mark taught first grade in the 1950s. She was also a gifted musician and played for many musical events and trained singers for school plays. Our music teacher was Edward O'Donnell, the church organist and choir master. But Mother John Mark assisted and filled in for him when necessary as well as coaching the singers."

Some memories from Ken Veit '52, excerpted from his memoirs:

"My early school days at St. Elizabeth’s were ones I enjoyed thoroughly. I particularly recall the Christmas pageants that were staged each December in the school auditorium. I was usually cast as one of the Wise Men, a role I felt suited me perfectly. There were no speaking lines. All I had to do was dress up in colorful silk “robes” and parade across the stage on cue, searching for the baby Jesus. For some reason, I found this thrilling.

In the First Grade normally the boys all wore short pants. As I recall we graduated to knickers after a couple of years, and then to long pants by about the Fifth Grade. That was a big deal."

"In 1947, our school, St. Elizabeth’s on Broadway at 187^th Street, burned while the students were home having lunch.  All the kids cheered but me.  As I said, I loved school.  After a brief hiatus, we were all bundled into buses for the next three years and attended classes in a dilapidated school in Harlem that was awful.  Eventually our school was rebuilt, in the empty lot across the street from our apartment building, and we finished our last two years in the new facility."  (For pictures, see our Alumni Photo Page.)

From Vilma Noda '76

Class of 1976 the Bicentenial Year!

 

I grew up in Washington Heights from the age of 3 till I moved out to Florida in 2003.

 

I have very fond memories of St. Elizabeth. I came into the 1st grade in 1967.  I remember playing in the school yard with my friends, the peanut butter sandwiches I loved so much from the school lunch room. I remember singing in the choir at church for Easter Sunday. I remember the Christmas plays and the trips to Rye Play Land. Halloween when we got to dress up and trick or treat around the school hallways.

 

But I think that one of my favorite memories is St. Patrick's Day, where some of my Irish classmates would dress up in their Authentic Irish dance uniforms and dance Irish jigs for us. I remember the pretty skirts and medals they wore. I loved the way they danced and shared their Irish heritage with the rest of us. Ever since then I've held St. Patty's day dear to my heart...I celebrate it and remember my childhood days at St. Elizabeth's. Those were the days.

 

Thanks St. Elizabeth's for the memories.

From Maritza Palacios '78

"I have so many fond memories of my school career at St. E's. But I must say that the ones that stick out in my mind the most are mostly from 8th grade. We were called "The Dancing Class of St. E's" Every weekend there was a party at someone's house. Being the disco era we were all over the dance floor. The closeness our class had from those dancing days was something I have not been able to repeat in my life. Eighth grade meant parties, my first boyfriend and graduation. It was a bittersweet year. Our teachers were sad to see us go. One teacher, Ms. Patricia Carroll sang a song to us as a graduation present. Not a dry eye in the class. I remember all the school bazaars that brought out the whole neighborhood to the school. The trips to Rye Playland and of course the classic Philadelphia trip in 8th grade. The bus I was on broke down in Philly and we were stranded in the museum for hours. That was the best trip ever!"