Fifty years ago, 47 members of our class traveled to Washington, DC, with stops in Philadelphia on the way south and New York City on the way north. Our group was led by faculty member Sr. Maria de Lourdes, Sister Anita Mary (?), Mr. Michael Gelinas and Mr. Donald White.
My memory is less than what it once was, or so I like to think, but I will do my best to recount the itinerary. But I encourage those with more vivid recollections of the trip to post them. Please consider this a draft and not a final product. The article from the Dec. 20, 1963, Chronicle at right may also help. (Click to enlarge)
We traveled, as always, on a Peter Pan Bus. Our first destination was in Philadelphia where I recall seeing the Liberty Bell. We may have visited Constitution Hall as well. Then on to Washington, DC.
I do not recall our hotel, how many days we were in Washington or all the places we visited. So you are encouraged to post insights and opinions, factual additions or modifications as you want. I recall we visited:
(1) The Capitol where we were greeted by Congressman Boland and Senator Ted Kennedy. Several of us sat in Senator Goldwater’s seat in the Senate Chamber. I think Kevin O’Malley was bold enough to open the desk top out of curiosity. (Editor’s note: Here are identifications, including a couple of what we hope are good guesses. Comment if you have changes or answers.)
1- Brendan Montano, 2 – George Shannon, 3 – Richard Minnie(?), 4 – John Moore, 5 – John Dion, 6 – Edmond Crowley, 7 – Mark Rivest, 8 – Bob McCann, 9 – Joe Fallon, 10 – Paul Donahue, 11 – Bob Stroshine, 12 – Jeff Powers, 13 – Kevin O’Malley, 14 – John Stocks, 15 – John Foley, 16 – Sen. Edward Kennedy, 17 – Sister Marie de Lourdes, 18 – Sister Anita Mary, 19 – Rep. Edward Boland, 20 – Mike Reavey, 21 – James Gastone, 22 – Joe Gelinas, 23 – Bill Danoff, 24 – Tom Counos, 25 – Richard Grogan, 26 – Bill McDonald, 27 – Paul Bueker, 28 – Ed Callahan, 29 – Paul Greeley, 30 – Barbara Deknis(?), 31 – Maureen Pollard, 32 – Barbara Karzmarczyk, 33 – Suzanne Rouillard, 34 – Marty Axt, 35 – Kathy Modry, 36 – Peggy Morneau, 37 – Andrea Hayes, 38 – Patricia Manning, 39 – Kathy Williams, 40 – Mary Clark, 41 – Lynn Albano, 42 – Janet Szczebak, 43 – Pat Raimondi, 44 – Mary Ann Popec, 45 – Donald White, 46 – Michael Gelinas, 47 – Angelina Cardaropoli, 48 – Judith Salmond, 49 – Mary Perrin, 50 – Patricia Matthews, 51 – Barbara Mooney, 52 – Joann Moore, 50 – Kathy Kirwin
(2) The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
(3) The JFK grave at Arlington Cemetery. I was privileged to lay a wreath at the grave on behalf of our group.
(4) The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier(s).
(5) The Army Mess Hall at Arlington. Army food was not a recruiting tool, in my opinion.
(6) The memorials for Presidents Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson. Had there been a Franklin Roosevelt Memorial at the time we would have spent several hours there channeling Franklin and Eleanor.
(7) The “Catacombs”?
We had some free time in the evenings and I recall visiting the Goldwater for President Headquarters with Bill McDonald (?), Kevin O’Malley and John Moore (?) where we collected campaign paraphernalia for future distribution.
Our trip home included an overnight stop in New York City where we stayed at the Commodore Hotel (now Trump Tower) located at Lexington and 42nd Street. I think we visited the American Museum of Natural History and The Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art. We enjoyed lunch at an Automat. Incredibly, we were permitted to roam NYC streets after dark. I recall some of us (all?) visited Times Square and saw some pretty strange stuff. I do not recall who else visited these precincts, but that is just as well.
While driving north several of us displayed Goldwater for President posters in the bus windows only to incur the wrath of Sr. Maria de Lourdes who ordered us to remove them.
Thanks for triggering the memories Mike! It was a pretty remarkable trip.
Let me add one high point- since the trip grew out of the Government class that Sr. Marie de Lourdes taught, she arranged for us to shuttle into the Supreme Court in small groups for a short time each. Just as my group shuttled in, Earl Warren began to read the decision in Reynolds v. Sims. It felt like an electric moment realizing that the Supreme Court was striking down political district inequality, citing the principle of “one person, one vote”. While I doubt Government classes pay much attention to that decision any longer, it was profound that day.
It ranked with the human highlights of shaking hands with Eddie Boland and Ted Kennedy. (I felt I almost broke Kennedy’s hand in excitement meeting him- it probably wasn’t quite as exciting for him meeting CHS seniors!)
I would recommend people visit the Newseum in Washington if you have the chance. It has a great deal of focus on the Kennedy assassination and much of the news of the Civil Rights era and the early to mid-60s. I looked hard but saw no pictures of the Cathedral government class trip, however.
But the Newseum did trigger memories of that trip and Sr. Marie de Lourdes. She was a pretty profound influence on many of us- her death was a great loss to the school and community.
Thanks for your note, Ed. Good to hear from you. I completely forgot visiting the Supreme Court. Bill McDonald noted that he opened Barry Goldwater’s desk. This is not to say Kevin did not also open Barry’s desk. Maybe we will hear from Kevin on this point.
Bill also noted the differences in security “standards” between then and now. Imagine allowing a group of high school seniors free rein in the Senate Chamber in 2014? Good point.
I have a few memories of the trip, including that of the photo on the Capitol steps inspired by the photo itself and the Supreme Court visit Ed mentions. Another is that it was the first time I “hugged the porcelain.” A bunch of us had gone out to eat dinner (the Italian Kitchen?). The drinking age in DC for beer and wine was 18. One member of the group, perhaps 18 and perhaps Jeff Powers, ordered a beer. So did the next person. There was no checking of IDs. !! I had turned 17 only a couple of months earlier, but I ordered a beer, too. No problem. Well, except later. I gave back that spaghetti dinner in the hotel room bathroom. Regrettably, this is a memory also very strong for one of my roommates, Paul Donahue. I also, for some reason, used the hotel pool at some point. The chlorine made my eyes water such that it looked as if I was crying. The “tears” would not stop. Before the door to the elevator I was taking back to my room closed, a bunch of girls from the trip jumped in. They were very concerned about what had “happened” to me and offered solace and consolation. Humiliated and, at the same time, kinda happy. I actually do have a memory of some substance. As Michael said in his post, several of us had the chance to sit in the Senate seat of our hero, Barry Goldwater (more about that in another post). I recall, too, opening the desktop and viewing pretty much empty space. The Chronicle coverage and Mike’s post show it was a pretty amazing trip. Wish I remembered more of it. 🙂