Photo Friday – Dunstan Grammar Class of 1939.

SHS Photo Collection – Part 1
Photo Friday
By Don Taylor

Today, I examined a small photo album from the Scarborough Historical Society Photo Collection[i]. The album is titled “Class of 1939” and consists of individual thumbnail photos. All but two photos have names hand-written on the back. My initial opinion is this album is of the Dunstan Grammar School (Scarborough, Maine) and grades 5, 6, & 7 from 1939; further research confirmed that opinion. My goal in this project is to unite these photos with family members who may have never seen the images before.

What I learned while analyzing this photo package:

• The 1939 Scarborough Annual Report indicates that Dunstan School was a 2-room schoolhouse. It consisted of a primary school with “Grades 4, 3, 2, 1, & Sub, Pri, and a Grammar school consisting of “Grades 7, 6, and 5.”
• The 1940 Scarborough Annual Report indicates that Dunstan Grammar had 22 students registered in the 1939 Spring Term.
• The Scarborough Superintendent of Schools, F. H. B. Heald, and R. J. Libby, the State Agent for Rural Education, indicated that a second Dunstan School building should be built. The additional 4-room school building will allow pupils at Beech Ridge, Broad Turn, Pine Point, and Blue Point to be gathered into the new 6-room Dunstan school.

The first page of the photo package consists of five photos of four children[ii].

• Melvin Williams
  • The 1940 US Census[iii] indicates that Melvin S. Williams, age 11, had completed 4^th grade (suggesting he was in 5^th grade in this photo). He lived on Portland Road – Route 1.
• Pat Seavey (2 photos)
  • The 1940 US Census indicates that Patricia R Seavey, age 10, had completed 4^th grade (suggesting she was in 5^th grade in this photo). She lived on Old Orchard Road.
• Wesley Varney
  • The 1940 US Census indicates that Wesley E Varney, age 11, had completed 4^th grade (suggesting he was in 5^th grade in this photo). He lived on Snow Street but lived in Portland in 1935.
• Bill Higgins
  • My review of the 1940 US Census didn’t find a William/Bill Higgins living in Scarborough.

The second page of the photo package consists of three photos. Two are unnamed; the middle child is identified as  Gilmore Rounds.

• Unknown Boy – School Patrol.
• Gilmore Rounds
  • Gilmore W. Rounds was born on 27 June 1930 in Portland. I couldn’t find him in the 1940 US Census.
• Unknown Girl.

Please comment below if you can identify these two unknown students.

The third page of the photo package consists of six photos of five students.

• Norman Verrill
  • The 1940 US Census indicates that Norman Verrill, age 11, had completed 5^th grade (suggesting he was in 6^th grade in this photo). He lived on Snow Street with his uncle, Orville L. Varney.
• Juliet Gervais (2 photos)
  • The 1940 US Census indicates that Juliet Gervais, age 12, had completed 5^th grade (suggesting she was in 6^th grade in this photo). She lived with her parents, Baptice & Flerie,
• Audrey David
  • The 1940 US Census indicates that Audrey L David, age 11, had completed 4^th grade (suggesting she was in 5^th grade in this photo). She lived with her parents, Richard & Harriet David.
• Roberta Carter
  • The 1940 US Census indicates that Audrey L David, age 10, had completed 7^th grade (suggesting she was in 8^th grade in this photo). She lived with her parents, Carl & Dorothy. I believe her grade is in error, and she is more likely to have completed grade 4.
• Mary Ferrelli
  • The 1940 US Census indicates that Mary M Ferrelli, age 9, had completed 4^th grade (suggesting she was in 5^th grade in this photo). She lived with her mother, Alice, and stepfather, James Pinkham.

The fourth page of the photo package consists of two photos.

• Marion Milliken
  • The 1940 US Census indicates that Marion Milliken, age 11, had completed 6^th grade (suggesting she was in 7^th grade in this photo). She lived with her parents, Henry & Mac.
• Ann Bradford
  • The 1940 US Census indicates that Anna Bradford, age 11, had completed 7^th grade (suggesting she was in the 8^th grade in this photo). Her grade is likely in error, and she was in the 7^th grade when she was enumerated. She lived with her parents, Charles & Nora.

At this point, I am confident this album consists of students in the 5^th, 6^th, & 7^th grades who attended Dunstan School in 1939. As such, I will only list the rest of the students by page and name.

The fifth page of the photo package consists of six photos.

• Lona Plummer
• Lawrence Nielsen
• Gerald Gervais
• Fanny Burnham
• Carroll Guest
• Maysel Morris

The sixth page of the photo package consists of three photos.

• Helen Soule
• Priscilla Scamman
• Gordon Guest

The seventh page of the photo package consists of six photos of five students.

• Dick Gantnier (two photos)
• Raymond Skillings
• Fred Leary
• Rachel Whipple
• Leon Plummer

Conclusion

I am sure these photos, taken in 1939, represent the 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th grade classes of Dunstan Grammar School. The identities of 26 of the 28 students’ photos are provided. Besides here, I uploaded these photos to the Scarborough Historical Society website.

I would love to hear your reaction if any of these photos are of your family member. Especially if this photo is of a loved one for whom you hadn’t seen this photograph before. Ultimately, my goal is to reunite the pictures with family members who may have never seen the image.

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Endnotes

[i] This photo was donated to the SHS Collections and accessioned as #2023.19.55. The cover of the small, 3.85×5,” album is burgundy in color and has Class of 1939 printed on the cover and consists of 25 thumbnail photos.

[ii] Note: All Students are listed in Left to Right order with duplicates on the same page ignored.

[iii] Melvin S Williams in the 1940 United States Federal Census

 

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