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P. S. 65The original structure was built around 1870, which we believe ws the central portion. The architect was unknown. In 1889, the school underwent an extensive renovation under the direction of James Naughton. Naughton, who was also the architect of P.S. 108 and other schools at that time, was also the Superintendant of Construction within the Board of Education. In the Brooklyn Eagle article dated May 28, 1889 it reads as if the front and rear sections were new with the middle section being the original part. One oddity is an 1899 Brooklyn Eagle article referring to P.S. 65 as a "branch" of 108. We now know it offically became P.S. 65 in 1887, the same year street names were changed (Richmond was formerly Rapalye Street). It is now known as the Little Red Schoolhouse. In 2009, the city opened a new P.S. 65 on Jamaica Avenue and Richmond Street, and the old P.S. 65 now houses Achievement First ENY, a charter school. |
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Public School 65 I believe this is the earliest photograph I have found so far, dated March 1909. Note there does not appear to be a house yet to the right (north) of the school. |
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Public School 65, Richmond St. near Ridgewood Avenue Maker: Wm Fick Dated: 1911 Status: Own (BG) This William Fick was cancelled in 1911. There now appears to be a house next to the school. Rob Jefferson supplies some great information on the houses north of the school.  . |
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Public School 65, East New York Maker: Kraus Dated: 1912 Status: Own (BG) This Kraus card appears to have been taken from across the street, with a number of trees in the way. |
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Postcard above, reverse I rarely post the reverse of these cards, but this one had a cute note and the sender is not only identified but lists his home address as 234 Richmond, which would have been across Fulton on the west side of the block. The addressee is only a few blocks away! |
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Public School 65 In this 1930s NYPLD image, we see 174 Richmond for the 1st time. Squeezed in next to the school circa 1927, it disappears by the 1980s. A full shot of the house is on the Richmond Street page . |
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Development Maps, 1905 On the 1905 Plat maps there is clearly no house in the first lot south of P.S. 65. I found the Certificate of Occupancy dated 1927 so that fits in OK. North of the school, there is a reasonable space between the school and building on tax lot 45. I checked the BEDC site and there is now a tax lot 46 squeezed in between. |
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P.S. 65 Dance Club, 1933 We leave one puzzle to stumble on another secret. Peter Stango sends in this great 1933 photo of the P.S. 65 Dance Club! Is Rob Jefferson holding out on us? That's Peter's Uncle Ray sitting in the front row, second from the right. His Uncle forwarded the following IDs; "..Those that I do remember are: top row--first two on the left are Audrey O'Brien, and Evelyn Devlin. Second row--far right- Clementine Catanzaro. The first row---Arthur Hoffman, Alfred Cohen, Andrew Rosenbaum (Rosenberg?) William Hamesfarb, Raymond De Stefano and Izzie Tanenbaum." |
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P.S. 65 Scholarship Medal, 1931 Casey Ross confirms the "Andrew" in the above picture is his grandfather, Andrew Rosenbaum, and even supplies a picture of his 1931 Scholarship Medal. The family name would later be changed to Ross. |
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P.S. 65 Art Club, 1933 Casey Ross found this picture of her grandfather Andrew (2nd from right) in the P.S. 65 Art Club, which looks like it was taken on the same day as the Dance Club. |
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Peter also send some scans from his mother's 1933 autograph book, documenting the principal's name and some teachers. | |
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P.S. 65 Class picture, 1945 Alice (Poggi) Bogart sent in this great picture of her 1st grade class circa 1945. A rare full view of the classroom with the classic wood desks, high ceilings, and tall windows. You can also see the teacher's desk in the shot, and even a telephone. I don't recall telephones in the classroom in later years. |
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P.S. 65 Honor Thrift Classes Longtime Cypress Hills resident Roy Tanner sent over these East New York Savings Bank Honor Thrift Class photos. The first features class 3-1 and Class 4-2 in 1952, and on the right Class 5-1 in 1954 . |
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P.S. 65 Crossing Guards Roy Tanner also sends in these shots of P.S. 65 crossing guards in the 1950s. |
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P.S. 65 Class picture, 1955 Rob Jefferson was actually the first to send in pictures relating to P.S. 65. This was a class picture shot from 1955.The boy in the plaid shirt in the back row is Rob's cousin Tex Klawsnik. |
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P.S. 65 Class picture, 1956 Rob also found this third grade class picture with his cousin Bronny Klawsnik from 1956 and the dreaded Miss Pearce . |
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P.S. 65 Class pictures, 1957 and 1959 Charles Brenner supplied these wonderful shots, a 1957 East New York Savings Bank picture of Class 1-1 and the school's 1959 picture of class 3-1. |
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P.S. 65 Class picture, 1958 A second grade class shot from 1958. Rob is right to the left of the title caption, wearing a bowtie. Directly southeast of Rob is Susan Wong, daughter of the owner of Wong's Restaurant on Crescent and Fulton. (Could she have been named after the movie character?)We also heard from Barry Holland, who identified himself in the lower right with the striped tie and striped jacket.More recently, we heard from Darlene (Whitehead) Chapman who is the middle girl in the top row. Part of a multi-generational ENY family, her son attended P.S. 65 as well, his class picture is below. |
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P.S. 65, 1950s Rob also sent this shot of relatives in front of the school in the 1950s. The woman in the dark dress is Rob's aunt Joan, Tex Klawsnik's mother. |
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P.S. 65, Kindergarten Birthday Party, 1965 From super site contributor Peter Stango, 2 shots taken in his kindergarten class on his birthday in 1965. Peter recalls the teacher was Mrs. Greenberg. That's Peter with the bowtie. |
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P.S. 65, Christmas show 1965 Tim O'Reilly sent over this shot of his first grade class. Note the wooden desks; these also existed over at P.S. 108 at the time though not in every room. I recall having them in the 4th grade (1967) on the 4th floor of the school. They still had the inkwells and were bolted to the floor. Tim takes a stab at IDing the group!  . |
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P.S. 65, 1968, 1969 Steve Adragna comes through with his 4th and 5th grade class pictures. Steve is bottom row, 2nd from left in the 4th grade shot and second row from top, all the way on the right in the 5th grade shot. Debbie Brodzinski ID'd herself; "In the fourth grade picture I am in the last row, 3rd in from the left - with the bow in my hair. Fifth grade picture - first in the 3rd row." Tim O'Reilly IDs his sister Diane in the class 5-1 pic, bottom row, far left. |
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P.S. 65, Kindergarten 1968 Tom Valenza found this well worn photo of his kindergarten class. He's in the second row of the first column. He also identifies in the bottom row on the left Kevin Kerry followed by Phyllis Bruno, and second from the right Janet Finamore (sp?). All three also went to Blessed Sacrament with Tom. Rob Jefferson notes Mrs. Greenberg's role as kindergarten teacher dates back to the 1950s. |
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P.S. 65, Graduation 1969 Frank Luchino sent in these pictures of his brother Mike's graduation in 1969. They show many of the old style features that were also present in classrooms in P.S. 108, including the wooden desks, the blackboards on the sliding doors in front of the coat closets, and the overhead light fixture. Frank believes that is the principal, Mr. Katz, in the picture on the right but we are looking for confirmation. NOTE: Yvonne Temann has corrected that- the principal's name was Krowitz. |
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P.S. 65, Class 1-2, 1975 Darlene (Whitehead) Chapman identified herself in the 1958 class picture above, and also sent this shot of her son Ronald (top row, third from left) in his 1975 Class 1-2 picture. |
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Tim O'Reilly sent over these shots of P.S. 65 from 1990. Note in the Plat map above there is a structure behind the school which is on the north side of the schoolyard. Tim's shot is of the south side but Tim confirms whatever was there was gone by the time he attended. | |
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P.S. 65, Richmond St. 2006 We now circle back to our mysteries with this Local Live aerial view. Note the lot to the left of the school is empty, it now belongs to the school. Its unclear how long the middle section was prior to the 1889 renovation. If the entire front and rear sections were new, it seems it would have added more classrooms than mentioned in the article .Rob Jefferson also supplies some history on the houses south of the school. . |
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| Some articles on the school from the Daily Eagle Brooklyn Eagle article Nov. 23, 1888-Article on overcrowding and need for solution May 28, 1889 Brooklyn Eagle article-Renovation of P.S. 65 |
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