By Gabrielle Tunucci October 29 th , 2019: A New Haven Register article title reads: “Birks gets $175,000 payout in severance agreement.” According to the article, the recent severance of Carol Birks, the former Superintendent of Schools, is one of many controversies in the New Haven Board of Education’s search for a superintendent. New Haven residents had been attending Board of Education meetings since 2017 to express their outrage “for what they view as a rigged and un-transparent process.” A representative of the school board insisted that the search process was “transparent and included ample feedback from the community and stakeholders.” This event exemplifies citizens’ ongoing contentions with the Board of Education: its design as a political body. Since New Haven’s founding, education has been a cornerstone of the community. The Puritans who first colonized what is now the city of New Haven emphasized the importance of education. Although they were a religious group, P...

By Ethan Mehlin The post World War Two era in America often remembered as a time marked by protest and civil unrest. The causes of this discontent were varied, many protests focused on the draft and the military, while others were directed at racial issues and discrimination. Oftentimes these protests were spearheaded and held campuses, with students organizing and leading acts of civil disobedience. Occurring across the country, New Haven was no exception and found itself home to a series of protests at the Yale campus in the Late 1960’s. Led by the Black Student Law School (BLSU), the group centered their efforts on demanding reform for the New Haven police force whom often arrested and harassed black students with no cause. Over the coming weeks, the BLSU would lead several in class demonstrations as well as present demands to the Yale administration. Despite ineffectual responses from Yale, the BLSU would persist in its efforts and even found itself joined by the majority of the ...

December 11, 2019 By Michael Hope A Yale, and Hopkins School grad, and known by most as “The Father of American Football”, Walter Camp played a leading role in the creation of football. In the sport’s infancy, football resembled both rugby, and Association Football, Camp proposed a series of changes, such as the introduction of a line of scrimmage, and the legalization of blocking, helping distinguish American football as its own identity. Camp attended Yale from 1876 to 1882 and was a member of the football team. As a member of the team, Camp played the halfback position, was team captain, and in 1878 became a member of the Intercollegiate Football Association, where he became a fixture. That same year at the Intercollegiate Football Association, Camp took the bold move in proposing the reduction of the number of players on a field from 15 to 11, a proposal that was initially rejected, but later implemented in 1880. (PFRA) That same year, Camp proposed another revolut...

By: Chris Parkin Yale Divinity School was founded in 1822, following in the footsteps of Andover, Princeton, Harvard, Bangor, Auburn, and General, who had established such schools before it. The Divinity School was the brainchild of Timothy Dwight IV, president of Yale from 1795–1817, who left his son to gather the funds to create a theological school for Yale. The issue was brought to the attention of the Yale Corporation in 1822 by Dr. Eleazar T. Fitch, who was Professor of Divinity at the time, after “fifteen students of the class to graduate in that year petitioned the Faculty that they might be organized into a theological class.” The training of ministers was an issue at the time, as “parish ministers were too busy to conduct schools” and take on apprentices, creating a demand for ministerial training. Hence, the Yale Corporation voted to establish a Department of Theology, and a Professorship of Didactic Theology. The Yale Corporation concurrently elected Rev. Nathaniel W. T...

By: Lorette Feivelson In 1886, a free public library had been high on New Haven’s wish list for some time. New Haven was quickly growing and becoming a thriving city and it was believed that a city of its size should have a public library. Other cities of similar size had started to build libraries of their own, including Bridgeport, Connecticut, which opened its own public library in 1881. New Haven’s role as a college town also played a role in the decision to create a public library. It seemed odd that the city that was home to one of the most prestigious universities in the country had not already invested in a library to educate its citizens. Of course, New Haven did not lack libraries before this point. Yale had its own library with an impressive collection that more than met the needs of its students. Outside of the university there were several private subscription libraries throughout the city, including on at the Young Men’s Institute. These libraries had plenty of m...

By: Kendra Kochol In the fall of 1931, New Haven State Normal School offered its newest curriculum. Prior to this, students had two fields of study to choose from- teaching in kindergarten or one of the first three grades, or intermediate grades 4-6. Starting in 1931, students could choose to study Atypical Education, or Special Education as it is known today. However, Special Education and its similar interventional areas were in New Haven long before 1931. Individuals with disabilities have been fighting a long battle for inclusion and even respect from others. The first chapter of History of Special Education discusses historical and philosophical changes in the treatment and education of students with exceptionalities. The first chapter says “the mid-nineteenth century saw the growth of institutions and asylums for individuals with disabilities… Although some institutions viewed their purpose as providing educational and vocational programs and fostering moral and religious develop...

By Michael Natalino One of my proudest factors is being a New Haven native. My family came to the United States to this city, all the way from Italy during the immigration surge of the late 19th Century. My grandmother, born Doreen Ann Trotta in 1949 and has spent her whole life here. She was born and raised in Fair Haven (a subsidiary of the city), which she describes as a “very diverse neighborhood, made up mostly of immigrants who came to the United States to achieve the American Dream. The neighborhood consisted of people from Italy, Germany, Poland, and Portugal. There was no discrimination between nationalities and it felt like a family.” Her father was a self-taught mason who never finished school. So determined to learn the trade, he would exchange homemade wine for the education of blueprint reading from one of his peers. This hard work still inspires the rest of my family and I to prosper in whatever it is we love doing. In the 60s, my grandmother moved to the Morris ...

- December 11, 2019 By Austin Farb For over a century, the Yale School of Medicine only accepted male students from its opening in 1813. It was not until 1916, that the first female students were admitted as well. Part of the reason was due to World War I, which reduced the number of qualified students to be admitted to Yale’s School of Medicine. Another reason women were admitted was because of Henry Farnam, who at the time was an economics professor at Yale. Henry Farnam’s daughter Louise, wanted to attend medical school but was disqualified based on her gender. Farnam responded to the situation by discussing the matter at multiple board meetings and by sending a letter to Yale President Arthur T. Hadley. In this letter, Farnam stated, "Word has reached me informally that the faculty of the Medical School are willing to admit a limited number of women provided they are graduates of a college and provided funds can be raised to put in a suitable lavatory. As the latte...