Issue link: http://latinschool.uberflip.com/i/246730
Boys playing ball on the roof of 1531 N. Dearborn. More Jewish families began joining the Latin community during the post-war years. "Now in this atomic age we realize more than ever the necessity for sound education. Students must be rich not only in booklore, but also in the understanding of all races. International goodwill and friendliness throughout all countries is equally as important as an excellent knowledge of history or language. Above all else, we must learn that the Golden Rule of doing unto others as we would have others do unto us is the only means by which individuals, nations and the world itself can survive," wrote Susie Vogel '47 in the Vitae Scholae. According to Class of 1948 alumnus Miles Berger, the post-war years were a time of change for the school. New families were coming to the school from different parts of the city and varying backgrounds. More students also were staying at Latin for high school rather than going to boarding school. Berger feels that this trend may have had something to do with more Jewish families enrolling their children at Latin. "The sociological makeup of the school was changing," said Berger. "Prior to my grade there were maybe two or three Jews in a class," said Berger. "As that opened up, fewer kids were going away to prep school because it wasn't part of the Jewish culture. It wasn't part of our tradition to go to the Choates or Lawrencevilles and then onto Harvard and Yale from there." Despite these developments, much also stayed the same at Latin through the end of the '40s. There were still only 21 students in the Class of 1948, the uniforms remained the same, and so did the school's mission. A school brochure from the time stated: "Alert to changes but antagonistic to fads, the Chicago Latin School believes in a thorough training in academic fundamentals and in the encouragement of intellectual curiosity; in fostering ideals without sacrificing individualism." To Berger, who admits that he may not have been as serious a student as some, the environment at the school was formal and regimented: "J.O. Wood was something out of Charles Dickens…he was austere, he was terrifying, he ran the school with an iron "I recall very clearly having to write the definition of relative humidity 500 times on the board. I struggled with trying to memorize it and every time Mr. Hoffman [the general science teacher and football coach] said: 'Berger, what is the definition of relative humidity?' I never remembered it. After I wrote it on the board 500 times I had to bend over look through my legs and read it upside down. As a result I will never again forget it." — Miles Berger '48 50 L AT I N M AGAZINE Background: A classroom in the boys school.