Alumni Perspective
With Your Help Today’s English High Students Can Be the Next Generation of Famous EHS Alumni
In one sense, nothing has changed in 200 years.
By Dan Eramian, ’66
I served as the editor of our class yearbook, so I had access to all EHS yearbooks. I spent hours reading through them looking for ideas on how best to present our class experiences and accomplishments. For me it was also a history lesson and a sense of continuity in American ideals. Looking at the yearbooks of 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, I was struck by how many grads came from Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan and Jamaica Plain. (Not too many from Beason Hill). Many had Italian, Irish and Jewish surnames, and I suspect were the generational sons of earlier immigrants who fled Europe looking for a better life in America.
Fast forward more than 50 years I find myself writing profiles of alumni for the English High School Alumni Newsletter in anticipation of the 200th celebration. I researched many famous historical alumni who made their marks on global and national stages. But I have also met and wrote about more recent grads who have told me about their English High experiences, and their paths to success. Some of the more recent grads may not be famous now, but I am sure some day they will be.
Here’s a look back at some of the English High alumni we profiled in a nutshell. Some you may know, others you may not but should be proud of:
JP Morgan, 1854. Global giant in the financial world. He once saved the US banking system. It took me hours to translate his hand-written notes he wrote upon entering EHS, but his views on how to be a good student and a good businessman are still valid today. Charles Hayden, 1886, another financial titan. His foundation awards millions to worthy causes even today. Samuel Langley, 1850, aviation engineer, almost beat the Wright Brothers in manned flight. General Matthew Ridgway, 1912, West Point grad who saved the U.S .Army from being overrun in Korea. Alan Rohan Crite, ’29, internationally known African-American artist. Much of his work depicts everyday life scenes in Roxbury. Lawrence Berk, ’27 , established the world famous Berklee School of music. George Alpert 1915, railroad president and a founder of Brandeis University. Louis Sullivan, 1872, internationally known architect, called the “father of modern-day skyscrapers.”
Those are all grads you probably have heard of. But here are other successful grads I met and/or profiled these past two years. Tom Cassidy, ’67. For many years I watched Tom as an anchor at CNN. He was one of the first on-air newscaster to announce he had AIDs. What I didn’t get back then was that he was an English grad who had made the winning touchdown catch in the 1966 English-Latin game. Father Patrick Healy, ’39. At 100 years old, he was one of the oldest English grads. Father Healy was a delight to speak to. Full of Boston and Irish stories, including his times comforting wounded servicemen in multiple wars including English grads. Sadly he passed this year. Two grads from the 50’s. Joel Weinstein ’56. MIT and Stanford grad, still plays baseball in California on a senior men’s team led by Bill ‘Spaceman” Lee of Red Sox fame. Bob MacGillivray ’54. Basketball star, led North Carolina State to an ACC title in 1959.
Carroll Blake, ’68. English High’s true “Bionic Man.” A former EHS track star, today at 71 he still runs competitive races. Lisa Henderson Carter, ’94. Lisa actually enrolled in Boston Latin School. Pregnant, she was asked to leave. English welcomed her. Today she is a successful author and writer. Latin’s loss was English’s gain. From my class of 1966 and friend, Rashid Dilworth Silvera. He has been both a legendary teacher and a famous international fashion model. Migdalia Nalls ‘97. Became an Assistant District attorney. Strong role model. Alan Kiser, ’82. Now a top executive at Fidelity overseeing millions, he actually started as a driver for Fidelity execs. Famous for his quote: “ You don’t have to go to Latin School and Harvard to become a success.” Robert Prince, ’67. Another true EHS success story. Started as a MBTA bus driver eventually became the boss. How’s that for ambition!
One of the most enjoyable conversations I had was with David Cohen, ’59. David became the #2 man at the CIA and eventually was in charge of security for NYC, one of the biggest potential terrorist targets in the world. David does not fit the smooth, Ivy League image of a top CIA man. You talk to David, and you think you are on a street corner in Dorchester or Mattapan.
Today English High continues to welcome many immigrant students eager to better themselves. The countries they come from and their names are different from those who came before, but they seek the same stepping stone to college and success that the waves of earlier immigrants from Europe sought. Ironically many of them now live in the same neighborhoods in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, and Roxbury. So in a sense, nothing has changed in 200 years. Here is a sampling of those newcomers we wrote about.
Dao Hoang Vo, ’86. A Vietnamese refugee. He came to the US not knowing a word of English. He became a computer whiz and gave the school more than 100 laptops and computers. Salma Hussain Khan, 2010. She came from Bangladesh. With strong support from the English faculty she was accepted to Smith College and graduated. She is now a successful corporate executive. Both her brothers also graduated from English. Thomas Thermador, 2021. He came from Haiti. Wants to be the next JP Morgan. Studying at Babson.
My colleagues at the newsletter also profiled other recent successful grads, and there are many like Nedgyn Laloi, 2020. She escaped the hurricanes and poverty in Haiti. Though she couldn’t speak English, Sage Marsters, Director of the EHS Alumni and Friends Tutoring Center worked with her on her language skills. As a result she won the EHSA’s Stella & Emmanuel Mavridis Scholarship. Nedgyn is now in her second year of college studying to be a physician’s assistant. Then there’s Blanca Ramierz Pablo, 2022. She came to the U.S. and English High five years ago from Guatemala. She was also helped by the Tutoring Center. She won a full four year scholarship to Boston University and will study medicine. And recently we spoke with Jessica Tavares Lopes, 2022 who came to English High from Cape Verde during the pandemic in 2022. She will be English High’s first student to win admission to the prestigious Wellesley College and the first recipient of a Nollman Family Scholarship given through the EHSA.
Every grad I spoke with, old and new, said they were inspired by the strong support they got from the English High faculty, the ‘life-lessons,’ they learned at the school, and the camaraderie learned from meeting students from other parts of the city. As David Cohen said, “English High was a collection of neighborhoods.”
With the 200th Gala coming up I hope to see as many of these folks as I can. But I also hope that you can support the school and the English High School Association, our Alumni Association, the way previous Alumni supported us. The English High School Association provides academic scholarships for college and also supports the school’s very successful Alumni and Friends Tutoring Center.
Giving back is one of the most fulfilling experiences you can have.
Helping today’s students is a great way to shape America’s new leaders of the future.
