200th Anniversary Gala
300-plus Alumni and Supporters Celebrate English High School’s 200th Anniversary
Alumni Representing Eight Decades Launch Multi-Year $3 Million Fundraising Campaign
From left: Co-emcee Blanca Ramirez ’22; EHSA President, CEO Michael Thomas ’67; Robert Kraft, event sponsor and son of Harry, EHS ’27; EHSA Board Chair Greg Hayes ’67; and co-emcee Thomas Thermidor ’21
With a mix of glitz and glory, the celebration marking The English High School’s 200th anniversary wowed the 300+ alumni and supporters attending the Gala at the Marriott Boston Copley Place Hotel on October 1, 2022.
In attendance was New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, there to receive the inaugural English High School Legends and Legacies award in celebration of his father, Harry Kraft, who graduated from English in 1927. In his remarks, Kraft reminisced about how EHS helped to shape his father’s work ethic, acclimation to America, and love of learning.
EHSA Board Chair Greg Hayes ’67 presents the Lifetime Service Award to Enoch “Woody” Woodhouse II at the Gala.
Legendary World War II Tuskegee Airman Enoch ‘Woody’ Woodhouse II of the EHS Class of 1944 was honored with a Lifetime Service Alumni Award in recognition of his years of service to the country, the community and the school.
In a guest video address, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden brought greetings, referring to her own lifelong devotion to education, emphasizing the importance of public education, commending EHS as the pioneering first public high school in America and its unbroken history of educating immigrants and their offspring.
The event was co-emceed by a pair of recent English High graduates — Blanca Ramirez ’22 and Thomas Thermidor ’21. Blanca Ramirez told the audience, “When I miss the place that gave me hope, determination and the opportunity to breathe again, I will visit our home; English High School.”
Former Massachusetts Attorney General Francis Bellotti of the Class of 1942 was honored as the most senior alumni in attendance.
Other EHS alumni luminaries in attendance included former Massachusetts Attorney General Francis Bellotti ’42, retired Judge Thomas Connors ’68, former MBTA General Manager Robert Prince ’67, and retired Brigadier General Joseph Carter ’72, along with William and James Stewart ’77, the sons of beloved English High Coach Bill Stewart.
In addition to marking EHS’s 200th Anniversary the Gala launched the school’s $3 million fundraising campaign designed to raise money for Student Scholarships, the Alumni & Friends Tutoring Center, the Arts & Music Program, and Career Pathways.
