CAMDEN COUNTY
VOCATIONAL & TECHNICAL SCHOOL
Browning Road, Pennsauken NJ
Originally known simply as the Camden County Vocational School, this institution has provided a practical alternative to the standard high school curriculum to Camden city and county youth since the late 1920s. Among other items below you will find in a somewhat reformatted version the graduation issue of the Vocationalite, which I believe was the school newspaper, from June of 1930. Be sure to click on the photographs for enlarged views. If you know anyone depicted here or have any comments, corrections, or additions that you would like to see made, please e-mail me.
|
CAMDEN COUNTY GRADUATION NUMBER
FRONT ENTRANCE - BROWNING ROAD { June, Nineteen Hundred and Thirty } CAMDEN COUNTY VOCATIONAL SCHOOL |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GRADUATES OF NINETEEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY READING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND FROM TOP ROW DOWN. Fourth Row—WILLIAM SAGE, ARTHUR LEE, WALTER HAAS, WALTER TODD, HENRY EVERING, CHARLES SHOWELL, JOSEPH SILVERMAN, JOSEPH KANZLER, HOWARD MEARS, AND ERNEST HEGGAN. Third Row—WILLIAM HERITAGE, CALVIN LEEDS, HENRY HANSEN, RICHARD WILLINGMYRE, ROBERT DERRICKSON, HAROLD ROBINSON, WILLIAM KILMARTIN, RALPH HUSTED, LOUIS CICCOTELLO AND LUTHER BRETTHAUER. Second Row—JOHN WEIR, GILBERT ESHER, RONALD SENSEMAN, RICHARD SMITH, THOMAS RUNGE, CECIL PICOU, FRANK PANDEN, JOHN LOFLAND AND HARRY COREY. First Rozv—ILDO PASQUALINE, EDWARD GONTARSKI, MINAR PIERCE, MARGARET BAUMAN, ROBERT WRAY, HAROLD WALLACE AND THOMAS NEILD. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GRADUATES OF NINETEEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY READING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND FROM TOP ROW DOWN. Fourth Row—FRANK STAGLIANO, ZYGGY KUCCYNSKI, ERWIN JENSEN, ROBERT PEDRICK, DAVID HYMAN, GEORGE ULMER, MORGAN HARRISON, CONRAD MAURER, JENNINGS TREADWAY AND ROBERT LENT. Third Row to top (I. to r.)—WALTER ELLIS, RAYMOND JONES, ROBERT NAGLE, LEONARD WALINSKI, EDWIN YEAGER, EGBERT WRIGHT, LEONARD BROWN, HUBBARD MAGOWAN AND WILLIAM BOWEN. Second Row—EDWARD LULEVITCH, EDWIN DECKER, RICHARD MASKA, LOUIS BOBO, ANTHONY DZIERZYNSKI, IRVING HARPER, WILLIAM BAUER AND CLARENCE RECKARD. First Row—STANLEY ZUZGA, DANIEL ERRICHETTI, THOMAS BEZICH, ALFRED EIBELL, JOSEPH FIELIS, LOUIS LEISLING, JAMES HUSTED AND DANIEL RUDINOFF. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LETTERMEN
OF NINETEEN
HUNDRED
TWENTY-NINE
AND THIRTY Fourth Row—CARROLL TURNER, ROBERT PEDRICK, STANLEY ROWAND, CECIL PICOU, THOMAS RUNGE, EDWARD GONTARSKI AND ROBERT WRAY. Third Row—CALVIN LEEDS, WALTER HAAS, DANIEL THOMPSON, JOSEPH FIELIS, HUBBARD MAGOWAN, JOSEPH SHAW, AND ROBERT CHANCE. Second Row—MORGAN HARRISON, ILDO PASQUALINE, EDWIN YEAGER, HAROLD STEELMAN, FRANK PANDEN AND JOSEPH GRUBER. First Row—STANLEY ZUZGA, JOHN BYRD, CHARLES HOLLOPETER, MINAR PIERCE, PETER LACOVERA AND HAROLD WALLACE. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Camden Courier-Post - June 7, 1933 |
MAILBAG Pleas for Reopening of Vocational School To
the Editor: Sir-Please
publish this letter I sent to Mr. John
T. Rodan, freeholder, 61 South
Twenty-seventh Street. Sir
- You have heard from many different sources about the
matter on which I am writing to you, perhaps from both
points of view. It is concerned with the closing of the Camden
County Vocational School. Until
the fall of 1932 I was a student at Camden
High School. I always had the intention of finishing
high school and then attending some technical college. My
plans were shattered when I found that I could not afford
to attend college. Not then wishing to finish out high
school, I did the only thing that was open to me so that I
could get training in the line I had chosen. I enrolled in
the Camden County
Vocational School as an electrical student. Now,
it seems that I am going to be deprived of that
opportunity also. I
am not only thinking of myself, but I am thinking of the
several hundred other boys who would not go back to other
schools if the vocational school closes. Where would they
go'? They will join the already large army of young
unemployed. They
will try to find jobs. When they fail to find work, time
will be a burden to them. No doubt many of the weaker of
their number will fall by the wayside and be a burden to
society. The
younger boys who will go back to the already overcrowded
junior schools and high schools will lose the years they
put in here, and will not have anything to show for it,
when they are not able to finish their respective courses.
They can never make up the years they lost in the other
schools and therefore, they will be quite old when they
graduate from the other schools. Another
angle to look at in closing the vocational school is the building
and the teachers. If the schools should close it would
mean
that
approximately 35 teachers, not to mention the office staff
and janitors, would be thrown out of work. Are
times so good that even these well-trained men and women
can get another job the next day? And the building, no
matter how many janitors are here to take care of it, will
depreciate in value in some way. It is bound to. When it
should open again, after remaining idle for several years,
I think it would cost almost as much for repairs as it
would take to keep the school open now.
A STUDENT . |
Camden Courier-Post- June 13, 1933 |
SUNDAY
BEER AND BARS ADDED TO STATE BILL; Trenton, June 12.-Sale of beer over bars and on Sundays after 1 p. m., in municipalities whose governing bodies provide such authority, is provided in a supplement to the temporary beer law introduced in the Assembly tonight. On petition of five percent of the registered voters of a municipality protesting Sunday sales, a local referendum would be mandatory at the next general election. Assemblyman Thomas M. Muir, of Union, sponsor of both the supplement and the present law, said no effort would be made to have the new measure reported out of the judiciary committee until next week. Referendum Aids Bills It is considered certain the Legislature, now hoping to adjourn some time next week, would take only a recess, returning in the Fall. The supplement reads: "For the period during which this act shall be effective, it shall, by resolution of the governing body of the municipality, be lawful, there in, to use bars at all times and to sell beverages, with legal content on Sunday after 1 p. m. "However, if a petition be signed by 5 percent of the qualified voters of such municipality and presented to the governing body protesting such sale and use of bars and requesting submission of the question to the voters of the municipality, it shall be mandatory upon the governing body of such municipality to include on the ballot at the next general election for members of the general assembly the question: (1) Shall the sale of legal beverages be permitted on Sunday after 1: p.m. in this municipality?' (2) Shall the use of bars be permitted in connection with the sale and use of legal beverage?' "This act shall take effect immediately." Vocational School Aided No action was taken by the As sembly on the Reeves, and Kuser fiscal reform bills approved by the Senate last week. Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Altman, of Atlantic, announced the joint Republican conference committee would meet at 11 a. m. to discuss these measures. Senator Albert S. Woodruff, of Camden, made two moves to aid the Camden County Vocational School, which faces closing after this term due to lack of funds. He obtained unanimous consent to introduce a bill amending Chapter 294 of the laws of 1913. The amendment permits semi-annual appropriations for vocational schools for the year beginning July 1, 1933. The law now calls for an annual appropriation by the county. Woodruff also submitted to the Senate Judiciary committee an amendment to Assembly 489 by Siracusa now in the committee. The measure originally provides for referendum to approve diversion of $10,000,000 to state school funds from the $100,000,000 highway bond issue approved in 1930. Woodruff's amendment would permit vocational schools to receive part of the fund. According to Woodruff, Siracusa has approved the amendment. |
Camden Courier-Post- June 22, 1933 |
BRIDGE BOND BILL ASSISTS
SCHOOLS Trenton, June 20.Trenton, June 21.-By a unanimous vote of 15-0, the State Senate this afternoon passed Senator Albert S. Woodruff's committee substitute for the Pascoe and Siracusa measures. The bill would provide funds for distressed school districts through sale of Delaware River Joint Commission bonds. The measure, a companion of Woodruff's No. 207, passed in the Assembly tonight, would permit the state to take over $12,000,000 in Camden Bridge bonds in lieu of cash from the joint commission in payment of the state's investment in the span. The state would then resell the bonds to provide school funds. Unlike the Siracusa and Pascoe bills, which would divert the money from state highway bonds, the committee substitute assures assistance for the Camden County Vocational School and other vocational schools throughout the state. "This bill," said Woodruff, in explaining the measure, "will, within a few months, release $8,500,000 in new purchasing power in the state of New Jersey. That sum is the amount of the state's school indebtedness now. "About $3,000,000 of that amount now is due the teachers in back salaries. The rest is for tuition owed by one school district to another for high school students, supplies bills and transportation bills. "It provides further that any balance in the fund in September may be loaned to districts otherwise unable to open their schools because they have no money to pay salaries. "The municipalities, of course, must put up securities in the form of tax anticipation notes." The bill also provides repayment, in installments, of the $4,000,000 borrowed from the teachers' pension fund for unemployment relief last year. " I think it is important," said Senator Woodruff in conclusion, "that we realize the tremendous effect in increasing purchasing power the release of this huge sum will have." |
Camden Courier-Post- June 24, 1933 |
VOCATIONAL
CLASS TOLD
THEY ARE SURE TO
GET JOBS SOON By Frank Sheridan In expressing optimism over the future, Professor William C. Ash, director of vocational training at the University of Pennsylvania told the graduates of the Camden County Vocational Training School last night that they would have jobs within six months. "Sixty-five
percent of the graduates of Harvard University have already obtained
jobs," he declared. More than 500 attended the exercises. Professor
Ash congratulated the board of freeholders on its decision to continue
the school after voting to close it at the end of the present term. He
criticized public officials for urging the closing of such schools. He
called it "silly" to interrupt the work. "I
know the advantage of a vocational
training school because I began as a worker myself and I have always
associated with them," he declared. "Industrial education is
highly important today. It is intricate and must ever change to meet the
time."
He said he worked 10 and 12 hours a day when he first started. Now a 30-hour week is being advocated, he declared. He predicted that in 50 years from now men will retire at 40 and enjoy the fruits of their labors. The
graduating class was presented by Joseph M. Hall, director of the
school, and Burleigh B. Draper, president of the board of education for
the school, presented the diplomas. John
S. Ray, assistant director. presented a gold watch to Donald Koerner for
the highest average in plumbing. Special certificates were presented the
following for safety efficiency: Fred Shords, Theodore Ratzel, Frederick
Young, Daniel Shaw and Harold Tompkinson. A
musical program was given by Clarence
Fuhrman's orchestra and vocal selections by Edward Rhein. Rev. Pennington Corson, pastor of Frances Childs M.E. Church, West Collingswood, offered the benediction. |
Don Hann writes about his days at "Vokie" |
I
was in the Industrial Chemistry Course back in
1953 or 54 with Bob Dr. Camel was the History Teacher and then became the big honcho. The
Welding Instructor was Mr. White who lived in Mt Ephraim.
The head of Harry Youmans graduated and eventually obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry owned, his own company and died just recently. I kept in touch with him. Bob
Peterson also graduated from College and was a big wheel
with the NJ Bob
Purcell had his own plumbing business with 6 trucks. I use
too see him Don
McFarland retired from the Navy and he married the
daughter of the man I
was kicked out of Vocational School and I was sent to
Riverside Military I was assigned TAD (Temporary Assigned Duty) with both the Navy and Marines. Got shot to pieces in Nam and I now live on my own mountain here in Oregon. I
am still ornery. Some people would say that I am mean and
nasty and they The biggest event that happened was our playing the Haddonfield High School Basketball team for the Colonial Conference Championship. The game was played at Vokie and were being broadcasted on local radio. They beat us badly. The problem was that we did not have anyone on the team that was taller then 6 feet. All of Haddonfield’s team was over 6 feet tall. We played with a lot of spirit but were outclassed from the beginning. Word spread that Volkie was going to beat the h-ll out of the Champs. Reasonable student formed lines so that the Champs could get on the buses. Dr Camel told the radio announcer that the rumors were wrong and there would be no riots. The thing here was that Camden, Pennsauken and Merchantville Police would not go near the school. County Police said the same thing. State Police had a sub station less then 200 yards away from the school. Then refused to get involved and said that any riots or troubles would result in their calling in the NJ National Guard. We did not want trouble with the National Guard. If the National Guard did get involved the state would shut Vokie down, where else could we students go and hang out and waste a day? |