88. The War Years

During World War II plans were made for evacuation of the building and the city. At Dalton the youngest students were moved to the lower floors, students were given dog tags and buildings were constructed in Buck’s Rock, New Milford CT. for potential evacuation. Pictured here are Bette Jacobs Kochenthal ’41 (top bunk ) and Rollee Herbert Lowenstein ’42 (bottom bunk) during a trial evacuation. Dog tag courtesy of Katherine Binger.

During the WWII years, we lived in the moment. “College?” even in the 8th grade, we never thought about it. Although we were very aware of what was going on abroad, we concerned ourselves with what was at hand, the way all kids do. We had air raids in the city, and black outs, too. Each Dalton student was provided with plastic Dog Tags inscribed with our names and addresses. I still have mine. We made tinfoil balls for the War effort. We mixed food-coloring capsules into margarine, in the name of butter. There was no anxiety to speak of. We felt uniformly unburdened by life. We gave little thought, if any, toward what the future held for us. And, I don’t think I was being short-sighted. In those guileless days, my classmates and I mostly lived in a nurturing atmosphere at school.
—Katherine “Kilty” Binger Gilmour ’53

In the fall of 1941, the high school was evacuated for a month to New Milford, Connecticut, living in a cluster of modern buildings called “Bucks Rock” — a rehearsal for potential wartime evacuation. On 89th Street, the high school was moved to the 8th and 9th floors, and the youngest children who had been there for pre-kindergarten were moved to the lower floors, so that they could get out more quickly in case of air raids. We inherited little chairs and tables, tiny toilets and a sandbox. We remember cross-taping the windows in case of bombing. Several girls evacuated from England joined our class, bringing the reality of war much closer.
—France (Franny) Burke, Rachelle Lubar Marshall, Evelyn Merson Idelson, Laurie Schwab Zabin, Class of 1943