A P.S. 131 class picture, 1965–1966

[Click for a larger view.]

The above photograph shows Miss Carol D’Elia’s fourth-grade class, P.S. 131, Boro Park, Brooklyn, New York, 1965–1966. Miss D’Elia was my favorite elementary school teacher. She was kind and smart and beautiful. She sometimes wore little white boots. (I would’ve sworn she was wearing them in this photograph.) Hullabaloo boots, everyone called them, after the television show. See how many girls in this picture are rocking a pair of boots? I would like to imagine that Miss D’Elia was for the girls in our class an exciting exemplar of intelligence and style. “But Mom, Miss D’Elia wears them!”

Miss D’Elia was the first teacher to let me know that she liked me, that she thought I was a good person. Her arm around Eddie (for that was his name) says much about her feeling for her students. Eddie must’ve felt like a million dollars.

At some point in that school year, Miss D’Elia became Mrs. Corso. Her students and their families were invited to the wedding. I remember shaking Mr. Corso’s hand. Mr. Corso was a lucky man.

[I’m uneasy about identifying fellow fourth-graders by last name without permission, so I haven’t. These photographs have faded and remain so here, as unimproved scans. I’m the kid sitting on the left.]

More from the P.S. 131 collection
1962–1963 1963–1964 1964–1965 1966–1967