Mother's Day: Mom in Context

Context is so important when trying to understand what life was like for ancestors. Where did they live, where did they work or study, and what was the family like, what was the economic and social situation at the time?

On Mother's Day, I'm thinking about Mom and her twin sister, and what it was like for them to graduate high school in January of 1936.

Twins in James Monroe High School

My Mom, Daisy Schwartz Burk (1919-1981) and her sister, my aunt Dorothy Schwartz (1919-2001), went to James Monroe High School in the Bronx, New York. It was more than two miles from their home, so they most likely hopped on a bus to go to school.

No longer in operation, the giant high school had been open for only a dozen years. It is shown on page 103 of The Bronx: It Was Only Yesterday, 1935-1965, by Lloyd Ultan and Gary Hermalyn of the Bronx County Historical Society.

Using the MyHeritage in Color tool, I colorized the black-and-white yearbook photos of Daisy and Dorothy, as shown above. Both were good students who earned honors (see the "Arista" designation in their yearbook profiles).

Graduating into the Great Depression

Daisy and Dorothy graduated high school at the end of January, 1936. It was common to have January graduations in those days, not just for high school but for all New York City schools.

The twins, barely 16 years old, were graduating into the depths of the Great Depression.

Still, they soon found secretarial work in Manhattan to help support the family and supplement income from the family grocery store in the Bronx.


Their older brother, Fred, was finishing college, en route to a teaching position. Dorothy was planning to attend Hunter College, with Daisy continuing to work.

The twins worked in midtown skyscraper office buildings, slightly shorter than those in this New York State Archives photo of the city skyline. They commuted by subway from the Bronx to Manhattan, a ride of less than one hour each way. Jobs in Manhattan were more plentiful and certainly higher paying than those in the Bronx!

On Mother's Day, I'm remembering Mom with much love, and colorizing her with her beloved twin sister.