LOADING
This is one of the few copies of the "Salemite Magazine" that have been recovered from history. Lisette Morrell of Danbury, CT, discovered it among her father's belongings - and in April, 2016, Ms. Morrell made the publication available for viewing on this website and subsequent donation to the North Salem Historical Society in honor & memory of her father, Donald Dessereau. Mr. Dessereau served proudly in the Korean war and was a "Danbury Hatter" working in the factories. Most of all he was a collector of all things. We are most grateful to him and his daughter for keeping this bit of Purdys Central High memorabilia safe all these years.
During the early years (1930s) of Purdys Central High School, "The Salemite" was typically a quarterly periodical published during the school year by students and faculty. What has been variously called "Issue 4", "Number 4", "Senior Issue", "Commencement Issue" or "Commencement Number" was typically published in June and generally focused on the senior class.
What we see here from April, 1934, is a great example of the Salemite magazine as it contains considerable writing by students (36 pages), and provides photos and identification of all Purdys Central High senior classes up to that time. This issue is an example of what would eventually morph into two publications: a true yearbook (the end-of-year Salemite yearbook published by or for the senior class filled with mostly pictures) and quarterly or occasionally a separate newspaper-like literary publication, also called "The Salemite". The Class of 1962 renamed the "Salemite" periodical to the "Clarion". Things changed again a few years later as the North Salem High Class of 1968 yearbook speaks about both a "Clarion" literary-oriented publication as well as a "Bengal" newspaper published 8 times during their senior year.
Once-a-year, picture-filled, senior-oriented Salemite yearbooks became the norm by the mid-to-late 1930s. This change becomes obvious in 1936 when photography played a much larger role in the annual senior issue published in June. In the late 1950s and early 1960s I recall seeing and reading the separate Salemite literary periodical or "newspaper". An example and very professional looking issue was produced by the Class of 1957 (see Page 21 of the 1957 yearbook). Alternately, mimeographed versions were also published as evidenced by the 1961-1962 edition (see the Class of 1962 section of this website). I am sure there must have been many others beyond what this website contains, as the publications generally all have a "Volume & Number" identification scheme. Samples show that Volume relates to class year, and Number normally goes up to 4 - the "Senior" issue at the end of the school year - although a number 5 was mentioned for 1934.
If you have or know of any Salemite publications that you would like to share on this website, and consequently preserve for history, please select the "CONTACT" menu item, above.
Commentary by Pier "Peter" Guidi, '62
Website author & editor, Sept. 2012 (update 2016)
Salemite Magazine courtesy of Lisette Morrell in memory of her father, Donald Dessereau (April, 2016)
