Tustenegee 2020 Spring vol 11 no 1

Published by the Historical Society of Palm Beach County

Vol. 11 No. 1 SPRING 2020

Man of Vision: Alex Dreyfoos

Letter From the Editor Dear Reader, As a community, we all have been impacted by the historic pandemic of COVID-19 as our daily routines and focus have shifted, but that has not stopped our work. In fact, the Historical Society has been hard at work from our individual home offices, staying connected through virtual methods while collecting today's historic moments for tomorrow’s interpretation.

Tustenegee is a journal about Palm Beach County and Florida history and is published online twice a year by the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.

The Historical Society of Palm Beach County is a non-profit organization whose mission is to collect, preserve, and share the rich history and cultural heritage of Palm Beach County.

Historical Society of Palm Beach County Phone: (561) 832-4164 www.hspbc.org & www.pbchistoryonline.org

In this issue of Tustenegee, we look at the innovation of Alexander Dreyfoos, the community building of Anna Jean Howe, and the perseverance of Sarah Lawton Coston, who did not let "no" be the final answer. Maybe we can all learn a little something from their collective history as we navigate a new normal in the months to come.

I hope to see you all again next season.

Sincerely,

Mailing Address: Historical Society of Palm Beach County PO Box 4364 West Palm Beach, FL 33402 4364 The contents of Tustenegee are copyrighted by the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.

All rights are reserved. Reprint of material is encouraged; however, written permission from the Historical Society is required. The Historical Society disclaims any responsibility for errors in factual material or statements of opinion expressed by contributors. The contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the editors, board, or staff of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.

Rose Guerrero

On the cover: Alex Dreyfoos. Courtesy Alex Dreyfoos Digital Collection, HSPBC.

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Table of Contents

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12 42

36 Become a Part of History 4

Man of Vision: Alex Dreyfoos

20

Sarah Ann Lawton Coston

12

They All Went to Jean's

by Deborah Pollack

36

Become a Member

19

In Memoriam

42

Photographic Collection

by Lise Steinhauer

Editor-in-Chief: Debi Murray Editor: Rose E. Guerrero Copy Editor: Lise M. Steinhauer Graphics and Layout: Rose E. Guerrero Printing: Kustom Print Design

An Oral History from the Boynton Beach Library

Have an abstract or an idea for an article?

Send us your ideas: rguerrero@hspbc.org

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Man of Vision: Alex Dreyfoos

by Lise M. Steinhauer

All photos from Alex Dreyfoos Digital Collection, HSPBC.

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A

lexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. was born in New York City in 1932 and raised in the suburb of New Rochelle. His parents reflected the combination of arts and sciences that Alex Jr. would merge uniquely in his own life—his mother was a professional cellist and his father, an innovative photographer. Along with his younger sister, Evelyn (“Evie”), Alex enjoyed many summers with his family in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, where he began a lifelong love of fishing and boating.

In fulfillment of a dream of both Alex and his father, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in an ROTC program.

When his father died in Alex’s sophomore year, circumstances required Dreyfoos to borrow funds to complete his bachelor of science degree in 1954. It was at MIT that he

was able to unite his interests in photography and electronics, with the counsel of Professor Arthur C. Hardy. After managing a Photo Reconnaissance laboratory in Germany as a captain in the U.S. Air Force, Dreyfoos continued his education under the G.I. Bill at Harvard Business School, receiving his MBA in 1958.

During a summer drafting job at Technicolor NY, Alex connected with George C. Mergens.

After a stint at IBM, he invited Mergens in 1963 to form Photo Electronics Corporation (PEC) to manufacture electronic photography equipment, first in Alex’s basement, and then in a former church in Byram, Connecticut.

Dreyfoos convinced his partner to move the firm to Mangonia Park, Florida, in 1968.

Martha, Alex, and sister Evelyn (Evie) washing dishes at their camp in the Adirondack Mountains State Park in the late 1930s. Courtesy Alex Dreyfoos Digital Collection, HSPBC.

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Alex's son, Robert, led the drive to transition from analog technology to the digital age. Robert, Alex, and George Mergens showcase the PVAC and VCNA about 1984. Courtesy Alex Dreyfoos Digital Collection, HSPBC.

With Mergens, Dreyfoos held many U.S. and foreign patents. Their primary inventions were (1) the Video Color Negative Analyzer (VCNA), now part of a permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution and soon to be part of a permanent exhibit at the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum; (2) the Professional Video Analyzing Computer (PVAC) used by laboratories to make high-quality color photographs; and (3) the LaserColor Printer, which produces extremely high quality electronically-generated color prints from color slides. In 1970 PEC received an Academy Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its development of a motion picture version of the VCNA. Later he was made a fellow of 6 | TUSTENEGEE

the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

From 1973 to 1996, PEC owned WPEC TV-12, the CBS affiliate in West Palm Beach, purchased from John D. MacArthur.

About this time (1977 to 2004), Dreyfoos also owned and operated Sailfish Marina in nearby Palm Beach Shores on Singer Island, which he turned into a world-class marina with restaurant and motel. The sale of these businesses allowed him to practice meaningful philanthropy in education and culture.

Dreyfoos made history in 1997 with the largest private contribution ever to a Florida public school, pledging $1,000,000 to support Palm Beach County’s arts magnet high school,

Photo Electronics Corporation's fabrication floor inside the Bryam church. Courtesy Alex Dreyfoos Digital Collection, HSPBC.

which was then renamed the Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr. School of the Arts. A second $1,000,000, in 2020, created the Naomi and Ray Wess Scholarship in Nursing for graduates to use at Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach Atlantic University, or Palm Beach State College.

When Dreyfoos had trouble attracting employees from the North due to a scarcity of culture, he founded Palm Beach County Council of the Arts (now Cultural Council for Palm Beach County). Beginning in 1978, he led efforts to build a world-class performing arts center, which resulted in The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts

opening debt-free in 1992. Dreyfoos guided the Kravis through fifteen profitable seasons while reaching out to the entire community.

The Kravis board named the Concert Hall in his honor, and he remains a lifetime board member.

Dreyfoos is a Life Member Emeritus of the MIT Corporation and served on the MIT Visiting Committees for Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, and the Media Laboratory/Media Arts and Sciences. The Alexander W. Dreyfoos Building at MIT, part of the Stata Center designed by Frank Gehry, resulted from Dreyfoos’s single largest gift as a donor. Professor Pattie Maes is the current

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The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, the night before the grand opening. Courtesy Alex Dreyfoos Digital Collection, HSPBC.

Dreyfoos's Eurocopter atop his 134-foot Silver Cloud, custom-built for extreme stability, with which he circumnavigated the globe. Courtesy Alex Dreyfoos Digital Collection, HSPBC.

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holder of the long-time Dreyfoos Chair.

Neuroscience settled on the same campus, Dreyfoos served as a trustee 2012-2019; their Dreyfoos is a founding member, director, central atrium was named for Alex and Renate. and chair of the Economic Council of Palm He also serves on the board of the Henry Beach County. He is a former board member Morrison Flagler Museum. of the holding company FPL Group Inc. (now NextEra Energy Inc.), and the Young Presidents The highest award of the National Society of Organization (YPO) for succeeding early. He Sons of the American Revolution, the Gold graduated to the Chief Executives Organization Good Citizenship Medal, was bestowed on and World Presidents’ Organization, with Dreyfoos in 2014. Just a few of many other whom he enjoyed exclusive travel experiences. tributes he has received are honorary PhDs from the Kellogg School of Science and In the scientific arena, Dreyfoos served on the Technology of The Scripps Research Institute Board of Trustees of the Scripps Research and Lynn University, the Ellis Island Medal Institute 2004-2015, when Scripps built a of Honor, Palm Beach Atlantic University’s bio-medical research facility on the FAU American Free Enterprise Award, The Palm MacArthur campus in Jupiter. The entrance Beach Post 100, the Award for Public Service lobby is named in honor of Alex and his wife, from the Woodrow Wilson International Renate, and the spire, which is lit up at night, Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian is referred to as the “Dreyfoos spinnaker.” Institution, the Carbonell George Abbott When the Max Planck Florida Institute for Award for Outstanding Achievement in the

Although his vision disqualified him as an Air Force pilot, Alex has flown and owned many airplanes and helicopters. Courtesy Alex Dreyfoos Digital Collection, HSPBC.

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In 2011, surrounding Alex, L to R: Mac, Cathy, and Michelle Carter; Aron, Travis, Renate, Julie, and Robert Dreyfoos. Alex is seated in front. Courtesy Alex Dreyfoos Digital Collection, HSPBC.

Arts, and the Palm Beach Civic Association William J. “Bill” Brooks Community Service Award.

After Dreyfoos received his pilot’s license in 1960, he logged over 5,000 hours “in the left seat” and owned six planes and two helicopters. Other lifelong interests include scuba diving, ham radio, freshwater and deepsea fishing, and ocean sailboat racing (as navigator). In 2010 Alex and Renate received the Boat International World Superyacht Voyager’s Award after completing a 44,000NM, 19-month odyssey aboard their boat Silver Cloud, uniquely designed for extreme stability. He was also a founding member of The International SeaKeepers Society. In 2017 Dreyfoos received Boat International’s 10 | TUSTENEGEE

prestigious Legacy Award.

Well known for his travel photography, in 2015 Dreyfoos published his images of 60 countries over 60-plus years in A Photographic Odyssey: Around the World with Alexander W. Dreyfoos as well as a commissioned biography, Alexander W. Dreyfoos: Passion & Purpose.

The Dreyfooses live in West Palm Beach and, when not traveling, in the Adirondacks that he loved as a child. He has a daughter, Cathy; a son, Robert; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Renate and Alex in 2000, the year they married. Courtesy Alex Dreyfoos Digital Collection, HSPBC.

About the Editor Lise M. Steinhauer joined the staff of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County in 2015 as Membership Coordinator, and has since added Grant Writer and Museum Store Manager to her roles. Under her company History Speaks, she has conducted oral histories for the HSPBC since 2004, provided the original content for Palm Beach County History Online (www.pbchistoryonline.com), and created the Docent Manual for the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum, among many projects. Among her published works are Alexander W. Dreyfoos: Passion & Purpose and A Photographic Odyssey: Around the World with Alexander W. Dreyfoos. Lise holds a Master of Arts degree in Liberal Arts.

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They All Went to Jean's

by Deborah C. Pollack

Jean’s Framing Shop, ca. 1959, at 309A South County Road, Palm Beach. Courtesy Anna Jean Howe Archives, collection of Edward and Deborah Pollack.

F

rom 1954 to 1989, Anna Jean Howe owned a popular frame shop, first in Palm Beach on South County Road, and later in West Palm Beach on South Dixie Highway. She saved an extensive archive of her successful career, mainly stored in five thick scrapbooks that now belong to the author.

Born in 1924 in West Palm Beach to a native Floridian, Anna Jean Woesner lived on Gardenia Street and attended the city’s Palm Beach High School before she wed Palmlee Howe in 1954. After working as a designer

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in a Palm Beach flower shop, Jean partnered with Richard Braido to open the Jean and Dick Framing Shop at 309-A South County Road the year she married. Celebrities of the 1950s, including Hollywood singer/ actress and part-time Florida resident Frances Langford, and Palm Beach’s favorite cartoonist, Zito, patronized the store and gave Jean and Dick their best wishes on autographed photos.

Due to a business disagreement with Dick Braido, in 1959 Jean Howe formed her own company at the same South County Road

Pearl working at Jean’s Framing Shop, Palm Beach, 1966.

Courtesy Anna Jean Howe Archives, collection of Edward and Deborah Pollack

location, renaming it Jean’s Framing Shop.

She tried to erase Dick’s name from inscribed celebrity photos, but when Braido died in 1992, Jean saved a clipping of his funeral announcement in one of her scrapbooks.

Jean cared deeply about Palm Beach and its history, and supported the Palm Beach Police Department, the American Legion, the Heart Association of Palm Beach County, and local fire fighters’ organizations (her husband, Palmlee, was a firefighter and EMT).

With help from Palmlee and others, Jean made her shop into one of the most respected and beloved places in town. A woman named Pearl began working for her in the 1950s and doubled as babysitter for

In for framing at Jean’s shop, a portrait by Kyril Vassilev of Harry S. Truman giving a speech. Courtesy Anna Jean Howe Archives, collection of Edward and Deborah Pollack.

Jean’s son, Albert, when the family lived in Lake Worth.

Jean framed just about anything, including modern masters, miniature paintings (like those sold at Tanya Brooks’ Galerie Montmarte), medals, porcelain plaques, dolls, jewelry, clothing, room panels, and even a life-sized portrait of Harry Truman, painted in 1949 by Kyril Vassilev at the Winter White House in Key West. She handled the limited-edition prints of several wildlife artists and framed art by noted Florida landscapist A. E. Backus. Jean kept articles about Backus, as well as the group of African American artists known as the Highwaymen, who copied his paintings.

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Beach socialites for the shop’s advertisements in local publications. Many of these women, as well as other society leaders, became Jean’s customers and friends. They included Margo Crawford, Ellen Glendinning Frazer Ordway, Dorothy Bateman, Diana “Dysie” Davie, Judith Schrafft, and Victoria van Gerbig (daughter of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.).

Aside from significant society women, during the 1960s and ‘70s, celebrities expressed their affection for Jean, such as actor Burt Reynolds in the lovingly inscribed photograph left. Fashion designer/ photographer/painter Cecil Beaton expressed his gratitude to Jean in an article

Burt Reynolds, inscribed, “To Jean, Love you babe, Burt Reynolds,” photographer unknown. Courtesy Anna Jean Howe Archives, collection of Edward and Deborah Pollack.

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he sent her in 1968 and on a photograph in 1970, when he was in town for a Palm Beach Galleries show.

A colorful palette of Palm Beach artists also worked with Jean and became her friends. This vibrant group included Paul Crosthwaite and his longtime partner, John Sharp; Henry Strater; James DeVries; Zoe Shippen; Patricia Massie; Nicola Simbari; Franci Young; George Headley; Jack Gray; Ricardo Magni; Keith Ingermann; Piero Aversa; Channing Hare; Hopkins “Stevie” Hensel, who called Jean “an artist’s best pal”; Charles Bosseron Chambers; Lorraine Trester; Charles Baskerville; Janet Folsom;

Jean Howe at her Palm Beach shop during an opening reception, 1950s. Courtesy Anna Jean Howe Archives, collection of Edward and Deborah Pollack.

Whitney Cushing; John “Jack” Hawkins; Eric Lundgren; Mercedes Marquez; Leonard Lane; Ouida George; Patrick Archer; and Palm Beach’s most popular painter, Orville Bulman. Bulman for the most part selected his frames from the prestigious House of Heydenryk in New York City, but he had Jean frame his works locally. Howe also framed works on paper by Ann Weaver Norton, the benefactor of Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, who became the second wife of Ralph Norton, founder of Norton Gallery and School of Art, the year after his first wife and co-founder, Elizabeth, died.

Jean sent her friend and New York/Palm Beach artist Gertrude Schweitzer a bouquet

of sweetheart roses for Schweitzer’s 1966 opening at the Norton Gallery and School of Art, prompting the painter to write, “I knew nothing about its arrival at the gallery until I got a note on Sat. morning from Mr. Hunter’s [Norton director E. Robert Hunter] secy. So I immediately drove over— picked them up & brought them home.”

Dudley Huppler, a friend of Andy Warhol’s, exhibited in Palm Beach for several years and sent Jean a series of surrealistic “owl in tree” prints in gratitude for what he deemed her cherished kindness.

Artists Piero Aversa and Keith Ingermann sent Jean more photographs, cards, catalogues, and letters than any

New Year’s card to Jean from Piero Aversa picturing Aversa with his work. Left: “If you hurry through long days you will hurry through short years.” Right: “Zut! Another falling year, thanks for the framing!” Courtesy Anna Jean Howe Archives, collection of Edward and Deborah Pollack.

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Margo Crawford (Mrs. Edward W.) with Jean from an advertisement for the shop. Photograph by John Haynsworth. Courtesy Anna Jean Howe Archives, collection of Edward and Deborah Pollack.

other correspondent. Some of Aversa’s affectionate letters began “Darling Jean” and ended “love as always, Piero.” One emphasized that “the paintings with your frames look wonderful.”

On November 29, 1968, Aversa wrote from London on Claridge’s stationery: Jean ‘dearest’ Don’t worry I am not staying in this hotel! It is the most expensive in the world! But even the best—had only lunch (invited!) I hope all and everybody and everything is well with you. I think of you more intensely. It’s the beginning of a new season, Xmas, new year, etc. I shall miss you very much. Because I really don’t know what is my future.

Love, love, love— Piero.

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Annette Krauss Rose, inscribed to Jean, “Affectionately, Annette,” photographer unknown. Courtesy Anna Jean Howe Archives, collection of Edward and Deborah Pollack.

Ingermann, who also made his own frames, gave Jean a 1948 watercolor he painted of Palm Beach’s St. Edward Church. He wrote from Africa in 1968, “Dear Jean and Palmlee, I am out here on a months safari in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and it is really too wonderful.

The scenery is fantastic and everywhere there are animals to paint. Best wishes to everyone.”

Then, a couple of years later from Udaipur, “Greetings from this eastern paradise. It is really too lovely and my head is filled with ideas for painting. I am staying with the H. H. the Maharana and palace life is definitely for me!”

Jean’s clients, including important Palm Beach art dealers, often commented on her flawless framing style. The number of galleries in Palm Beach exploded in the 1960s and ‘70s. Among those that relied on her fine eye were the Worth Avenue Gallery, owned and directed by Jean’s good

Christmas greeting to Jean from animal lover Ellen Glendinning Frazer Ordway (1901-1976) inscibed, 'The Great White Hunter Again sends love and wishes you a Merry Christmas." Courtesy Anna Jean Howe Archives, collection of Edward and Deborah Pollack.

friend Mary Duggett Benson; Palm Beach Galleries, directed by George Vigouroux; Wally Findlay Galleries; Thieme Galleries; and Galerie Juarez. Vigouroux wrote in 1966, “What taste and ability you have.”

Volk family Christmas greetings sent to Jean and Palmlee Howe, ca. 1963. Courtesy Anna Jean Howe Archives, collection of Edward and Deborah Pollack.

Witman, David Ayres, and the firm Worrell’s.

Designer/artist Philip Hulitar was a valued client, as was artist Annette Krauss Rose, wife of dentist/sculptor Dr. Steven Rose.

(The Roses lived at Annette’s family estate, Palm Beach’s Villa dei Fiori, a 1921 mansion Addison Mizner designed for Jell-O owner Orator Frank Woodward.) Famed Palm Beach architect John Volk and wife, Jane, were friendly with Jean as well and sent her Christmas greetings.

Gallery owner James “Jimmy” Hunt Barker also used Jean’s services and liked her very much. He sent her magazine articles and Christmas cards, one that included a new litter of his Cavalier King Charles spaniels.

A greeting at New Year’s read “All good wishes to Jean from the ‘Barkers’ and Jimmy, Due to a hefty rent increase, in 1980–1981 Jean moved her frame shop from Palm Beach Jan. 3, ‘74.” to West Palm Beach’s Valley Forge Center at Interior designers who utilized Jean’s 6015 South Dixie Highway. She continued to services included David and Alyce Jeanne provide fine framing and receive affectionate Marks (Carriage House Interiors), Harriet greetings from customers.

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In November 1989, Jean closed her shop after three and a half decades. Her retirement announcement, which prompted cards and letters to pour in, read:

Framing Shop. Thank you for the pleasure of serving you. Your patronage made the shop a success through the years.

We wish you well. Peace be with you.

For thirty-five years we have enjoyed working with our customers from the Palm Beaches and beyond. It has been a fascinating experience being a part of the rapid growth of our area and the equally rapid expansion in the world of art.

To be a part of all this activity has been a rewarding experience. Many friends have been made, pleasures and sorrows have been shared.

Anna Jean Howe epitomized the kind of friendly neighborhood business owner people think of now and again with nostalgia.

With an artful eye for precision and the prime objective of serving her clientele, she gave us one of the many thriving independent shops that have helped make Palm Beach County a great place to live.

Now the time has come to retire so November 30, 1989, will mark the close of business for Jean’s

About the Author Deborah C. Pollack, with her husband, Edward, owns a gallery on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. Her books include Visual Art and the Urban Evolution of the New South (University of South Carolina Press); Felix De Crano: Forgotten Artist of the Flagler Colony (Lightner Museum); Palm Beach Visual Arts (Pelican Publishing Company); Bad Scarlett: The Extraordinary Life of the Notorious Southern Beauty Marie Boozer (Peppertree Press);Vintage Miami Beach Glamour: Celebrities & Socialites in the Heyday of Chic (The History Press); Orville Bulman: An Enchanted Life and Fantastic Legacy (Blue Heron Press); and Laura Woodward: The Artist Behind the Innovator Who Developed Palm Beach (Blue Heron Press with the HSPBC). Deborah is a contributor to the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, and her other essays, articles, short stories, and poems are widely published.

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In Memoriam

May 1, 2019 - April 30, 2020

RADM Philip A. Whitacre (Ret.) (1932-2020)

by Russell Kelley Rear Admiral Philip A. “Phil” Whitacre passed away at the age of 87. After a meritorious naval career including active service, he managed large performing arts organizations before moving to Palm Beach. He never sought the limelight, but always emerged as the leader of every organization in which he was involved.

A longstanding friend and supporter of the Historical Society, Phil served on the Board of Governors, its Executive Committee, and the Board of Advisors over two decades. Harvey Oyer III, chair of the Historical Society during the restoration of the 1916 Historic Courthouse, noted: “Phil was one of our vice chairs throughout the process of saving the courthouse, from the demolition of the 1969 wrap-around addition in 2004 to the creation of the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum in 2008. Phil was part of the core team through transformation of the Historical Society from an archival organization to an organization with a museum and an education program in the schools, and was instrumental in bringing donors to our cause.”

A generous and thoughtful friend, Phil hosted the very best dinner parties, and was a great connector of people. As Harvey Oyer said so well: “Phil was a leader in the Palm Beach community and touched the lives of many. We are a better community because Phil Whitacre was amongst us.”

Martin Ernest Murphy (1940-2019)

by Marty Murphy

Gina Bowen Sauber (1964-2019)

by Harvey Oyer III

Martin Ernest Murphy (1940-2019) was a native of West Palm Beach, born to Dolores Kimmel and Martin Earl Murphy. After elementary and high school at Saint Ann Catholic School, he attended the University of Florida.

He was lovingly known as "Chief.”

Gina Sauber (1964-2019) was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, to Joyce and Wallace Bowen. She grew up in Hollywood, Florida, and lived most of her adult life in Palm Beach County.

Returning home after his father’s passing, Martin became a general contractor and, with his older brother, John Murphy, carried on The Murphy Construction Co., Inc., which still operates today. Martin concentrated on heavy and civil construction, often for the state, counties, and municipalities. He also managed Murphy Transfer Company; South Eastern Prestressed Concrete, Inc., and Crackerboy Boat Works.

Known throughout South Florida as the “Pioneer Woman,” Gina portrayed an early Florida settler to teach mostly children to appreciate nature and the privileges of modern life. She filled the role at Yesteryear Village’s Corbett House, where she hosted thousands of people per year in the old hunting shack, during the South Florida Fair and on the three days a week it operates as a living museum. Vicki Chouris, executive director of the Fair, said, “The number of children’s hearts and minds Gina touched is unmeasurable. She was a true pioneer and her footprint will always be with us.”

Martin gave to his community through service and support, especially of St. Mary's Hospital, Marine Industry Association, and Sailfish Club of Florida.

When the Historical Society of Palm Beach County built out the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum, Martin helped create the Martin E. Murphy and Family donation to honor his father, Martin Earl Murphy, in the Places Gallery.

Martin enjoyed boating to the Keys and Bahamas, rebuilding his Ford Model A sedan or pickup truck, and gatherings at the Sailfish Club, La Sirena, and the Tuscawilla Club with family and friends.

Hope Kent Annan Inge Eckert Bowdre Frank S. Coniglio Raymond F. Murphy Jr.

Gina founded “A Time Remembered,” mobile educational program that traveled in a Shasta camper to schools and festivals, filled with authentic historic relics. She used her talent for arts and crafts to make gifts from animal feathers and alligator scutes (the bony plates on the back of an alligator). Gina is remembered for her extraordinary kindness, beautiful smile, and ability to find joy in all of life’s situations.

Martin Ernest Murphy Gina Bowen Sauber RADM Philip A. Whitacres Dean S. Woodman

We will miss you.

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Sarah Ann Lawton Coston (1910-1995) An Oral History

From the Boynton Beach City Library Local History Archives Edited for publication by Lise M. Steinhauer

Sarah Ann Lawton Coston waving from a Stinson, 1940. Courtesy HSPBC. Note: Oral history cannot be depended on for complete accuracy, based as it is on complex human memory and communication of that memory, which varies due to factors such as genetics, social culture, gender, and education. Nonetheless, oral history is a valuable tool in historical study. The HSPBC has noted any known inaccuracies in footnotes.

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Introduction Born Sarah Ann Lawton, "Sally" graduated from Palm Beach High School, attended Florida State College for Women, and married Clarence Coston. Both she and her husband were avid pilots. After moving to the Boynton area in the early 1960s, Coston became concerned about children born into poverty and started a daycare center. It became the model Head Start program for Palm Beach County. Sally Coston's views, like all those in history, should be considered in the context of the era.

THE INTERVIEW

Interviewer: Caryn Neumann, intern, Boynton Beach City Library, for the Boynton Beach City Library Oral History Project Interviewer: Today is August 6, 1992. I am Caryn Neumann. This interview is being conducted at Mrs. Coston’s home at [6803] Kingston Drive [in Lake Osborne area of Lantana, Florida].

Interviewer: What is your full name?

Coston: Sarah Lawton Coston. They called me “Sally” all the time.

Interviewer: When is your date of birth?

Coston: December 12th, 1910.

Interviewer: Where were you born?

Coston: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Interviewer: Where did you grow up?

Coston: I went to boarding school in Washington, DC, and then on to another boarding school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and then I came down here [when] I was 15 and went to Palm Beach High School.

Interviewer: What line of work was your father [in]?

Coston: He was a civil engineer.

Interviewer: Was he doing work down here?

Coston: Well, at that time, there was that real estate boom down here and he had some interest in real estate. He was in back and forth.

Interviewer: You graduated from— Coston: Palm Beach High in 1927.

Interviewer: What did you do upon graduation?

Coston: I went to Florida State College for Women for two years—no. I was 16 when I graduated, he thought I was too young to go to college. So, he sent me to a Catholic—they used to call them—kind of prep school. It’s a fifth-year finishing school kind of thing. And then I went two years to Tallahassee.

And then that was the Depression years, and we had three in college at that time, so I couldn't go back. I came back down here with my mother, and then I met my husband.

Interviewer: What year were you married?

Coston: 1933, right in the bottom of the Depression.

Hate to think—we didn't even have any money. I mean any money. We had $10, and the ring was

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$7.50 and the license was $2.50. And we stayed at my husband's home, and he started a business. My father said the best time to start a business is the bottom of the Depression. So, my husband had some training in plumbing and heating and air conditioning, and so we started a little business and it just grew.

Interviewer: What was the name of the business?

Coston: That was the Clarence Coston Plumbing & Heating.

Interviewer: How long was it in existence?

Coston: Until 1939-40, I think. No, after that, 1945 maybe.

Interviewer: After the war?

Coston: After the war, yeah. Oh, yeah, long after the war.

Interviewer: Were your children born during the Depression?

Coston: Well, yeah, they were born in 1935 and [193]7 and [193]9.

Interviewer: What did you do during World War II? Coston: Well, we carried on the business, and then was with the Civil Air Patrol here. At that time there were a lot of submarines coming down the Atlantic, and the big planes and bombers and all. The Army and Navy couldn't see the periscopes, and they thought that these small planes—we both flew, my husband and I both had our license. I got that while I was doing these other things.

Interviewer: Wasn't that unusual, for a woman to have a pilot's license?

Coston: Very unusual, and I got a lot of criticism from people: “Oh, you have three little children and you’re flying,” like that. It was unheard of. But

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my husband was flying. He wanted me to, and I wanted to, and so I just did. We’d take the kids up, and they’d take a coloring book. I mean, they didn't think anything of it. So anyhow, they started the Civil Air Patrol, and they had the small planes, and they put bombs on the bottom of them. This is really crazy, and they were supposed to go from here up to Fort Pierce and look for submarines because they couldn’t see the periscopes, and then the point was going to be they would drop their bomb. Everything was so exciting, I don't think we realized that if they ever had to have a forced landing, they’d just blow themselves up. They wouldn't let me fly [for them], of course. But they did let some of the women join the Civil Air Patrol, they told us that we could go out to the airport and get breakfast for the pilots.

I forget her name, but one of the debutantes from Palm Beach and I used to go out in the morning. I had a maid come up [to] take care of my children, and my mother was living there, so they were well taken care of. Then I’d go out and cook breakfast for the flyboys.

One time, I did see a periscope when I was flying.

I had my friend with me, and I said, “I think that's a periscope,” and she said, “Well, it is.” She was secretary to the Civil Air Patrol. I said, “I see a tanker coming down, up there by the Breakers.

They’re going to meet, that thing is going to blow that tanker up. We'd better go down and tell the Civil Air Patrol.” And we did. Amanda, she called right away, and they said, “Oh, Sally wouldn’t know a periscope from a hole in her head.” No kidding, that periscope didn't blow that tanker up. I don't tell that story often, because I guess the men wouldn’t like it very much. Anyhow, nobody was to blame.

They really didn't think I could know a periscope, that was too much for a woman, I guess.

Interviewer: What prompted you to become involved with daycare?

Coston: Well, in 1959, we had a small part of our business over in the Bahamas, and we used to fly back and forth a lot. So, this day he was going to go, and I decided I wasn't. He left in the morning. Then he

Top: Sarah Lawton Coston next to a Stinson aircraft, 1941. Courtesy Civil Air Patrol Collection, HSPBC. Bottom: German U-boat submerging off the coast of Florida, 1942-1943. Courtesy Quincey Collection, HSPBC.

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The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) · 19 May 1960, Thu · Page 73 Downloaded on Mar 24, 2020

A news article published on May 19, 1960, describes how Clarence Coston was killed with three passengers on their way to Nassau, Bahamas. Courtesy Miami Herald.

O b i tu a r y f or Ey RIC K TU TTLE (A g e d 5 4 ) Clipped By: dmurray021 Tue, Mar 24, 2020

Copyright © 2020 Newspapers.com. All Rights Reserved.

Clarence "Cocky" Coston in his Eastern Airlines pilot uniform. Courtesy Civil Air Patrol Collection, HSPBC.

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From left, Imogene Parmalee and Sarah Lawton Coston in their Civil Air Patrol uniforms, 1942. Courtesy Civil Air Patrol Collection, HSPBC.

crashed that afternoon and was killed. Then his sort of semi-partner took over the business and promptly went bankrupt, and my son took over another part and went bankrupt. So much for men, right? So, I sold my home up in West Palm Beach and bought this. I was the only house here for a long time. I just like the scenery.

I had a Black girl helping me, Arithia, from Boynton.1 And I was sitting here one Sunday. There was a Dr. Shapiro on, the superintendent of all the schools in Harlem, and he was saying that they were giving him a lot of trouble about children failing in the first grade, and he said, “How can they help but fail? They come to me right off the street. They can't even speak anything but gibberish to each other, and half of them don't even know their name.” He said, “What can I do, teach them to read? They don't know words, they don't have any vocabulary.

These are poor children.” And I thought, God that's terrible. He said, “They've already given up. They don't hear anymore because nobody ever listens to them. Children learn by their curiosity, and their curiosity is not satisfied because there's nobody home to listen. So they quit asking questions, and then your curiosity is dead. I can't do a thing.” I thought, that's terrible, to give up at five and six. Actually, I was really crushed by my husband's death. I thought, well, maybe I could help a little bit. So, I [asked] Arithia, “Do you think you could find 10 little kids from the streets?” “Oh, yeah,” she said, “they're from the 13th, all over my street.” I said, “Tell them to come and I'll find a place.” Lake Lytal was the chairman of the County Commission.2 I asked him, and he got Reverend Lou from one of the Black churches in Boynton. Lou arranged that I could use

the recreation center, Wilson, from 9 in the morning till 11:30.3 And then I’d have to have it all cleaned up and the City Recreation would take it over.

Arithia got, on Monday, 10 kids. I didn't know their names or anything. I had a lot of crayons and little cars and I proceeded [to] have my little class. On Tuesday there were 20 kids and on Friday, there were 65. Old ladies would bring me a strap, saying, “Here, beat this one with this.” Oh my gosh. I didn't—I was out of my mind. Arithia said she'd help me one day a week and got a couple other girls who had a day off. We finally got a group, and Lena Rahming and Arithia, they’re both there now.4 I got my brother to come once and another man friend, who brought the Boy Scout manual. He came once, he says, “You're crazy. You can't do this.” Everybody told me, you know, I just couldn't do it, stop it, and all that, but I just went from one day to the next, and the kids kept coming, and I’d buy graham crackers and that drink in a package— Interviewer: Ovaltine?

Coston: No, it’s grape and stuff.

Interviewer: Kool-Aid? Coston: Kool-Aid. Nick said we'd have that about 10:00. Then the health authorities came in [and] said I couldn't do that. I think I had some plastic cups. I couldn't use the plastic cups. My brother-inlaw worked for the lumber company, and my sisterin-law was an interior decorator. She made me 65 little plastic cushions and brought them down so the kids had someplace to sit. They gave me one of those

1 Arithia Marshall (1930-2014) was born in Alabama, attended Tuskegee Institute and Indian River Community College, and moved to Boynton when her husband retired from the Army in 1962.

2 Lake Lytal set a record for serving 32 years on the Palm Beach County Commission (1942-66, 1970-78). He was called “Mr. Democrat” for his belief in using government to help the less fortunate. [Source: Kleinberg, Eliot. "Post Time." The Palm Beach Post. June 11, 2019.]

3 Wilson Recreation Center was named for Deacon Theodore D. Wilson, who convinced the city of the need for a civic center; it opened in 1961. [Source: Gill, Randall. Boynton Beach. Arcadia Publishing, 2005] 4 Lena Rehming-Williams (1944-2011) volunteered for five years, then was manager specialist for Head Start and aftercare social services for Lake Worth, Delray Beach, and Boynton Beach at Boynton Beach Child Care Center. After her death the building was renamed Lena Rahming Child Care Center. [Source: Spires, Shari. "The Head Start Struggle." The Palm Beach Post. August 7, 1990.]

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Florida Atlantic University, which opened on September 14, 1964. Courtesy HSPBC.

little closets that I can keep my things in. So, I bring out the cushions every morning from the closet and these little toys I had and paper and crayon, and then a lady came down who could play the piano and she'd kind of bang on the piano. She wasn't very good, and the kids—try to teach the kids a song.

Whatever anybody could do, they did. Some church ladies used to come two or three times a week. And then some more Black girls came, and Lena stayed.

The health authorities said I had to close because the water wasn't hot enough, that I washed the glasses with, and then oh, I didn't have a fence around it.

They were going to close it because I didn't have a fence.

didn't have the fence. There was a reporter up there from the Miami Herald, and I told him what he said. Well, he put it in the paper the next day, and I got $2,000. We put a fence up. Then the health department—well, of course, they couldn't let people gather a bunch of children. I was breaking a few laws. But finally we got it straightened out, at least from January to June, and then I had to get out of there anyhow, because the city had their summer programs. I thought, oh goodness, I guess I don't know much about this. So, I went back to college. I went down to FAU and got a degree in elementary education, and then I got my masters in childcare, early childhood.

Interviewer: About what year was this?

Interviewer: When did you get your master's degree?

Coston: This is 1966. They sent two men and said that I would probably have to go to jail because I

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Coston: I was 62, so that must have been [19]72.

Sarah was interviewed by the Palm Beach Post-Times about the opening of the new Boynton Beach Child Care Center. Courtesy Boynton Beach Library.

Interviewer: Were you one of the oldest students in the school?

Coston: Oh, I was the oldest one, yeah. I'm sure I was the day it opened. Yeah, I think I was the oldest.

Interviewer: You were there on the day FAU opened?

Coston: Yeah. [note: FAU opened in 1964] Interviewer: Was it difficult going back to school?

Coston: I thought it was going to be, but it wasn't. I mean, everybody was real nice and they treated me just like another student. We had projects and we all

worked together. And then I had this school open in September and used the children for projects, and every time I had like an exam, I'd bring all these children down and make them do something. I’d get an “A.” This was the best example they had, you know. They never saw children that age, three and four. I'd have them bring red blocks and green blocks and sing songs and teach them a little arithmetic and show off. Anyhow, I got through that real well, I went eight years. I worked all day and went to school at night.

Interviewer: Tell me about the children. Were they all from the lower economic— Coston: Oh, they had to be. At that time we didn't have any records, they just came from all over. The

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women had to go to work, and they’d leave a bunch of kids with some old man or woman. They were all poor, you know, real poor, so they were glad to have someplace to put the children.

Interviewer: Were most of the children from minority groups?

Coston: Yeah, most of them. We had whites and Black children and some Latins, everything, a mixture. Then in 1966 or 7, I think, [Myrtle?] came down.5 They had asked her to start Head Start.

Congress had passed that law in 1965, I think.6 I had already started, so they asked me to be the model Head Start and I said, “Good,” cause I was still trying to raise money on the side—besides going to school and running the school. I mean, I was really worn out.

Interviewer: Was that the model Head Start for Palm Beach County?

Coston: Yeah, yeah, and in the meantime, this other friend of mine said, “You ought to get a couple of lots from the city, because you'll eventually want to be on [street name?].” So, we went to city council and told him we wanted two lots on the corner, and they didn't know that was Boynton. That was nothing over there then, you know, and they never heard of a preschool for these Black children. They gave it to me, and then we decided we'd start on building it. I put it in [the] paper, and the next day there were 16 cement blocks right in the middle of sand. Money started coming in. Then the seminary was built over there on Military Trail and those guys started coming over.7

Senator Lewis took a big interest in the school, so he gave the Bishop from their trust and then the bishop was supposed to give it to me, $35,000.8 Then the migrant program started, and I don't know how I got connected with them.9 But they gave, said I could have part of their chairs and things. My brother-inlaw built some long—we still have three—wooden tables with seats attached. I used them for 25 years.

I think they’re still in the playground. All that good wood, you know. Over there on the side it says we’re starting. Are we breaking ground— Interviewer: Breaking ground in [19]67.

Coston: [19]67, ’68—somewhere over three years building because we had to do it whenever anybody volunteered or gave us some money and we'd build a little more. I was afraid the people and that part of Boynton were going to be discouraged because it took so long. We’d have to just do whatever we could that week. Everybody would say, “Sally, that thing'll fall down within a year. You can't build a building with volunteer labor, that’s crazy.” They were always telling me I was crazy. And they didn't want any part of it.

Interviewer: The building’s still there.

Coston: Then three years ago the city of Boynton decided—we started a new fund for a new building and they kind of helped us, then they took it over and added to it. We knocked most of that down. Some of it may still be the other building, but it was supposed to be all knocked down. But that's the way it was right on that corner, but there's some pictures of the

5 Arithia Marshall (1930-2014) cooked for the Boynton Beach Child Care Center from 1969, and for Head Start in Lake Worth and Delray Beach. [Source: “Increase Aid for Young, Elderly." The Palm Beach Post. July 6, 1976. AND "Arithia Marshall"] 6 In January 1964, President Lyndon Johnson, formerly a teacher in a one-room Texas schoolhouse, declared The War on Poverty in his State of the Union speech. An 8-week program launched in the summer of 1965. Due to its success, Congress authorized Head Start as primarily a part day, nine-month program. The first school year programs had started in the fall of 1965. [Source: "History of Head Start." Office of Head Start website.]

7 St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary was built at 10701 S. Military Trail, on 100 acres purchased by the Diocese of St. Augustine in 1955. The building was dedicated in January 1966. [Source: "Our Heritage." St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary website.]

8 Philip D. Lewis (1929-2012), Florida Senator and Realtor, was trustee of the philanthropic Philip D. Lewis Trust. He was friends with Coleman F. Carroll, Bishop of the Diocese of Miami 1958-68 and Archbishop of Miami 1968-1977. [Source: Oral History with Philip D. Lewis, 2006, Archives of the HSPBC] 9 "Migrant program" could refer to Operation Concern Migrant Program, 8543 Boynton Beach Blvd.

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old building. I remember I took it to an architect in Palm Beach to show him the old building and see if he could design new. He said, “Well, there's nothing that can't be improved.” Now where did I put those papers, they’re all around someplace. I had them the other day. These [brochures] are all the old building.

Take this too—it's a book I made. But anyhow it’s just a plain flat square, the cheapest kind you could get, and have you seen the new building? It's the biggest building in Boynton.10 Really. What was his name, the city manager before this one?

year-old and four-year-old [class]. At one time they were almost 28 on the staff. We had three or four cooks. I was the director. Assistant, secretary, and when we first started, we even had a nurse. I don’t know how we ever had that. We had a bus driver, but then they started cutting back on Head Start.

They said they didn't, but they did. They cut out the A[dministrative?] A[ssistant?], the bus drivers, assistant cook, nurse. Teachers had to start getting up at six o'clock and driving the bus. Then come and teach all day.

Interviewer: Cheney?

Interviewer: What year would this be? in the [19]70s or ‘80s?

Coston: Peter Cheney.11 He's the one that helped me so much, the most, then they kicked him out. They froze him out, but he was the one that helped the most. A lot of people helped. I never thought it would happen. I really think it's a miracle that building got up, because nobody was really interested, except a few of us, but the city council, I think they were half afraid to say no.

There was another old man, what was his name? He used to put a bill in for so many thousand and they’d all vote yes. It just kind of wormed its way through— it cost quite a bit. I think the county finally paid for the kitchen.12 Marvelous kitchen, we worked out of such an old crummy kitchen all those years. But my gosh, they started a little center in Delray and one in Lake Worth [in 1970], but they didn't have any kitchens. So we had to take food to them every day.

Probably they’d have breakfast cereal, but we’d take lunch every day in a hot pot, we’d cook it in our little kitchen. So, we were fixing three or four hundred breakfasts and lunches every day in that little old kitchen. Miracle.

Interviewer: How many people were on the staff?

Coston: Well, let me see, we had five classrooms and there had to be two teachers for each three-

Coston: I don’t know, let me see. I guess the ‘70s.

They started cutting slowly. It would tickle me cause they'd all say on their politicking that they were going to give so many million to Head Start, and here I didn't have a bus driver. I couldn't get any equipment. I couldn't get anybody the [how many Sonora substitute?] so, of course, we kept Boynton Beach Child Care Inc., which I'd started. But this is all about being Incorporated. We couldn't get the first money because we had to be incorporated for people to get a tax exemption.

Many of these children, the bus was just letting them off in the streets and nobody was [home] till later.

I found out that some of them were just wandering around, so I started an aftercare program. Head Start wouldn’t pay for that, so we got money from the United Way and different people to donate money to Boynton Beach Child Care Inc. Then we leased the building to Head Start.

Interviewer: What hours did the childcare center run and which hours did the aftercare run?

Coston: Childcare ran from about 6:30 to 2:30, and aftercare from 2:30 to 6:30.

10 The childcare center moved to 909 NE Third St, Boynton Beach in 1990. Lena Rahming credited city government with providing everything from hot dogs to this building over the years. [Source: “The Head Start Struggle.”]

11 Peter Cheney (1932-1997) was the first professional city manager of Boynton Beach, serving amid controversy 1979-1989.

Lena Rahming praised him to reporters after his death. [Source: Shine, Terence. "Peter Manager, ex-Boynton manager." South Florida Sun Sentinel. January 14, 1997.]

12 The center applied for a $150,000 economic development grant in 1976, after the city council approved leasing three lots south of the center’s then current site. [Source: “Peter Cheney, ex-Boynton Manager.”]

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Interviewer: Did you get support from the United Way in the late ‘70s around the Carter or Nixon administrations?

Coston: I don't know. United Way—let’s see, I got $50 the first year, I remember, so that was probably 1970. That would be a good guess. We had a board of directors. United Fund, they gave us $3,500 in 1974, so it must have started in ’74.

Interviewer: Did you charge fees to the parents?

Coston: Oh, no, no, in Head Start you can’t charge any fees, and the aftercare was kind of a joke. We were supposed to charge a dollar. We had about 35 [children] and we got back two dollars. United Way would say, “You have to show the people that you're trying to raise money on your own, so they'll know that you're helping too.” I said, “Well, it's hard down there to raise money. We're not like the Red Cross, all these uppity things.” I said, “All right, we’ll have a rummage sale.” People brought all this junk, so I had to run a story. That was, I think, a hundred and to put all this energy on that, we had to get a truck.

And when we went to the flea market at Delray, we had to rent a place, so some of the girls went down at 4:30 in the morning and took all this stuff and we rented them out the truck. When we got through, we'd spent $300 and we'd only made $100. I said, “Okay, here’s our fundraiser.” I think we did try to give a dance once [and] the cook’s husband had a heart attack. I don’t think we made more than $25.

So much for our fundraising. Nobody wanted to give to poor Black children at that time. It wasn't a thing. It wasn't a prestigious thing to do, it's better to give to the cancer fund, go to the dance, or the heart fund banquet, or something like that—I know the Heart Ball was a big deal.13 Somebody said, “Why don't you have a golf tournament?” I said, “Are you kidding me?” They didn’t understand that we were dealing with people that didn't have two nickels. God, they were lucky to get something to eat. So, churches started donating cans of food and

Georgette McCray plays with toy figures at the Boynton Beach Child Care Center, as County Commissioner Norman Gregory chats with others. Courtesy Palm Beach Post Collection, HSPBC.

that sort of stuff. We did start giving that away, and people kept bringing old clothes. We gave them to the children and to the families all along. We didn't pile it up, cause lots of times we were the only place they could go if they didn't have anything to eat, or any clothes for their children, sometimes a place to stay all night. We'd call Saint Vincent De Paul or Salvation Army and try to get help.

Interviewer: Was the center affected by the Civil Rights Movement?

Coston: No. That was in what year?

Interviewer: The 1960s and 1970s.

13 The Palm Beach Heart Ball each February benefits the American Heart Association and in 2020 celebrated its 65th year.

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Jessica Morales plays on swings at the Boynton Beach Child Care Center, 1981. Courtesy Palm Beach Post Collection, HSPBC.

Coston: Well, yeah, we were right in the middle of [it], 1965.

Interviewer: I'm looking at an article that says the City may renege on contributions to Child Care Center. Did you get a lot of opposition? Did you have a lot of trouble getting funds?

Coston: The Palm Beach County Community Action Council was the first one. They were

appointed to receive the funds. We were to come through them, and they were always having trouble, always in trouble with the commissioners, law—and nobody was really for having schools report [at-risk] children. This is the South, let’s face it.

Interviewer: Did anybody oppose you supporting working women? Today a lot of people seem to oppose childcare centers because it encourages women to leave the home and go out and work.

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Coston: Oh, yeah, laugh at that.

Interviewer: Was there anything like that?

Coston: It was in the papers, but not down at that level. Nobody bothered [if] women from that culture have worked, and especially around here. They've all done, in Palm Beach, they’ve all done housework, and the men were glad. They knew they'd have to take care of them if they didn't work. There was never any of that stuff. It didn't sift down to that level.

Interviewer: Was the childcare center used for other things, such as cheese distribution?

Coston: Food? Yeah, we still distribute food every week. Churches gather the food, some of them, and they bring it over to the center. Then I think we take it someplace and give it out; we've always dispensed food and clothing and help. A lot of mothers, for instance, never get to go to the dentist because they don't have any place to keep the children. I was hoping we have a place where they could leave children and mothers could take care of themselves a little bit, which of course it turned out. We did help, but I think this was all because it was a confrontation between the county commissioners and the city commissioners.

Interviewer: Were you ever involved in politics or on any political board?

Coston: No, I was just going to straighten the world out all by myself. I never even thought. I was just going to take 10 children, period. I never thought it was going to end up with all this.

Interviewer: How many children were in the center at the time of your retirement?

Coston: One hundred thirty. Wait a minute, maybe not that many. A hundred, anyhow. I retired in 1978. I stayed on as executive director of Boynton Beach Child Care Inc., because I was still overseeing

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everything, but I wasn't directly involved in Head Start. We had a head of Head Start down at the school, and then we had another woman. Lena had taken charge of the building, and I was just kind of helping to run the aftercare and different charities that we were interested in, and a lot of involvement in the movement down in Boynton, like Black Awareness Week. Lena works in the school, she always heads that, and we contributed, of course. I always go to it. We give out prizes, stuff like that, I do a lot of little things down there. We still get money from the city for aftercare. I don't get United Way money anymore, because we decided that we didn't need as much as when I was buying stuff for the playground and clothes for the children and trying to furnish the school and buying materials. Now that we're doing that, we didn't really need United Way in the way that other agencies did. We could use some more money for things, like holidays, things we like to do for the children, it was too much work with United Way. There's so many papers. They had helped us when they could. They were a big help.

Interviewer: What were the ages of the children?

Three and four in the aftercare program?

Coston: Well, some of the children who were already in something, some of their older brothers and sisters or some kids from Poinciana School would be brought over, like 35 or 40 around 2:30 and then at 6, maybe only one or two. The parents would come and pick them up when they got off work. They still do that.

Interviewer: What activities did the children participate in? What would be a typical day?

Coston: A typical Tuesday, they’d come at 6:30 [a.m.]. The cook would get there, we’d both get there because it was dark and the children would start coming in about quarter to 7, maybe the mothers worked at 7, and I’d keep them in the office until a teacher or an aide came. They'd have breakfast about maybe 8:00, and then the bus would be bringing children in in the meantime. Their classes

Ricky Guzman, an enrollee at the Boynton Beach Child Care Center, arranges his hat and manages a smile, 1980. Courtesy Palm Beach Post Collection, HSPBC.

would start, and they'd have a little bit of colors or numbers. We had a Peabody course14 that was instituted by the University of [Pennsylvania?] in Philadelphia for preschool, one of the finest teaching materials in the country at that time, and the nuns had given me one. I have an older daughter who's a nun, and they'd given me one and another nun gave me another one from her school, and then we bought some, so all the teachers had the Peabody Guide. The teachers didn’t have degrees, remember,

they were just from the neighborhood—Head Start didn't want anybody in there except the poor, which wasn't too bright. If you want to teach children, I don't say you need a degree, but you need some training. The book trained them, I think we got some good teachers and it taught them colors and a lot of words. Their vocabularies were so limited. They didn't know “in front of,” “decide,” “near,” “across,” “around,” or “behind,” all those words. They didn't know any adverbs and not many adjectives, they

14 The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test was created in 1959 by Dunn and Dunn and updated for decades. [Source: “National Longitudinal Surveys." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website.]

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just used probably a verb and a noun. They didn't have any equipment to learn to read. This was the idea, to give them a larger vocabulary, which we did with all these activities with art and music. We had a music teacher, would come in and play the piano, and they learned songs. We had shows at Christmas and Easter, graduations. They were good, too. When we had them over at the seminary, even the bishop came. He died laughing; it was so funny.

Interviewer: Did you teach the children hygiene, like brushing their teeth?

Coston: Well, I had a lot of ideas and when I first went back to school, they had somebody from the health department come and this video showed that eating an apple was five times, ten times better than brushing your teeth—it got more of the debris out of your teeth than a toothbrush ever would. I've known people that didn't brush their teeth till they were 30 and they've never had a cavity. A lot of things that people used to eat; they didn't have toothbrushes.

But we did because they said we had to, so each one had his little toothbrush with his name above it. We had toothbrushing time, I just did this show, really.

Hand washing time at lunch. They all had to wash before they [ate] and I made them say—call it a little prayer, whatever you want to, but I made them say something. They used to say, “Thank you God for this food,” that was about it. The reason is that at the beginning, somebody would say, “Oh I don’t like that,” and it would go all around the room. Finally, I made everybody say, “Oh, what a nice lunch.” So, from then on, everybody hollers, “Oh what a nice lunch!” It's a little trick, but they never said that again, that they don't want this or that. They ate and they ate well; we had good, nourishing food too.

Interviewer: What kind of food?

Coston: We had a person that had a Head Start.

They had a director of nutrition who had a couple of degrees. She’d go around all the schools and give us menus, and we'd follow the menus.

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Interviewer: So, you'd have a meat, a vegetable, dessert?

Coston: Yeah, two vegetables, maybe a green vegetable, maybe a little dessert. And maybe a little protein, whatever, fish or meat. Very good food.

Oh, I could see the difference from the time a child would come to us, end of September. Honestly, by October their eyes were shining, and they were just different from getting milk and good food. And how they couldn't wait to get there, because there was something to do and people who cared about them.

Not that their parents didn’t, but their mothers had to go to work. And here they were loved and taken care of—they knew it—and had good food, they started to sparkle. I could see all the difference in the world.

Interviewer: The center operated from September to June?

Coston: Yeah.

Interviewer: What happened during the summer?

Coston: Well, in the beginning, Head Start was funded to go year-round, but this is another thing that didn't happen. Congress just kept—I’m telling you, they kept cutting back. We couldn't operate all summer. We didn't have the money. I was very much against letting the children just go out, so one summer, a couple of summers, we got a migrant bus.

The seminarians helped us, and we all volunteered and took the children on little field trips a lot, stuff like that.

Interviewer: Where would you go on field trips?

Coston: Oh, where we’d go? We took them to the ocean and up to the Coast Guard. This [points] used to be all farmland, and we’d take them out here, they’d never seen a cow. The farmers would all welcome[us]. This was a horse farm down at the end of the street, and this was all cow and pasture, and they had a big farm. We'd call the people, and they

loved having them. We’d bring the whole troop in. I have some funny pictures down at the center in my office of the children on a cow, and they’d never seen a cow. Terrified. We’d take them all around, just for a ride. We did a lot of things just on our own. Wasn’t organized how it is now. We can't do anything unless it's on paper.

cleaning his plate off?” They couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t barely believe it. They all had nice manners, and I never heard any crying. There's no reason to cry because if they ever got in a little spat, we’d make them stay away from the playground or put them in a special area for a little while. They’d know they had to do that.

Interviewer: How would you help a child develop independence?

Interviewer: Did you ever meet any of the children when they were grown up?

Coston: It depends. A lot of them didn't want to use silver or didn't want to eat. They’d want to just pick up the food and put it in their mouths, and we had to teach them how to eat, really. And we taught them how to go to the bathroom nicely and to stay in line and obey. We taught them how to respond to a direction. I mean, if we told them to bring us something, they’d go get it and bring it right to us and we'd say, “thank you,” and if we gave them something, we taught them to say “thank you.” What we've tried to supply was what most children—I wouldn't know whether you'd say “middle class” or not, what all class of children—learn at mother’s knee, but they didn't have the opportunity because of poverty. Their mothers had to work. So, we tried to teach them what they would have learned, manners and how to cooperate and when they finished their lunch, go to the container and scrape their plate off and put it over in the pile. We’d write the parents all the time to come have lunch with them or watch them, and the parent [would say], “Is that my child

Coston: Oh, yeah, there's a lot of them come back.

Yeah, Reese's daughter, I think I have her picture in there with a baby. I was in that other one. I wish I could find that first folder that she was nine months, while Arritha was pregnant. She had to bring the baby as soon as she could, so we had her from the time she was about eight or nine months, I guess.

Estelle now works for Time Magazine. She's over in Tampa—married, of course—and Lena’s son's a lawyer. He went to Howard [University].

Interviewer: So, they moved up quite well.

Coston: Oh, yeah. Head Start—if you followed the principles that they started in that little thing, I think that booklet that’s in there, the principles of Head Start were well thought out. In fact, I'd like to have all that literature I had in the beginning from Head Start, because they really had a wonderful committee in Congress who thought this up.

The Boynton Beach City Library has led several oral history initiatives over the years, with the help of

staff and volunteers. Thanks and credit go to many individuals for preparation, interviewing, transcribing, digitizing, and creating access, and to several organizations for their generous funding, including the Boynton Beach Historical Society.

Copyright of the original transcript belongs to Boynton Beach City Library, which has given permission of reproduction to the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. The HSPBC has edited the transcript for space and clarity for publication. The original audio and transcript are available at https://archive.org/details/ scoston1992oralhistory/scoston1a.mp3.

SPRING 2020 | 35

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36 | TUSTENEGEE

Historical Society of Palm Beach County 2019-2020 Off icers Board Chair Thomas M. Kirchhoff First Vice Chair Ross W. W. Meltzer Second Vice Chair Mark Stevens Secretary Richard S. Johnson Jr. Treasurer Thomas Burns, CPA Member at Large Joseph Chase Past Chair J. Grier Pressly III Member Emeritus Robert W. Ganger Board of Governors Jeffrey Alderton Christian Angle John Archer M. Cheryl Burkhardt Sharon Daley Graham G. Davidson George L. Ford III Mary Freitas The Honorable Bradley G. Harper Russell P. Kelley George Mavlios Sharon Merchant Peter Nicoletti Lisa McDermott Perez Karen Swanson Keith Williams Vernique Williams Ex-Off icio Board Members Debra Robinson School Board of Palm Beach County Danielle Hickox Moore Town of Palm Beach Council Member Mack Bernard Palm Beach County Commissioner

Board of Advisors Cressman D. Bronson Katharine Dickenson Mark B. Elhilow George T. Elmore Mr. & Mrs. William M. B. Fleming Jr. Dennis Grady William Graham Dale R. Hedrick Pat Seaton Johnson Gary S. Lesser The Honorable Karen Marcus William A. Meyer Penny Murphy Carey O'Donnell Harvey E. Oyer III Jorge Pesquera Sidney A. Stubbs Jr. Benefactors Thomas Anderson and Marc Schappell John Archer Brenda McCampbell Bailey Margaret Cheryl Burkhardt Joseph Chase Susan and Christopher Cowie Martha DeBrule Mark B. Elhilow George T. Elmore Lorrain and Malcolm W. Hall Pat Seaton Johnson Russell P. Kelley III Thomas M. Kirchhoff Sanda and Jeremiah Lambert J. Grier Pressly III Deborah and Chuck Royce Frances G. Scaife Sonja and Mark Stevens

Staff President and Chief Executive Officer Jeremy W. Johnson Chief Curator Debi Murray Research Director Rose Guerrero Education Coordinator Casey Lipschutz Marketing Coordinator Caroline Frazier Office Administrator Sharon Poss Membership, Grants, & Museum Store Lise Steinhauer Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator Rhonda Gordon Development Coordinator Alice Randolph Museum Services Jeff Ault

SPRING 2020 | 37

HSPBC Membership as of May 1, 2020

Benefactor ($5,000)

Mr. Thomas Anderson and Mr. Marc Schappell Mr. and Mrs. Christopher B. Cowie Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey H. Fisher Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm W. Hall Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Royce Mr. and Mrs. Mark Stevens

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Mr. John P. Archer Mrs. Brenda McCampbell Bailey Ms. Margaret Cheryl Burkhardt Mr. Joseph Chase Mrs. Martha B. DeBrule Mr. Mark B. Elhilow Mr. George T. Elmore Mrs. Richard S. Johnson Mr. Russell P. Kelley Mr. Thomas M. Kirchhoff Mr. Jeremiah Lambert Ms. Patricia Lambrecht Mrs. Howard M. Lester Mrs. Pauline Pitt Mr. J. Grier Pressly III Mrs. Frances G. Scaife Mrs. Caroline B. Sory

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38 | TUSTENEGEE

Mr. and Mrs. J. Cater Randolph II Mr. Tanner Rose Mr. and Mrs. E. Burke Ross Jr. Mrs. Sandra Thompson Mr. Kenneth L. Wyse

Mizner Circle ($250)

Dr. Jeffrey A. Brown and Mrs. Rory Shanley-Brown Mrs. Margaret M. Dean Mr. and Mrs. Vincent A. Elhilow Ms. Susan Erichsen Mr. and Mrs. William G. Graham Mr. Larry V. Grosser Mr. Thomas Grudovich Mr. Kirk Henderson Mr. Howard L. Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Bernd Lembcke Ms. Jessica Mayer Ms. Jimmie Vee McCoy and Ms. Cynthia Bournique Mrs. Edward Ridge McKenna Mr. Ross W. W. Meltzer Mr. and Mrs. J. William Metzger Mr. and Mrs. Donald Middlebrooks Mrs. Jane P. Newell Ms. Monica Oberting Mr. and Mrs. Edward Pollack Mr. and Mrs. J. Cater Randolph II Dr. G. David Raymond Mr. Tanner Rose Mr. and Mrs. Greg Silpe Mr. John J. Tatooles and Mr. Victor Moore Mr. and Mrs. William R. Tiefel Mr. John Turgeon

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Ms. Marsha Burkhardt Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Burns Ms. Barbara Callahan Ms. Sally Channon Mr. Guy Clark Mr. William Condie and Ms. Susan Gilbertson Mr. and Mrs. Michael Connor Mr. and Mrs. James Coontz Mr. Romin Currier and Ms. Dorothy James Mr. and Mrs. Michael Daley Mr. James L. DeBay and Ms. Mary Jane Gauvey DeBay Mr. Britt Deviney and Ms. Dorothy Jacks Ms. Joy G. Diesel Ms. Janet Egan Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Eisenberg Ms. Courtney Evans and Mr. Rob Konesay Mr. Carl A. Flick Ms. Edith Hall Friedheim Ms. Linda Garfunkel Ms. Jennifer C. Garrigues Mr. and Mrs. John Geberth Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence Gorfine Mr. Kirk Grantham Mr. Doug Hartwell and Ms. Cynthia Sheehan-Hartwell Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hazard Mr. and Mrs. Alec Hicks Mr. and Mrs. Eric Jensen Mr. and Mrs. David P. Kollock Mr. and Mrs. Steve Lamb Mr. and Mrs. Todd Lawson Ms. Annette S. Levinson Ms. Rochelle Magarick Mr. Carlo Manganillo Mr. James McCann Mrs. Cheryl McKee Ms. Kerri Meehan and Mr. Jeffrey Margel Mr. and Mrs. Royal Mollineaux Ms. Regina M. Mullen Mrs. Martin E. Murphy Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Darryl Neier Mr. Kenneth R. Novikoff Mr. and Mrs. Ward C. Parker Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Peltzie Mr. and Mrs. Mort Plawner Mr. and Mrs. Ron J. Ponder Mr. David V. Reese Mr. Ronald D. Risner

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Mr. Kevin Asbacher Mr. Jeffrey Ault Ms. Judy Ballard Mr. Gene Bates Mr. Mark B. Beatty Mr. Frank E. Booker III Mr. Kevan Boyles Ms. Margaret Brady Ms. Catherine Ford Brister Mr. Peter Brown Ms. Susan Bryant Mrs. Lois E. Burns Ms. Suzanne Busch Ms. Candice Carter Mr. Vincent Cloud Dr. Linnie Sue Comerford Mr. Anthony Comorat Mr. Donald H. Conkling III Mrs. Linda G. Cullen Mr. Bill Cunningham Mrs. Kathleen Emrich Mrs. Jan Feinglass Mrs. Roberta Feldgoise Ms. Donna Finegold The Honorable Joel Flores Mr. Alan Fried Ms. Sharon Friedheim Mr. Jonathan Frost Ms. Rosalyn Gladwin Ms. Rhonda Gordon Mr. David A. K. Harland Ms. Annie R. Harrison-Nelson Mrs. Joy Hearn Dr. Teresa A. Hickey Mrs. Bobbi Horwich Mr. John E. Howell Ms. Deborah Hudzik Ms. Susan E. Jones Ms. Isabel Kammerer Mrs. Lewis Kapner Ms. Mary Kastner Ms. Josephine E. Kennedy Mr. John J. Kenney Ms. Gurunam K. Khalsa Mr. Reeves King Mr. Eliot Kleinberg Mr. John M. Kleinman Mrs. James W. Koontz II Ms. Sharon Koskoff Ms. Margaret Anne Krasnicki Mrs. Nellie Kreis Ms. Eleanor Laudicina Ms. Nancy Lee Mr. Connor Lewis

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Mr. Allen Zeller

Life Members

Mr. John W. Annan Mr. and Mrs. Keith C. Austin Jr. Mrs. Maria Bacinich Mr. and Mrs. David H. Bludworth Mr. Richard R. Brown III Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Callander Mrs. Linda Cothes Mr. William R. Cummings Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Dellaquila Mr. and Mrs. Willis H. du Pont Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Eigelberger Mr. and Mrs. J. Pepe Fanjul Sr. Mr. and Mrs. John E. Flagg III Mr. Rodger S. Fowler Mr. and Mrs. Gordon D. Gaster Ms. Judy Hatfield Mr. and Mrs. Scott Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Johnson Jr. Mr. Donald C. Lainhart Mrs. Elise MacIntosh Mr. George Matsoukas Mrs. Mary Alice Pugh Mr. and Mrs. William Sned Jr. Mr. and Mrs. John Tamsberg Mr. John K. Volk

SPRING 2020 | 39

HONORING

Jim Ponce

The Historical Society of Palm Beach County has established The James Augustine Ponce Endowment for Exhibition Development at the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties, in honor of the late James Augustine Ponce, Palm Beach's "two-legged, historical landmark."

Through the Community Foundation’s Forever Nonprofit Endowment Challenge, HSPBC was selected to receive a $25,000 matching grant for setting up the permanent endowment. The growth from this investment will support the annual special exhibitions in the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum.

Please contact us to learn how your investment can provide an opportunity to link our shared past to future generations at 561.832.4164 ext. 100 or info@hspbc.org.

CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP

Corporate Membership with the HSPBC offers benefits for your employees and clients to fully experience and enjoy the Johnson History Museum and other Society programs year-round.

Benefits to all Corporate Members:

Admission to all lectures Professionally supported access to the archives and research library; amount varies by level Invitations by mail to all special events 20% discount for all employees in our Museum Store Opportunity to hold an event at the 1916 Historic Court House Listing in the Tustenegee journal; access by mail and electronically 10% discount on all use fees in the Research Department

Trailblazer $5,000

Opportunity to hold a corporate event at the Museum with no administrative honorarium Exclusive, curator-led private tour of the Museum’s exhibitions and collections for up to 12 guests Complimentary admission to VIP events for six guests Up to two hours consultation with curator on how to set up archives.

(4) 16” x 20” prints of a historical photograph(s) from the HSPBC Archives. Restrictions apply.

Linked logo on the Historical Society’s website www.hspbc.org

Frontier $2,500

Opportunity to host a corporate event at the Museum with 50% discount on administrative honorarium Private docent-led tour of the Museum’s exhibitions for up to 30 guests Complimentary admission to VIP events for four guests Up to two hours consultation with curator on how to set up archives.

(3) 16” x 20” prints of a historical photograph(s) from the HSPBC Archives. Restrictions apply.

Linked logo on the Historical Society website www.hspbc.org

Providencia $1,000

Complimentary admission to VIP events for two guests (2) 16” x 20” prints of a historical photograph(s) from the HSPBC Archives. Restrictions apply.

Linked logo on the Historical Society website www.hspbc.org

Homestead $500

(1) 16” x 20” print of a historical photograph from the HSPBC Archives. Restrictions apply.

Two professionally supported research in the HSPBC Archives /Library, by appointment Company name and logo at www.hspbc.org

Everglades $250

1 hour professionally supported research in the HSPBC Archives /Library by appointment Company name and logo at www.hspbc.org

40 | TUSTENEGEE

offers special thanks to our Corporate Members & Partners

Corporate Members Corporate Frontier ($2,500) Christian Angle Real Estate Nievera Williams Design, Inc. Sciame Homes LLC Wall Private Wealth Window & Door Design Center

Corporate Providencia ($1,000) Dailey Janssen Architects Flagler Realty & Development FPL Hedrick Brothers Construction Kirchhoff & Associates Architects Leeds Custom Design, Ltd. The Nicoletti Financial Group of Stifel

Corporate Homestead ($500) Palm Beach Yacht Club The Epic West Palm Beach

Corporate Everglades ($250) NextHome Real Estate Executives Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach

Foundation Partners

Addison Hines Charitable Trust Cathleen McFarlane Foundation David Minkin Foundation Frances G. Scaife Foundation J.M. Rubin Foundation James M. Cox Foundation Jane Beasley Foundation Leslie & Ronald Y. Schram Philanthropic Fund Marshall E. Rinker, Sr. Foundation Palm Beach Country Club Foundation Palm Beach County Bar Association, Inc. Palm Beach County Bar Association, Inc. North County Sec. Pat Moran Family Foundation Patricia Lambrecht Foundation Reynolds Family Foundation Richard S. Johnson Family Foundation Scaife Family Foundation Sharkey Family Foundation Inc. Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Florida The Loreen Beiswenger Farish Charitable Foundation The Mary Alice Fortin Foundation Timothy D. & Karen V. Burke Charitable Fund

Sponsors and other Partners Blackjade Consulting LLC Blue Ocean Capital Botanica Brown Distributing Burkhardt Land Trust Capehart Photography CBIZ / Dennis Goldstein Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches City of West Palm Beach Community Foundation of

Palm Beach and Martin Counties Corporate Property Services Discover the Palm Beaches Eau Resort and Spa Edward Jones Investment | James Smeenge Fernando Wong Outdoor Design Flagler Realty & Development Florida Sugar Cane League Garden of Life Garrison Brothers Distillery General Society of Colonial Wars Gunster Haifa Limestone Hedrick Brothers Construction Island Company Rum John C. Cassidy Air Conditioning Keller Williams | Rachel Tessoff Kirchhoff & Associates Architects Lake Worth Drainage District Leeds Custom Design, Ltd. Lesser, Lesser, Landy & Smith Marine Industries Association of

Palm Beach County McMow Art Glass Murray & Guari Trial Attorneys Nievera Williams Design Okeechobee Steak House Palm Beach County Bar Association

Palm Beach County Board of Commissioners Palm Beach Kennel Club Palm Beach Media Group Pioneer Linens PNC Bank Prime Golf Cars Publix REG Architects Related Company/CityPlace Sciame Homes Sean Rush Atelier Searcy Denney Sloan's Ice Cream Smart Source LLC Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Florida Southern Glazers State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs Sunshine Towers Sysco Table 26 The Law Offices of Abigail Beebe, P.A. The Palm Event The Royal (Poinciana Plaza) The Skier Law Firm, P.A. Therma Seal Insulation Systems Tito's Homemade Vodka TMK Farms U.S. Sugar Corporation Very Important Paws Wayne Boynton Wells Fargo Bank West Palm Beach Antique Row Art &

Design District West Palm Beach Downtown

Development Authority Whitley's Auctioneers Whole Foods Window Gang of Palm Beach

SPRING 2020 | 41

From the Photographic Collection All photos Courtesy Palm Beach Post Collection, HSPBC.

by Rose Guerrero

Palm Beach County has played a pivotal role in several elections over the last two decades. With another important election right around the corner, we look back at how we have voted, from memories of going into the voting booth with a parent to casting our ballot inside a clothing store. The addition of the Palm Beach Post Collection to our archives allows us to share these historic moments as we work to protect the county's treasured history.

Jonathan and Anna Oliphant play near voting booths in Boynton Beach.

42 | TUSTENEGEE

Top: Voters cast their ballots at Rangeline Feed and Supply, 5353 SR 7, in suburban Lake Worth.

Bottom: T. H. Summers talks with (L to R) Edwin Osorio, 11, and Christina Marino, 10, after casting his vote at North Grade Elementary School in Lake Worth.

SPRING 2020 | 43

We need your help.

The Archives contain many images that have no identification. Do you recognize this man or the greenhouse?

Historical Society of Palm Beach County 300 North Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, FL 33401 P.O. Box 4364, West Palm Beach, FL 33402 Phone: (561) 832-4164 | Fax: (561) 832-7965 www.hspbc.org | www.pbchistoryonline.org