Memories of winning an award -- and not meeting the bishop

Nancy Wallingford Murphy still has a copy of the June 9, 1950, issue of The Evangelist.

The Matamoras, Pennsylvania, resident appeared on the front page of that issue with her Academy of the Holy Names, Albany, classmate Judy Heiney and Bishop Edmund Gibbons, then head of the Diocese. He is shown presenting the students with the Bishop Gibbons' Journalism Award, given by The Evangelist.

But was he actually there when the photo was snapped? The answer to that is part of her memories of being a senior.

Journalism contest

During the 1949/50 school year, The Evangelist sponsored a youth page contest. Each of the 18 Catholic high schools in the Diocese took turns editing a page in The Evangelist during the school year.

The Academy of the Holy Names entry was selected as the winner based on "originality in the selection of pictures, interesting and `to the point' news items, and sound editorial comments," the story read.

Receiving honorable mention in the contest were St. John's Academy in Rensselaer, St. Mary's Academy in Amsterdam, St. Columba's School in Schenectady, and Catholic Central High School in Troy.

Mrs. Murphy was the editor of Holy Names page and Miss Heiney was assistant editor. Both were seniors. Other staff members were Marilyn Halpin, Jacquelyn King, Dorothy Robarge, Mary Burns and Virginia Ronan.

Excitement

"We were very excited," Mrs. Murphy said of winning the award. "Being a small school -- we were a class of 30 kids -- we felt pretty excited. We were competing against the big schools like Catholic Central High [in Troy] and Vincentian Institute" of Albany.

The students were presented with a 20-inch statue of Our Lady of Fatima and a carved wall shrine.

While Mrs. Murphy remembers editing the page and winning the contest, she does not remember meeting Bishop Gibbons. The photo appears to have actually combined two pictures, one of the students and one of the bishop, taken at different times.

School memories

Other highlights during Mrs. Murphy's senior year included a basketball rivalry with the Holy Names School in Rome, N.Y. and the plays the students put on. "I was also a cheerleader," she said.

Mrs. Murphy, then a parishioner of St. Brigid's Church in Watervliet, took the bus to Holy Names or her father drove her to school, "although I did board a portion of senior year," she said.

After graduating, she attended The College of Saint Rose. She then married, moved to Pennsylvania and had four children. She's now retired.

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