Troy school in search of its lost history

It could be called "The Mystery of the Missing School History" or perhaps "The Case of the Vanishing Class Records."

The bottom line is that a quarter of a century worth of documents have vanished from Our Lady of Victory School in Troy, and some innovative detective work is underway to recover the missing information.

"No one knows what happened to the old school records. They've seemingly vanished into thin air, and at this point in time, we're viewing their disappearance as a mystery that may never be solved," explained Michael Barrett, chairman of the school board. "What we are looking for are ways of piecing that period of history back together so that we have a more complete picture of the school's history to draw upon during the parish's 75th anniversary and the school's 45th anniversary celebrations this year."

Finders sought

Specifically, Mr. Barrett is hoping those with information involving who attended or worked at the school from the early 1950s to the mid-1970s will bring it to a special archival booth at the church bazaar.

As an incentive for alumni to step forward, Mr. Barrett said, raffle tickets will be awarded for each piece of the school history puzzle that is handed in June 7 (1-10 p.m.) or June 8 (1-6 p.m.).

The archival booth, to be staffed by school board members and parent volunteers, will also be accepting old photographs and other historical information that may help the parish's 75th anniversary committee. The donations will be copied and returned to their owners.

Missing persons

"In terms of the school, we lack records from the school's founding in 1952 to the first half of the '70s," Mr. Barrett explained. "Those records have vanished. They've just disappeared. If you asked us questions about who attended our school during the '50s and the '60s, we'd be able to give you zero information.

"We're solid from the second half of the '70s on, but we're relying upon those with information pertaining to those first 25 years of our school's history to step forward and help us out."

Another goal of the Our Lady of Victory school board is to establish an alumni directory for 1952 to 1997. To that end, those at the archival booth will also be interested in finding out where missing alumni are now. Those with "clues" as to their whereabouts are encouraged to pass that information along to school representatives.

(06-05-97) [[In-content Ad]]