☞ REMEMBER: P.S. 186 Class of 1942

Faith Ringgold's daughter Michele Wallace published the above photo of the artist's 6th grade 1942 graduation photo from P.S. 186 on a blog entry back in 2009 (click to enlarge).  In this portrait, the different demographics of the Hamilton Heights neighborhood in the war years can be seen but the author mentions that each group lived separatedly from one another in their own micro nabes within the area around the school. The public school on West 145th Street has been closed for several decades now and Ms. Wallace muses that "something prevents this magnificent building from participating in the architectural renaissance going on in the rest of Harlem, not sure what." We've been following the battle to save P.S 186 for the past couple years and can provide a little insight for those interested: LINK. Read more of Ms. Wallace's entry on the wonderfully personal Soul Pictures: Black Feminist Generations site: LINK.