Bernice L. Caswell Memorial Fund

This fund was established by Richard S. Nutt, WHS ’35, Yale ’47. Mr. Nutt, in his eighties, had long wanted to commemorate Miss Caswell’s many years of distinguished service as head of the English department at Wakefield High School from 1927 to 1968. He credits her powerful influence in his own career as a teacher of English for 32 years. Miss Caswell graduated from Emerson College in 1920 and earned her master’s degree from Columbia University. At WHS, in addition to being department chair, she supervised all college preparatory students as well as many activities, including senior plays, the school newspaper and yearbook, and the National Honor Society. In 1959, the West Side Social Club named her Citizen to the Year. The lecture hall at today’s high school is named in her honor. Mr. Nutt passed away in 2007.