Once again I turned to The Park School Cookbook for some low-stress dinner ideas. I’m getting a surprising amount of mileage out of this little book.
The recipe comes from Victoria Frank Albert, who was actually a grand-daughter of the school’s founder, Eli Frank, Sr.
In my decades of living in Baltimore, I’ve noticed the assortment of private schools that serve the city’s well-to-do, with The Park School vaguely distinguished as the “Animal Collective school.”
Eli Frank Sr & Eli Frank Jr, Jewish Museum of Maryland
As it turns out, The Park School was actually founded in response to some controversial decisions from our old racist pal Mayor Preston in regards to the school board.
I actually have no way of judging the wisdom of Preston’s firing and replacement of school board officials including Eli Frank. It certainly caused a newspaper stir, and many people questioned whether Preston should be courting controversy so soon after his narrow victory. The actual policies and records of the school board officials are largely left out of the news stories.
The end result was, according to The Park School website:
“In March of 1912, Eli Frank Sr., a Commissioner who was fired by Preston; Goucher Professor Hans Froelicher Sr. and General Lawrason Riggs, who both resigned, and a group of 13 men, convened a meeting to discuss the founding of a new school. Knowing that many Jewish parents, seeking to enroll their children in private schools, faced quotas if not outright refusal, the founders created Park as the first non-sectarian independent school in Baltimore. The school embraced progressivism and became a national leader in the Progressive Education movement.”
The school opened that September in its original location on Auchentoroly Terrace across from Druid Hill Park.
The Park School on Auchentoroly Terrace, parkschool.net
The curriculum took advantage of the location with outdoor instruction – in 1921 they even had a shoemaker design a shoe for active children in the local climate, the “Park School Shoe.”
In 1954, the year Victoria Frank graduated, the school began to accept African American pupils. (They were one of the first private schools in the region to do so, for whatever that is worth.) In the 1960s and 70s, they welcomed lecturers and performers who educated the student population on poverty and segregation as well as black theater and the arts.
I couldn’t find out as much about Mrs. Albert herself – I believe she may have moved to Connecticut, where her husband, Leonard Albert, is from.
I used fresh spinach for this recipe. I was surprised to find everything including the mushroom soup at the organic store where we refill our detergent, so this turned out to be a rather *upscale* version of this mid-century recipe. Spinach deluxe deluxe.
We’ll be revisiting the Park School Cookbook yet again soon with a recipe from another Jewish family who had a hand in the history of Baltimore.
- .5 Lb medium noodles
- 2 lbs spinach, cooked and chopped
- .75 Cup cream of mushroom soup
- .25 Cup milk
- black pepper
- .5 Teaspoon paprika
- .5 Lb coursely grated Swiss cheese
Cook spinach. Drain and chop. Cook noodles as directed on package. Rinse in cold water. Mix soup and milk over low heat. Stir in spinach. In a greased baking dish, arrange ½ of noodles, sprinkle with ½ of cheese & seasonings. Spoon over all of spinach mixture. Add remaining noodles, top with remaining cheese. Bake in 400° oven for 15 minutes or until cheese bubbles.
