Record American Photo, Ray Lussier
Henry and Irma Diggs Win Total Admiration and Respect of Town
In Norwood, Henry and Irma Diggs are members of a minority whose work has won them the admiration and respect of the majority. Diggs, a 60-year-old printer, has been a member of the town’s School Committee for the past ten years. Though he has no sons, he is active in the work of the Boy Scouts. His wife, a teacher in a nearby town, has for years been so involved in helping the young that she is a member of the Girl Scout Council and is known in Norwood as “Mrs. Girl Scout”. Both are Negroes, two of but 26 in a town of 29,000 residents. Diggs, a lifelong resident of Norwood, has never felt the fact that his color placed him at a disadvantage in the eyes of his neighbors. “It’s a nice town,” he said. “I don’t know of another one where I’d want to live. And, no, I don’t feel left out as far as civil rights is concerned. Not with the means of communication in the world today.”
Diggs got into town politics 16 years ago, when Norwood switched to the open meeting type of government. He ran for district representative and won. A few years later, he ran for the School Committee and was beaten – “but not badly”. But then, in 1958, a year later, he tried again and won – and he’s been winning ever since. “I don’t run my campaign in any particular way, as far as civil rights is concerned,” he said. “I just want a better school system and the people know this.”
There will be an open meeting in Norwood Junior High School June 12 to discuss Metco. It is favored by the Norwood Ministerial Ass., and representatives from Metco, as well as from towns that have adapted it, will be on hand to explain how it works. And townspeople, too, will have their say on it. As for Diggs, he is unable to agree with those who feel that a change from the slum to the suburbs might be too much for children to handle. “I think it’s better to get some sunlight than none at all,” he said. “I’d like to give these children an insight into how other people live. I think you should do what is right for the children, and I think that associating with other races would be a good thing for the Norwood children and schools.”
Henry and Irma Diggs come naturally by their interest in schools. Not only is she a teacher and he a member of the school board, but their married daughters are involved, too. Jacqueline, a graduate of Springfield College, is a physical education teacher in Framingham, and Judith, an alumna of Lesley College, divides her time between her work as a homemaker and her other career as a substitute teacher.
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Boston Herald American.
More School Stories
-
Planning Board Has Done Excellent Work-This Day In Norwood History-May 19, 1923
Norwood’s Planning Board Unveils an Ambitious Vision for a “Town Beautiful” In the spring of 1923, Norwood residents were invited to look toward the future with the release of the most comprehensive Planning Board report the town had ever produced. The document celebrated more than a decade of civic improvement and laid out an ambitious…
-
New Balch School Ready-This Day in Norwood History-September 2, 1913
SCHOOLS OF NORWOOD. New Balch Building to Open Tomorrow—Assignment of 12 New Teachers in Various Districts. NORWOOD, Sept 2—The public schools of Norwood open next Wednesday for the Fall term. This date is earlier than usual in this town. The work on the new Balch School Building has proceeded so far that the building is…
-
Norwood Schools To Open Sept 6 With Large Increase in Pupils and Many Changes-This Day in Norwood History- August 21, 1911
Many Changes Made in Norwood Teaching Force Supt of Schools Austin H. Frittz has announced that the schools of Norwood will open for the fall term Wednesday, Sept 6. It is expected that the attendance on the opening day will be the largest in the history of the town. To accommodate the anticipated increase in…
-
Norwood Sunday Schools Thoroughly Organized-This Day in Norwood History-September 12, 1910
EVERY CHILD IN SUNDAY SCHOOL. Town of 8000 Well Supplied With Church Buildings. New Ones Completed, and Two Under Way. Mon, Sep 12, 1910 – 16 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) NORWOOD, Sept 12—There is not one child in the large town of Norwood who does not have a Sunday school connection. That…
-
Frank B. Boyden Not Compelled to Send Son to Public School-This Day In Norwood History-January 17, 1910
DECIDES FOR FATHER. Action Brought by Norwood Committee Against Frank B. Boyden. Can the Norwood School committee compel Frank E. Boyden, the 12-year-old son of Frank B. Boyden of Pleasant st, to attend school, and if it can, should it oblige Mr. and Mrs. Boyden to send the boy to the public schools, was left…
-
New Eight-Room Schoolhouse, Fire Station, Ordered-This Day In Norwood History-November 2, 1905
New Eight-Room Schoolhouse, Fire Station, Ordered This Day In Norwood History-November 2, 1905
-
Committee On Public Schools Organized-This Day In Norwood History-August 18, 1905
This Day In Norwood History-August 18, 1905-Committee On Public Schools Organized
-
High School Will Have Twenty-five Graduates-This Day in Norwood History-June 3, 1904
June 3, 1904-What is probably die largest class in the school’s history will be graduated at this year’s annual commencement which will occur on the evening of June 16. There will be twenty-five graduates, perhaps……
-
New Norwood Teachers-This Day In Norwood History-August 28, 1903
This Day In Norwood History-August 28, 1903-New Norwood Teachers
-
The New North Schoolhouse-August 14, 1903
Rising proudly on Christian Hill, the new North Schoolhouse features 400,000 bricks laid by local contractors Spear & Smith and stands as a testament to Norwood labor and enterprise.
Discover more from Norwood Historical Society
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.