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
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Norwood Pupils To Attend Double Sessions After $2M Fire-January 25, 1971
Blaze at junior high ‘was set’ Seven hundred fifty pupils from Norwood South Junior High School, which was gutted by a $2 million general alarm fire Saturday night, will start double sessions with the pupils at North Junior High later this week. Norwood Fire Chief Irving J. Dobson said yesterday, after a preliminary investigation: “The…
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School Committee Decisions on Budgets, Dress Codes, and Regional Programs-June 19, 1970
From student dress code victories to union wage matching, a busy school board session redefines Norwood education.
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School Board Stops Metco And Book Lists-June 18, 1970
A tie vote defeats a local high school Metco expansion while the school committee votes to completely abolish student reading lists
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Work Under Way At Junior High North-May 29, 1970
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Dr. Coakley Named “Man of the Year”-June 2, 1970
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Dedication Ceremony For The Junior High North-April 29, 1970
DEDICATE NEW SCHOOL — The raising of the Town of Norwood Flag kicked off the dedicatory exercises on Sunday at the new Junior High North in the presence of these town dignitaries. Among those in the front row are, left to right: Selectmen Joseph Wall and Olga Abdallah, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Philip O. Coakley,…
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Strikes And Weather Delay North Junior High School Construction-June 17, 1969
Superintendent Warns Of Possible Double-Session Classes If Washington Street Facility Openings Fail A steel strike at the end of last summer halted installation of metal decking for the roof and delayed the roofer. Snow and freezing weather further hampered the project before the roof could be completed at the new school site. Without a roof,…
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Budget Cuts, Maintenance Disputes, and Teacher Negotiations Dominate School Committee Meeting-June 12, 1969
From midnight debates over school budgets to a union clause allowing male teachers to take off their suit jackets on hot days, a marathon 1969 school board meeting laid bare the intense growing pains facing Norwood’s overpopulated schools.
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School Committee Considers Expanded Counseling and Special‑Services Programs-June 12, 1969
Decades before student mental health became a standard focus in education, a forward-thinking Norwood leader fought to bring psychologists, social workers, and psychiatrists directly into local schools to support the “whole child.”
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Parents Challenge Junior‑High Redistricting Plan-June 12, 1969
In June 1969, furious Cleveland School families took their grievances directly to town leaders, sparking a tense debate over school enrollment, modern facilities, and neighborhood identity.
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