Beyond the safe confines of the Cushing campus, the cataclysmic events of World War II rocked the world. In 1942, the women’s military services were established. Radar came into operational use and the U.S. government established the Manhattan Project to coordinate ongoing American efforts to design and build an atomic bomb.

The Kaiser Foundation established the first health care plan. Casablanca premiered in U.S. theaters, and Bing Crosby released the song White Christmas from the movie Holiday Inn. The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Yankees in the World Series, and Stanford defeated Dartmouth for the NCAA Basketball Championship.

If you attended Cushing during the war years, we would love to hear any anecdotes you have about those days. Please email them to hhill@cushing.org or post them to Heather Hill, Cushing Academy, 39 School Street, Ashburnham, MA 01430

The year was 1942 and four young Cushing women are whooping it up – at least for the camera.

The view in the distance now includes the Curry Center, but the hills beyond are just as beautiful now as they were in 1944.

Before the iPod there was the Internet, before the Internet there was the television, and before the television, there was the radio. Typical for most folks in 1944, these young men look at the radio as they listen to it. One of them is identified as Fran Rimbach. Any alums out there know the names of the others?