Remember that your school record stays with you – forever!
687 Watertown Street housed the Horace Mann Elementary School until the school relocated to Nevada Street a few years ago. The building on Watertown Street is now being renovated and reconfigured to become the Newton Early Childhood Program (NECP), which is expected to open next year.
There’s a bit of urban archeology that often happens during renovations. As walls are removed past artwork may be exposed (anyone remember the carving of the Angier motto above the auditorium stage?) or lost items may see the light of day after having been hidden for decades. 
Josh Morse – the City’s Public Buildings Commissioner – reported a few weeks ago that while moving walls at 687 Watertown Street workers had found (as stated in his Facebook feed):
“How cool is this? During demolition at 687 Watertown Street we found a wallet inside one of the classroom walls. It belonged to Steven Houlihan and the dates indicate that he was a student at the Horace Mann School the year that it opened in1964. If anyone knows him, I would love to return his wallet. Newton Police are also helping us see if we can track down Mr. Houlihan.”
Included along with the wallet were a key, a receipt from the West Newton Cycle Shop, and a vocabulary quiz.
We here in Newton are not content to let such things lie. Apparently Ben Ginsburg was able to track down the family and – well, I’ll use Josh’s words again:
“Update! Thanks again to Ben Ginsburg for the internet sleuthing. Today I was able to hand deliver the wallet and contents to Joan Houlihan of Acton who will be visiting her brother Steven Houlihan at his care facility next week. I asked her to share any backstory that Steven might have, and I’ll post whatever I find out here. It’s really cool that a wallet missing for 57 years, will find its way back to the owner.”
Great story! It reminds me a bit of my decision one year while teaching at South to check out a collection of short stories that I had stumbled across in a storage room, covered with dust. As I opened the book on top, I noticed that in the register on the inside was my wife’s name, followed by her homeroom and the year, 1968! I loved the selections, including essays by Orwell, Thurber, and E.B. White. When I brought the book home, my wife remembered it with fondness.
This is one of the best posts I have read on V14.
@Chris Steele, thanks for the mention. It was a ton of fun to track down the family and help with this reunification! FYI, you’ve made the most common spelling error regarding my name – one that I’ll spend my entire life correcting: It is Ginsburg with a “u,” as in RBG, not an “e” as in Alan. 🙂
Love this story!
Eight years ago, while the old Carr School (now Horace Mann) was being renovated, I took a picture of an old mural on the outside that had been covered up for quite some time.
Unfortunately, it didn’t survive the renovation, but here’s a link to my photo and a brief blog post: https://backsideofamerica.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-big-reveal.html
Hi @Ben – Sorry about that, and thank you for your work to get this wallet back to the rightful owner. Just fixed the spelling.
@Chris Steele – I just assumed you had run out and there was a backlog on ‘u’s and you had to swap in an ‘e’. These ‘supply chain’ issues have been crippling everything lately.
@Jerry – Someone’s been playing Wheel of Fortune! Or maybe Chris is a great cheerleader but the team ran out of U’s – So you said “Give me a U” and just threw up an “E.”
@Chris – No worries whatsoever, I appreciate you taking the time to correct it! You’re now more correct than the City of Newton. Every other bill is “Ginsberg.” Someone likes beat poetry, I guess!
Indeed, I have been know to howl on occasion. For now however, I have to get on the road.
😉