Frankie the school boy

The young fellow in the top left-hand corner is our very own Frankie Ujlaky. According to the back of the photo, he is posing here with his classmates at Immaculate Conception Catholic School on E. 13th Street in Manhattan. He was probably around ten years old, so the picture may have been taken some time between 1915-1917. Brother Aloysius is the priest in the middle (according to the note on the back of the photo). A nice group of upstanding young men, don't you think? This picture reminds me very much of St. John Bosco and his famous boys.

The photo at left appears also to be at Immaculate Conception Catholic School. Frankie is circled in the center of the photo.

Young Frankie was quite a talented artist. He went on to become a sign painter as a young man and had business cards printed up for his services. He also did gold leaf lettering as I mentioned here.

Here is a small sample of artwork from his childhood, drawn on the back of the class picture:

My favorites are the woman with the flapper hairstyle at the left and the funny man with the bowtie near the middle.

I hope Frankie didn't do too much doodling during Brother Alolysius' classes.