When commencement exercises of New York University are over this morning, Patrolman Herman Schwartzberg will hold a Bachelor of Arts degree. His friends in the Police Department anticipated today’s academic honors by a few months and it is some time now since they began calling Schwartz-berg Professor.
Completing the night course at the Washington Square College in five years instead of the usual six, Patrolman Schwartzberg, twenty-nine years old, is reluctant to accept the publicity thrust at him by his feat, which was achieved at the same time he was performing regular police duty days.
He joined the force Sept. 7, 1927, and was assigned to the Stagg Street Station in his native Brooklyn, where he resides with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William and Lena Schwartzberg, at 764 Willoughby avenue. He was not kept pounding the pavements long before he was transferred to the Hack License Bureau and for the past six years he has been attached to the office of the second deputy police commissioner, having previously passed the test for police stenographers.
At fifteen he left Eastern District High School, after attending for a year and a half, to go to work. He resumed his schooling five years later, studying at night.
RECORD IS EXCELLENT
In June, 1929, he entered college, where it was stated yesterday he made an excellent record. Although originally planning to study law, Schwartzberg changed his mind and prepared for an A. B. degree, majoring in history and government.
Now he is about to embark on a course of study that is likely to win a promotion to sergeant. If he gains that objective and a little more leisure time he expects to resume attendance at New York University, specializing in sociology and psychology. He is not averse to receiving a master’s degree, even if it involves greater sacrifices than he has been called upon to make thus far in order to attain his scholastic standing. During his first three years in college he attended five nights a week, going directly after his day’s work; after that four nights weekly. Three times he enrolled in summer school to save time.
His three brothers are in business; none of them has been to college. Patrolman Schwartzberg is not only an A. B. but a bachelor in the more conventional sense of the word, and makes a vehement denial when asked if he intends leaving that blessed state.
Percy Selden Strauss, Jr., son of Percy S. Strauss, president of R. H. Macy and Co., and Mrs. Strauss, is to be one of the recipients of the degree of Juris Doctor from New York University at commencement exercises this morning. A graduate of Georgetown University in 1928, Mr. Strauss holds the degree of Bachelor of Foreign Service.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.