Permanent Record could never have come to fruition without the help of a great many people. I’d like to thank them now.
I’m particularly grateful to the families of Manhattan Trade students who agreed to speak with me in the course of my research and reporting, and who graciously opened their homes and family archives to me. My sincerest hope is that the experience was as rewarding for them as it was for me.
I never would have found most of those families if not for the incredible amount of help I received from a small army of volunteer researchers. Chief among these is the indefatigable Diane George, without whom this project would probably still be on the drawing board. Cort McMurray, Chris O’Hara, and Robert F. Peterson also made important breakthroughs, and additional help was provided by Dan Barr, Abby Bridge, Glenn Chamberlain, Christine Freeman, Amy Fritch, David Goodfriend, Vince Grzegorek, Greg Hillebrand, Blair Hough, Kate Interrante, Doug Keklak, Jason Kemnitz, Carrie Klein, Steven Knowlton, Ryder Kouba, Lisa Lark, Ann Matsuuchi, Charles Neiswender, Erik Schwab, Andy Shaindlin, Becky Taylor, Bernd Wilms, and Clint Wrede. My thanks to all of them.
I also received crucial assistance, support, and advice from Beth Bernett, David Brown, Jim Chin, Frank Diller, Susan Dominus, Gina Duclayan, John Fanning, Janette Gayle, Marc Gerald, Terry Haines, Kirsten Hively, Mark Lamster, Paula Lavigne, Kristen McCallion, the National Film Preservation Board, Scott Simmon, Anneliese Smith, and Rob Walker.
Extra-special thanks go to my friends Kenny Lauterbach, Daniel Radosh, and Matt Weingarden, who were with me when I discovered the Manhattan Trade report cards back in 1996 and who generously donated their own batches of cards to this project more than a decade later.
Finally, I’d like to dedicate Permanent Record to the founders, students, and faculty of the Manhattan Trade School for Girls, especially the 395 students whose report cards I’ve been privileged to work with. I hope I’ve done their stories a measure of justice.—Paul Lukas
