Scientists and their Families

[Alan Bernheimer Jr]

This photo is likely from the summer of 1949. Aside from Kitty Warren and her two daughters in the foreground there is Mildred Shemin (glasses) and her daughter Louise in the left background. That's me standing on my father's lap at the right, and my mother Harriet is mostly obscured by Margie Warren. The Shemins (David Shemin was a biochemist from P&S [Columbia] who later moved to Northwestern) had the apartment on the lower floor of Williams House for a number of summers in the 50s. The Warrens lived upstairs. The Lurias had the upstairs apartment in the south end of Williams for many summers. At that point, summer families returning to CSHL typically inhabited the same quarters year after year. We lived in the northern end of Hooper House, on the Bungtown Rd. level.

The buildings were rustic, and not "winterized." The story goes that my parents were quite frustrated with the antiquated kerosene cook stove in their Hooper House kitchen, and invited Miloslav Demerec over for a drink one day hoping to shame him into an upgrade. Entering through the kitchen (the only way into the apartment) he instead immediately marveled at how charming an appliance it was.

Unfortunately, I can't identify the site where the photo was taken. It's certainly not Williams or Hooper. The white picket fence at the left is totally unfamiliar, as is what appears to be the tall, single-paned window just to the right of center near the top.
Any suggestions?