Manoogian making case for Saugus teacher ostracized in 1937

SAUGUS – In May of 1937, 25-year-old Saugus High School teacher Isabelle Hallin decided to hold a school play rehearsal in the basement of her parents? Saugus home because it was too cold at the school.Unfortunately, there was also a bar in that basement, and soon after the rehearsal, rumors began to spread that Hallin was serving alcohol to students and providing them with cigarettes.Soon after, a 3-2 vote by the School Committee at the time requested Hallin?s resignation.Hallin and her family fought the accusations and her story spread across the country. She was featured in a story in Time Magazine in 1937 called “Storm in Saugus” and made numerous appearances on national radio shows.Now, 75 years later, Saugus resident Peter Manoogian is trying to right what he sees as a modern version of the Salem Witch Trials.?This woman touched a lot of lives in this community and she had a long-lasting impact on this community, and yet there are a lot of people today that think she did die in her home on Adams Avenue and think that she did serve alcohol,” said Manoogian, a Town Meeting member. “People think something terrible happened, but they don?t know what. It?s fuzzy in the collective memory of Saugus. At the very least, the truth of what happened here, the facts ? she deserves better.”Manoogian has spent months researching Hallin?s story and has even tracked down family members and collected countless newspaper clippings about Hallin.?She became a victim of the gossip and so forth,” said Manoogian. “I have boxes of her life. I have more stuff on her than all my relatives combined. The volume of writing of news clippings on this is staggering.”After her ordeal in Saugus, Hallin moved to New York City to try to make it as an actress. But tragically, on Christmas Eve 1941, Hallin was found dead in her apartment from gas asphyxiation.?I personally believe it was by accident,” said Manoogian. “It was not in her nature to do something like this. I have all her letters from college and her temperament was never somber or to throw in the towel. I think it?s relevant because the decisions we make as a community, as elected officials, as citizens, have residual effects on the fate of others. While Saugus didn?t ask her to go to New York, her fate was determined by things that took place in this town and by the actions of others.”Manoogian presented the story to the Lion?s Club last week and will be giving another presentation about it at the Senior Center on Nov. 15, complete with slides, interviews and news clippings.Through interviews and countless news stories, Manoogian said he thinks jealousy and resentment played a major role in the School Committee asking Hallin to resign. Although he did acknowledge she tried to use her notoriety to boost her acting career.?She was with the Tavern Players in Lynn,” said Manoogian. “She was renowned as a local actress. One of the things she was criticized for was spending too much time on outside activities that clearly made her a better teacher. I can?t find anybody, I?ve interviewed about six to eight people that knew her as students, and nobody has anything bad to say about her. They all thought she was a wonderful teacher. She had the ability to connect with kids and maybe some faculty members resented that.”Hallin would have been 100 this year and while her story has long since faded from the front pages, Manoogian said Hallin is still more relevant than ever.?It affected this town socially,” said Manoogian. “Culturally it caused Saugus to face the age. People didn?t realize how big this story was. So much of Saugus history is all good stuff, Appleton?s Pulpit, the Iron Works, yet who we are today is so much determined by what happened at the mid-point of this century and I do believe the nature of our politics is certainly evident in this story.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].