Sylvia (Cummings) Orlando
Graduating class: 1953
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2014
Hall of Fame Category: Athlete
Sylvia was born and raised in Fairhaven and attended Rogers Elementary School and Fairhaven High School. Sylvia was an outstanding athlete and her nickname “Gremlin” was indicative of her athletic prowess. Unfortunately, she came along at the wrong time for girls’ sports to be funded and recognized as worthy of the same accolades as boys. This didn’t happen until the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and portions of the Educational Amendments of 1972, 1975, and 1988, which included Title IX for equal treatment in all activities in primary, secondary and higher education. That is too bad because most of her accomplishments are only known now by “word of mouth”, other than the fact that she was voted “Most Athletic” in her class yearbook. Sadly, newspapers were just not following the women back then.
Sylvia was very active in high school and found time to participate in many activities in addition to sports, including chorus, homeroom treasurer, French Club – 4; Allied Youth – 4; Publicity Manager – 4; Girl’s Athletic Association (GAA ) – 1,2,3,4; and GAA President - 4.
Sylvia excelled in basketball – 2,3,4; cageball – 1,2,3; tennis – 3,4; softball – 1,2,3,4; and was the J.V. football games sports writer. All sports except basketball (which was part of the Narragansett League), were organized and sponsored by the GAA as High School Club Sports.
Sylvia was married to Angelo Orlando of Medford, MA and is survived by their children, Nancy Pawlowski of Omaha, Nebraska; David Orlando of Boston; and John Orlando of Medford.