In this article, the author presents the memoir of Angelo Patri, a very important and well-known educational figure during the first of the last century in his educational career. In 1917 Patri published Schoolmaster of the Great City, which gives readers vivid impressions of his early life in Italy and New York, his family and community, his schooling and early teaching career, and his five years of work at elementary school--PS 45. Patri's memoir of PS 45 provides useful, if anecdotal, new evidence about some of the realities of reform in urban public schools. In this article, the author also examined how Patri's memoir offers particularly interesting information on the implementation of the Gary Plan in the New York City public school. However, over the decades, Gary System were mounted by squabbles between progressives and traditionalists. Against determined and powerful critics, Patri managed to preserve in PS 45 the more child-centered and reformist elements of the Gary experiment, while the other New York Gary schools reverted to their traditional torpor. Consequently, he reminded parents that their children remained in school partly because of the interesting workshop activities, but he consistently assured them that the children received solid academic preparation as well. Patri built strong community support and enlisted the help of priests, businessmen, shopkeepers, musicians, and others to make the school succeed, and thus be worth supporting. This neighborhood backing encouraged support by those administrators who worked most closely with him. (Contains 41 footnotes.)