Clinton High School - Eagles Nest Yearbook (Clinton, LA)

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WITHIN THESE WALLS . -Three Apollo astronauts were killed in a spacecraft fire during a simulated launch. Israeli and Arab forces battled near the Suez Canal. Red-China exploded its first hydrogen bomb. The Class of 1967, largest class to graduate up to that time moved out into history. julia Ann Breitung 1BertinJ '67: The parts of the building I best remember are the girls' bathroom and the basement with the nickel coke machine. It would take your nickel and give no coke. If you were lucky a nice boy would buy you one. My career was altered because Coach Polk would not let me take typing which he said was a crip course. As a result I'm a stock broker and not a sales rep. 1968-President Johnson announced he would not seek renomination. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, and in June, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, seeking the Democratic presidential nomination was assassinated in Los. Angeles. The Vietnam War went on. Make way for the Class of '68. Jackie Gross fHughesJ '68: I'll never forget Mrs. Yetta Rogers. I loved that lady. She was the type of teacher you could respect, not like today when teachers try to be buddy-buddy with the students. She taught my daddy and she taught me. 1969-Richard M. Nixon was inaugurated the 37th President of the U.S. Apollo Q astronauts walked on the moon. Sen. Edward Kennedy caused a fatal accident at Chappaquidick, Mass. The Class of 1969, the first class at C.H.S. to have a black member of its graduating body, finished its course. W. C. Billy Percy, Jr. '69: School spirit-community spirit. There was always a strong support of the school and about school acitivites. Great tradition and support of the school by the local community had special significance. The electricity in the air on Friday nights was a very exciting episode throughout my career in Clinton's schools. 1970-Four students protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia were slain by National Guardsmen at Kent State University in Ohio. Americans marked the first Earth Day to protest pollution. Two women generals, the first in U.S. history were named by President Nixon. The Class of 1970 graduated after East High and Clinton High were merged. Ola Mae Williams lPinkneyJ '70: My life fas a studentj at Clinton High was very brief. I was hurt, initially, because I wanted to graduate at East High. I made the best of that time fFebruary to June 19711 and went on to college, but I came back to teach. DESEGREC1 TION: CRISIS, CHANGE, CHALLENGE, COMPRCDMISE In January of 1970, the East Feliciana school system, under federal court order, fully desegregated the parish's schools. East High ceased to exist. The seniors and juniors of both high schools attended Clinton High. Freshmen and sophomore attended Clinton Junior High on the Liberty Road fformerly East Highl. Many white students left the public school system to attend private schools which sprang up. Desegregation, which had been the law of the land ever since Brown v. Board of Education, 119541, nevertheless found Clinton's schools un-prepared. Every- thing changed. Everyone had to compromise. Throughout the turbulent period teachers and students struggled to forge a new synthesis. Within these walls, Clinton High continued to serve the children of the community as they learned to know each other and themselves in a new system. Some 1971 graduates.

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li-Reeling from the near nuclear confrontation over missiles in Cuba in Octo- ber of 1962, President Kennedy's administration had to deal with a bloody coup in Vietnam as the military overthrew the Diem government. More violence erupted in the South as civil rights demonstrations clashed with angry Southern whites. The peaceful March on Washington, culminating with Dr. King's I Have a Dream . . . speech would come later in the summer. Meanwhile, the Class of '63, the 25th class to graduate from the tby nowl aging school passed into history. Sharon Pearce tRobertsJ '63: The most important thing was our winning State Cham- pionship in football. I was a cheerleader, and I'll never forget the pep rallies and riding on the bus to the games. There was so much school spirit. Pat Haydel C631 lived across Plank Road from me, and she and Mildred Phillips t'64l, and I would meet on the road and walk up to the new Eagle field. The excitement of those nights was really something. l-A sorrowful nation began the year with new President, Lyndon Johnson, after President Kennedy was assassinated in November, 1963. A sweeping civil rights act was passed, and Sen. Barry Goldwater was nominated to run against President Johnson. John McKeithen began his first term as governor. Whistling Put on Your Red Dress, Baby, the Class of 1964 irreverently marched to its graduation. Kathy Beauchamp ide Generesj '64: We were in a cocoon, sheltered tmostly against our willj from the big bad issues that kids ten years later-and now-have to face. Our biggest worries were Would we get to go to Beta Convention? or Would we have a date for the prom? not whether we'd be Sent to war or-possibly just as traumatic-to another school. ZI?i6H8TCi LHTSGHS 295155 2 Valli?-afu,,aafun.ara.wm Cf 41 AM!! VH! I ldv 01 Uh! K Bags host Lockpm in 'bi-district game . Griddera prep fm ' amber ' arzqum-gamar.-a,a.w.imf4fw1 '-auwmna-aawlrwavmAuwl's-am Q. , is V 1 ! . as 3 Larfinna Gnd season opens 2 Q. .1 Fd I i A vie an 2 1 :am lieigim Sc Kirin fm ldmimiprn : I ' mmf- in upmiug ,mm xmiigm Z 1 nasal-fwow.-an... W mm raaiamawtgwaxa farm .. '- 7: mckgye hyat Singles trek to Ilfmaid . ilie in sggfrsggt l garru ' , trawl to ivzzilw' tonight . 0 at was at Maas w 1- I gf:LY55zgg5f..?i5L1, ' .tim-was-tw-A . .. ,M 'w tw ' . 53451 ' W aw ' wg amt'??,1'Zf M 'j in ,,,. A I me .w6fgf?5fftT7'li- ..,.. y , 'f ' K la ' eq, W. lj, M, fir. A A V .... at asm 4 saint mm was tt., 2 I n Manuva-sw-nnumnhi V ft hang on to I. s. Znd plane ranking V' 1' . 3 , , , wt' H A ' .agles to m -P. -M ff: mt: 'I iWi'MMf'iWim ina afar ia st vamaeamf If-aglw to W6 with I t rl . ' - ' t 5 Faraday Bulldogs , y A pq V , sqtunanusmammuaund : f if -' ,Inf we nf' sneer Flaws I I , iq rf -se-:rf--'Mfr'-rfff.. ws' . , .. -ffl' . Congratulatory page from 1963 yearbook honoring 1962 Class B football state champs. 1965-After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, the hawks of the Johnson administration widened the Vietnam War by executive action. Beginning his own term, Johnson announced a promise for a great society in his State of the Union Address. Dr. King led the Selma March to protest discrimination in voting practices. President Johnson signed Medicare into law. The Class of 1965 accepted diplomas and left the creaky stage to meet their fate. Kathy Doughty '65: I remember group spirit and school spirit and a sense of pride and identity and unity that it doesn't seem kids have here anymore. lg-The U.S. casualities in Vietnam included a 1962 CHS graduate, Larry Booty. The war had finally come home to Clinton, watched on the evening news every night. President Iohnson's huge guns and butter budget was proposed. The Federal Civil Rights Commission concluded that freedom of choice tto be instituted at CHS in the coming fallj was not desegregating schools with all deliberate speed. The Class of 1966 graduated. Selwyn Blouin '66: We thought life was simple and easy. We found out together that life could become rough and hard, then found out it could be made simple and easy again with the support of each other. Quincy Pops Hargis celebrating his 40th birthday on the bus going to Mardi Gras, 1966. WITHIN THESE WALLS .

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Mary Lee T. Wilson: 1We neededl more help from the central office. The employ- ers, were to administer the public school system, but their children attended private schools. You couldn't very well have the interest of the public schools at heart. You won't put in the extra effort. Helen Franklin: I didn't have any resentment nor a chip on my shoulder but I felt my identity had been taken from me. The adjustment was very, very hard. Dee Dee Hodges: The transition was hardest on the students. They are the ones whose lives were turned upside down. Debbie Kemp: l always thought the school board was the biggest sell out of the whole thing. I know of at least two cases when they interviewed teachers they told them to take it easy, the kids were dumb. They weren't helping us at all. Doug Beauchamp: One of the big things I had worried about was getting the correct education. l wasn't too worried about the social aspects. The reality was just the opposite. Theresa Berryhill: We were allowed to learn about others. Maybe I thought Whites are perfectionists. Every thing they do: their schools are perfect. After 16 years I can say: people are people. Kathleen H. Hopewell: There are some things in my life I am very proud of, and one of them is staying at Clinton High School . . . We were ostracized and called ugly names by other white kids because we stayed. Sixteen years after the transition, teachers and students gave their impressions and memories for this commemorative section. Clockwise from bottom left: Mrs. Theresa Berryhill, Coach Calvin Chapman, Mrs. Dee Dee Hodges, Mrs. Nelwynne Tynes, Mrs. Mary Lee Wilson, Ms. Helen Franklin, Mrs. Ola Pinkney, Ms. Debbie Kemp, Mrs. Earnestine Gordon, Mr. Doug Beauchamp, Mrs. Kathleen Hopewell. Nelwynne Tynes: I think we're better people for having done it . . . Some white parents have said to me 'l wish I'd kept my children in the public schools to start with.' Some are coming back. Ola W. Pinkney: It had an effect on me 'cause I'm back here. l'm very proud to say . . . I'm a graduate of Clinton High. Earnestine Gordon: We had to use our common sense, and common judgement land sometimes our sixth sensej during integration. Calvin Chapman: Every body was scared of the social factors. Coach Polk asked me to ride the gym bus both ways as a peacemaker, as a chaperone. For the first two years everything was lovely, but riding that bus put a strain on me.