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

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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.

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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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1971-The Supreme Court ruled that busing might be used as a means to achieve racial balance in schools. The voting age was lowered to 18. The U.N. seated Communist China and expelled Taiwan. The Class of 1971, the first majority black class, graduated from Clinton High. Patty ,lo Charlet tDartJ '71: I start crying when I think of all the pep rallies. I was a cheerleader, and school spirit was so important to me. When the schools integrated and all the extracurricular activities were abolished it almost broke my heart, but I'm glad I stayed. l-President Nixon became the first U.S. President to visit China. Edwin Edwards became governor. Gov. George Wallace was shot in Laurel, Md. at a political rally. Five men were arrested while attempting to bug Democratic Committee Headquarters in the Watergate Complex. The Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional. The War in Vietnam went on. One of the few extra-curricular activities allowed the Class of '72 was their graduation. Bridget Matthews '72: I was one of the first freedom of choice transfers from East H.S. in the 9th grade. There were just a few of us, and it was like stepping off into a whole new world. I can adapt, and by the time I graduated I was a part of CHS. I was president of my class. 1973-Firings, resignations, protestations of I am not a crook, marked Nixon's response to the mounting scandal of Watergate. The twelve year Vietnam Conflict ended. The supreme Court ruled that abortion in the first six months of pregnancy was legal. The Class of '73 became history. Debbie Kemp '73: My strongest memory of the building is of the chemistry room. It was like a combination of Dr. Frankenstein and the nuclear age, on a time line between the old and the new. 1974-Impeachment hearings against Nixon began. In July the House would vote to impeach. In August President Nixon resigned, becoming the first U.S. president to do so. The country reeled with shock. Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th president and immediately pardoned Nixon. The Class of '74 graduated. john joe Rouchon, jr. '74: Being a member of one of the classes that went to Clinton High twice, once in the 7th grade before desegregation and in the 11th and 12th grades, my memories of Clinton High School center around the teachers and administrators. Desegregation was an overblown happening. It worried the parents a lot more than the students. 1975-U.S. civilians were evacuated as Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese. Vietnamese refugees fled to America. Former presidential aides John Erlichman and H. R. Haldeman were found guilty of charges stemming from the Watergate cover- up. America's values and self-esteem fell to a low ebb. Out into the world marched the Class of '75. Laura Byrnes lMoodyJ '75: The years I spent at Clinton High School were a time of rebellion. I, and many of my classmates were attempting to establish our own set of morals as well as discover who we were. For me those years were not pleasant because of the confusion that existed in my own mind and the confusion that I felt around me. Since that time I have come to find peace and a meaning for my life in jesus Christ. A new building has changed the physical atmosphere of our school. It is my prayer that a new sense of depth and purpose is being kindled there. 1976-The United States, fresh from the divisive conflicts over civil rights, Watergate, and Vietnam, and feeling every year, celebrated the zoofh anniversary of its independence. A year-long birthday party was declared. Gov. Edwards was re- elected. The Bi-centennial Class finished at C.H.S. jay W. Kemp '76: I was in a work program and only went to school four hours a day in the 11th and 12th grade. I got moved around, only went to school at old CHS those two years. I felt like I missed out on high school the way you think of high school. 1977-Jimmy Carter of Georgia was inaugurated President. He pardoned Vietnam draft evaders. The first woman was ordained an Episcopal priest. The death penalty was brought back. Class of '77 moved on down the line. Joyce Armstead '77: We worried that the old building would collapse. We also worried about getting jobs and having enough money. The basement holds fond memories. 106