Hampton High School - Krabba Yearbook (Hampton, VA)

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Historic Hampton The date was July 9, 1610. You and your Indian friends were enjoying a day at Dog Beach trying to beat the heat when sud¬ denly, a ship was spotted on the horizon. Feeling lazy in the sun, you are content just to look with idle curiosity as some strange men in baggy clothes get out, plant a flag in the sand and mutter some¬ thing in a foreign language. You don’t know it yet, but your home, soon to be called Hampton, was just discovered. Thus Hampton was founded, making it the oldest continuously English speaking settlement in America. As it is over 375 years old, Hampton has one of the richest histories of any city in the nation. On Feb¬ ruary 12, 1635, Benjamin Syms, a Hamp- tonian, willed money to found the first public school in America. He is the reason we don’t have to pay money to get home¬ work. Law and order won a victory in Hamp¬ ton in 1718 when Captain Maynard cap¬ tured Blackbeard the Pirate and the Jolly Roger. Maynard had him hanged at Sun¬ set Creek, and his head set on a pole posted at the entrance of the Hampton River as a warning to other pirates. On February 19, 1755, General Brad- dock landed at what is now the end of Victoria Boulevard to lead the fight against the French and Indians. In I860, Mary Peake, a freed slave, began illegally teaching young black children in reading, writing, and arithmetic under what is still today called Emancipation Oak which is located on the site of Hampton University. Hampton has had an invaluable role in history during times of war. After her hus¬ band was captured on June 9, 1861, Han¬ nah Tunnell rode horseback through the woods to warn Confederate troops of on¬ coming Union soldiers. The battle that fol¬ lowed was the Battle of Big Bethel, an important Confederate victory. In August of the same year, Hampton- ians determined not to let their city fall into the Union fall and burned the entire city. Only the walls of St. Johns Church survived. March of 1862 held the first battle of armour-plated ships between the Monitor and the Merrimac, occurring off the shore of Hampton in the harbor. In February, 1865, President Lincoln came to Hampton to meet with Confederate officials in hopes of ending the Civil War. Later the same year, Jefferson Davis, the President Modern aircraft are on display at Langley Field. This monument on the harbor remembers Hampton as the first American settlement. 14 Historic Hampton

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‘ . . • .t ■ v. v SSffi The Drum Line helps keep the spirit both on the field and oft The Marching Band mascot has much decorum at such a young age Susie Thompson leads the majorettes in the Home coming Parade. I Jerome Howard and John Durham power the brass with their bass horns. Marching Band 13

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History of the Confederacy, was captured and held prisoner at Fort Monroe. After the War, Hampton Institute, later renamed Hampton University, was found¬ ed in 1868 by General Armstrong to pro¬ vide a quality education for blacks. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Hampton has not been satisfied with gloating in the past, but continually presses onward for new advancement. Since the development of Langley Field in 1917, Hampton has played an important role as both a developer and a proving ground for some of the nation’s most ad¬ vanced aircraft. In the early 1960s, the first seven astronauts came to Hampton to be trained at NASA. Clearly, these events mark Hampton, not only as historically significant, but a leader even today in di¬ recting our nation’s future. The walls of St. John ' s Church were the only survi¬ vors of the fire of 1861. The tank “The Hampton” stands as a proud memo¬ ry of past war. I Historic Hampton 15