Loomis Chaffee High School - Confluence Yearbook (Windsor, CT)

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1955-56: The year most members of the Class of 1974 were born. The class of 1974 was born in a year of national growth, one of international turmoil. Eisenhower was elected in November by a landslide victory over Adlai Stevenson after going through an ileitis attack and heart attack in the summer of 1956. Chaotic clashes in the South between white segregationists and civil rights groups led by Martin Luther King, Jr. in- creased national awareness of strained black-white situations. Hungary and Poland rebelled against Russian rule in violent bloody uprisings. Egypt seized the Suez Canal, provoking at- tacks by Britain, France, and Isereal. North and South Viet- nam planned to hold free elections on July 20 for the purpose of uniting the two countries. South Vietnam president Diem refused and sided with the U.S. and Great Britain against North Vietnam and the Communists. My Fair Lady with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews was very popular. Dr. Billy Graham said There is no doubt we are experiencing the great religious renaissance in American his- tory. Marilyn Monroe drove people to suicide Cyes, it's truej with her gyrations, as did 21 -year- old Elvis fthe pelvisj Pre- sley on stage. Teenagers carved his name on their forearms as he wiggled through the number one song, Heartbreak Hotel . At Chaffee, Mrs. Erickson was promoted to the Director of Girls. The new Loomis hockey rink was completed in January. Rock and roll blares across the campus. The Snug was the stage of a battle in which cups, plates, pies UD and soda bottles are thrown. Nine boys were honored in the Cum Laude cere- mony. Athletic seasons were initiated with futile attempts to rid boys of their perennial content of alcohol. In June 96 boys graduated from Loomis, 17 girls graduated from Chaffee. Graduation was warm and sunny f as usual J. qgav Wh--MW 63 . .Me

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1955-56- The year most of the mem- bers of the Class of 1974 were born. . . rf'- ,s

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The mid-Sixties, a time of confrontation between the forces of tradition and change. In 1966, most of the members of the Class of 1974 were ten years old, entering the fifth grade. Even at that age we could not help but realize that the Sixties were a time of great turmoil and change. Most of us can remember where we were on November 22, 1963, the day John Kennedy was assassinated. Birmingham was behind us, Chicago and Kent State still a few years to come. Martin Luther King, Lyndon Johnson, and Barry Goldwater were the big political names in the news . . . and Vietnam was becoming an emotional is- sue for most thoughtful persons. Loomis and Chaffee were still on their own islands, but there was talk of coordination, in fact some Chaffers were bussed to the Island for Hum. Humanities became THE social event of the week, al- though the 1966 Loomiscellany reports, under Senior Superlatives, Hum to be the Pet Peeve. Other interesting superlatives included: Best Senior Privilege: Fulls and graduation, Favorite Sport: Broad jumping, toting. In October of 1966 there was a ceremony dedicating the new dorms, Flagg and Ammidon, and later that month, Mr. Grubbs, headmaster of Loomis, got Honorable Mention on Gross Tie Day. Trinity College acclaimed Surfer Joe Stookins as teacher of the year. Man From U.N.C.L.E. was the favorite TV program of Loomis and Chaffee students, often conflicting with the efforts to write required Hum papers and study for term exams which came three times a year. Chaffee had their own Spring Day and the Loomies were excused from evening meal to visit Chaffee for the afternoon. The Darwin Club had their annual carnival in the old gym, raffling off a motorcycle. Fireworks in the spring . . . and a grand sling shot capable of lobbing grapefruits from the Warham porch to the old gym. The May 14th LOG headline read: SPRING PROM! 280 MAKE IT! And the year ended with Chaffee holding its ovsm commencement at the white church on Palisado Avenue, Loomis holding its ceremony in the quadrangle.