The Elephant In The Room

One thing missing in these class of  '71 posts is a discussion about race (except for this one). There is no way a white student of the 60's could try to convey this issue - so it's best left for others. That's not to say  we didn't  witness examples of Jim Crow, or realize that our Tryon Tigers, one of the first schools to integrate, were often penalized because we had African Americans on our team.

There was the time in Drexel when one of their fans came out of the stands to attack one of our black players - and we were put on probation - or the times when our black basketball players were fouled out of games because they were black - or the black football players who were ticketed for Jay Walking or crossing the yellow line simply for being downtown Tryon and black. Honestly, how many people do you know who have been arrested for Jay Walking?

But there were other sides. It was senior Mike Leonard who helped up a handicapped African American Girl who fell at school - and senior Mike Burns who led the auditorium in a standing ovation for an African American women getting her high school diploma - and it was a couple of seniors who dished out punishment to another team's player who wanted to use the N word in reference to some of our players. Admittedly, too few examples, but a start.

We were also blessed with an outstanding African American community during our time growing up. The Hannon brothers (Heywood and Nobel), Carrie Lee Massey the first African American to the Tryon school board (and first women),  and Tom Foster who volunteered with many activities.

We were also  blessed with many talented individuals. Who can forget Melvin Booker's football runs, or Nathaniel Hawthorne Wingo on the basketball court (who went on to play for the World Champion New York Knicks). The first African American Homecoming Queen's at the University of North Carolina and at Wofford College were Tryon High Graduates. Two members of the class of '70 are college professors heading up their schools departments.

And then there was Eunice Waymon - Nina Simone, who Rolling Stone Magazine has listed as the 29th greatest singer of all time. The Beatles went to Paris to get her help in the development of their music. It's hard for our generation to imagine, that a Tryon resident was important to The Beatles. Sometimes you are just too close to the forest to see the trees.

Seniors Tackle Winter Season

Picture of The Youth Center

With winter time cold weather, activities moved indoors to basketball and The Youth Center (pictured above). To see newspaper accounts of the basketball season click here.

It is hard to believe now, but girls could not wear pants to school. The student council asked the school board to allow girls to wear pantsuits. The January Tiger Rag covered the story. See a copy of the Tiger Rag by clicking here. You can see a copy of the existing dress code by clicking here. The Tiger Rag also reported that "Love Story" was out at the movies and Mrs. Pettigrew's class went to see it.

Number one songs since the last post:

I Think I Love You - The Partridge Family

The Tears of a Clown - Smokey Robinson

My Sweet Lord - George Harrison