On Sunday afternoon, August 4, more than 60 people representing the alumni and their family members of Historic Graham High School (1931-1961) met at the Alamance Arts Center in Graham for a Reunion Reception and to honor the school’s former secretary, Ruth Burnett Hadley ‘53, who currently lives in Graham.
Hadley began working in the school office on Gilbreath Street as a student and returned as an employee after graduation to work for Principals Dow Spaulding and R.G. Mitchell until the school closed in 1961. Then she served as secretary for the segregated Graham Elementary School from 1961-70. Hadley’s career spanned decades in the Alamance-Burlington School System with her retirement in 2004 from Haw River Elementary School. She positively impacted the lives of countless students and families in her career and calling as a school secretary.
Sunday’s gathering was filled with laughter, shared stories, exchanges of addresses and telephone numbers, refreshments and a videographer who captured fond memories of alumni who came to the school from Black communities across Alamance County.
The oldest living graduate, 99-year-old Clint Morrow ’43 of Graham, was present, as well as other Graham High School Lions – “youngsters” in their 70’s and 80’s. They gathered to embrace the legacy of excellence exemplified at the school by its outstanding faculty, staff and students. Many retirees shared stories of decorated careers in North Carolina and beyond based on the solid academic foundation, moral support and exceptional Black role models they encountered at the school during segregation. Future reunion events are being discussed.
Former teachers Mrs. Hazel Wade Thompson and Dr. Perry Mack attended the event and sincere acknowledgements and remembrances were offered for faculty who had passed away over the years.
With the opening of Central High School on Trollinger Road for Black students in 1961 the high school age students from the Gilbreath Street school transitioned to Central High School until 1968 when the last segregated class graduated. The school on Trollinger Road we know today as Graham High School, integrated in the fall of 1968, bringing together Graham’s high school students from Gilbreath Street and Pine Street.
Dr. Nettie Baldwin ’57 who led the effort ten years ago to secure historical markers for Black schools around Alamance County moved around the room effortlessly making sure that everyone knew each other and had updated their contact information. Representatives of the Elon University Power+Place Collaborative, the African American Cultural Arts and History Center in Burlington, and the Graham Historical Museum were also in attendance and invited alumni to share their yearbooks and other memorabilia.
