4 Paqe A6The Chronicle. Thursday. July 12. 198< Close-Up Class of '52 hi By AUDREY L. WILLIAMS Chronicle Staff Writer Lawrence "L.unkey" Wade still lugs around his camera and hasn't stopped harassing the girls -- only now they're 32 years older. Sylvia Ford was the shy one in the Atkins High School Class of 1952 and, 32 years later, she's still that way. aure, umes nave crranged. I fte pood+eskrrts and the polka-dolled, hanging bow ties are no longer the biggest fashion era/e. But the only thing that's changed about the Class of 52' is that its members are a tad older. Last week, class members got together for the first time since they graduated. They spent the weekend at the downtown Hilton getting to know each other again -- and reminiscing. "We haven't changed at all," said Wade, who .was the sports writer and photographer for the school newspaper, The Maroon. "I'm a still a devil. I had all the girls." Annie P. Hairston, one of the reunion's organizers and a former member of the thenpopular Etiquette Club, overheard that remark and intervened with a "Scratch that." Most of the class members have remained in Winston-Salem and the talk of uniting once again began when Hairston and Thelma Mickens Cooper saw each other at a funeral. The idea became reality Friday night. And, true .~ ,u~ ? 1 ? ? ? iu mc wiiliic, a guuu ume was naa oy an. When asked about the most famous member of their class, the schoolmates had a ready answer: They are all stars. \ Leonard Staten, left, was recently honored birthday party given to him by his wife. Da attending the party was Mayor Wayne Corp and Dr. Constance Johnson, right. Waters attends AKA cc Assemblywoman Maxine and Cardiss Waters of California will be Elizabeth Dc among an impressive array of transportation powerful women who will ad- Lowe, general dress Alpha Kappa Alpha's 51st Chicago Publi Biennial Meeting July 22 through Delores Tucke July 27 at the Washington Con- the Common vention Center in Washington. sylvania. dent of the Greek-letter sorority, will be the sp said Waters is an example of the undergraduate women who have been invited to a power womei the confab to address the more Gladys Knigh than 10,000 attendees expected to Pips, will heac participate in the AKA confab. set for Tuesda Other speakers include Con- Assemblywc gressman Katie Hall (D-Ind.,) has been dubl M Br B '<3 Anthony Winston-Sale m 'i chosen as Oi Teachrr of K ding Future T sponsored t NCAE/NEA' c Oi I Teachcr(s). Th on the basis of Anthony Yarborough committee of f I Pec Community Calendar, Close-Up, as n't changed Hairston, who was the banquet's keynote speaker, will be the principal at Kimberly Park Alternative School in the fall. School board member Beaufort Bailey, whose nickname then was "Ears," was also a member of the Class of '52. and then there's Dr. Fostina Holman, director of music education at Winston-Salem State University and Dorothy Farabee. a nursing, professor at WSSli. The list goes on .... In 1952, Atkins Fligh was the only city school for black youth in Winston-Saltfm. Carver High, its biggest rival, was a county school. It was at Atkins, the alumni said, that they were "We had a gooTfTcohesive group. I guess that's the main thing that kept us together. We were segregated and the only black high school in Winston-Salem. ? Elliot Brown encouraged to strive for excellence and perfection. General academic curriculum requirements meant courses in Negro history, Latin, French, geometry and physics. And Togo West Sr. was the teacher they feared and respected the most. "He was so stern and had a shaking voice but he could reallv teach VOIl ecial guest at the luncheon. Finally Maxlne Waters n in entertainment, t, along with the powerful woman in politics in lline entertainment California; and a political force y, July 24. to be reckoned with in the man Waters, who future," will keynote the opening bed as "the most Please see page A8 rough is outstanding teacher of 1984 Yarborough of officers. The criteria for selection m was recently are membership in utstanding Future SNCAE/NEA, student teaching >84. The Outstan- experience, leadership, scholareacher Program is ship and contribution to >y the Student SNCAE/NEA. Yarborough is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew L. Yarborough :hapter is asked to III of Winston-Salem. He has the itstanding Future highest cumulative average in ine selection is made termediate education and is a ' an interview by a cum laude graduate of Winstonacuity and chapter Salem State University^ 6 >ple ~~ Social Notes, Community News wnmjjlliii 35 S'.'.HnH ? E / ""v *s v Members of the Atkins High School Class of 1952 from left to right are Mae Briston, Annie P. Hairston, Lawrence L. Wade Sr., Hazel D. "We had a good, cohesive group," said Elliot Brown, who still lives in Winston. "1 guess that's main thing that kept us together. We were segregated and the only black high school in Winston-Salem." Integration, the classmates said, was two-sided, being both a help and a hindrance. They attributed their successes to the teachers who showed more than academic concern, a quality some say is less prevalent after desegregation. minister of music at First Baptist j|) Church. Mayor Wayne Corpening, Dr. I Paul Craven, pastor of First Baptist Church on Fifth Street and the Staten's pastor; Ms. Branelsia McDaniel, speaking for her H mother; Mrs. Ivy Nell McDaniel, 8 former first lady of Union Bap- 11 tist Church; Dr. R. L. Smith, family physician, and Mr. Nick Jamison, director of the city's I recreation department all paid a special tribute to Staten. Staten is a member of the city I commission and is - maintenance supervisor for the senior citizen's housing complex. I Bethune honored The Winston-Salem Section of the National Council of Negro Women Inc., commemorated the birthday of Mrs. Mary McLeod I Bethune on Saturday, July 10. Mrs. Bethune was born on July 10, 1875 in Maysville S.C. Mrs. Bethune Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Fla. in 1923. She I served as its president until 1942, r ahli iIl, mission schools for black children. She received the Spingarn Medal in 1935 and was named Mother of the Century by I the Dorie Miller Foundation in The Mary McLeod Bethune Statue was placed in Lincoln Park, Wash, in 1974. Each year, the National Council of Negro Women and the National Park I Service co-sponsors in Washington, programs which in- fig elude musicals, plays, doeudramas, speeches and personal reminiscences by persons who knew and worked with Mrs. Bethune to emphasize aspects of her life and work within the larger context of the history of black people in America. On May 1935, Mrs. died. It is with renewed dedication that the organization celebrate and launch a vigorous program to preserve and live the legacy of Mrs. Bethune. Mrs. I Bethune's legacy 441 leave you I love. I leave you hope. I leave Please see page A7 I T 16$ ~ 1#? FSiiii... 1 1?|' ^$ 7* ?llLs5j . / C Black. Back row, left tonight, are Sidney C. Royal Jr., Donald Foster and Beaufort Bailey (photo by James Parker). Students commuted to Atkins on buses owned by Safe Bus Co., the now-defunct black-owned fransnrtrfafirtn Kiicir?r?rr B ^ "We're no novice to busing," said Hairston. "We had to be bused. We were bused all our lives." Back then, only seniors got to use the front entrance; everyone else used the back. Smoking was unheard of. At Atkins, the young ladies wore dresses. Pants could get you sent home. In order to Please see page A10