Senior
Activities
Page 3
Prom Special
Pages 6 & 7
neiiLin
From the Gate City of the South and the Birthplace of O.Henry
Welcome,
Alumni!
Volume LVin, Number 11
^GreeMboro/G^msley^enior Hig^^School
Friday, May 18, 1979
Celebrations Commemorate
CHS Fiftieth Anniversary
The elaborate plans to
celebrate Greensboro/
Grimsley Senior High
School’s golden anniversary
will culminate May 18-20 in a
gala'celebration for current
students, alumni, past and
present faculty, and invited
guests.
Beginning Friday at 8
p.m. in the auditorium, the
Grimsley Playmasters will
help honor Grimsley’s fif
tieth year by presenting M.
Chase’s comedy, Harvey.
Also, on Friday the Grimsley
swimming pool will be open
from 2 p.m. til 6 p.m.
On Sativday, May 19,
operations will be in full
swing. Starting at 10 a.m.,
alunmi will gather in the
gym to locate their individual
graduating classes. Tours of
Grimsley will be made avai
lable to the aliunni. The GHS
Archives, located in room
100 of the Main Building and
also in the Library, will be a
highlight of the tour showing
exhibits of the school’s histo
rical artifacts including old
newspapers, yearbooks, pic
tures, awards, and trophies.
At 1:30 p.m. the Playmas
ters will present the one-act
play, “The Right Kind of
House,’’ in the auditoriiun.
Coach Bob Jamieson will
show football and basketball
highlights from 1933-1975 on
Saturday at 3 p.m. A special
25-minute “trigonometry
class’ ’ will be taught by Miss
Ida Belle Moore (IBM), a
GHS math teacher from
1923-1969.
Commencing at 6 p.m., a
dinner will be held in the
GHS cafeteria. The main
program of the evening will
begin with the introduction
[See GHS 50, p. 12]
The Wrapping of the May Pole -- for years a GHS tradition.
Years Of Growth Evident In Heritage
In this 1979 school year,
Grimsley Senior High School
conunemorates its fiftieth
anniversary on Westover
Terrace. To appreciate fully
Grimsley’s service to
Greensboro’s youth and the
community, one must inves
tigate Grimsley’s heritage.
Greensboro’s first high
school was formed in 1900. It
found its home in the old St.
Agnes Catholic Church
building on Forbis Street.
’This four-room high school
quickly filled with students.
Consequently, in 1911, the
City of Greensboro appro
priated forty thousand dol
lars to construct a larger,
more modem high school
facility on Spring Street, the
same location as today’s
Weaver Education Center.
By the mid-1920’s, the
need for an even larger
complex to accommodate
Greensboro’s students
arose. In January 1929, the
one-million dollar senior
high school project was star
ted on the 129-acre tract
facing Westover Terrace. In
September of the same year,
Greensboro had a new high
school plant consisting of
three new buildings, the
main building, the cafeteria,
and the science building.
The new high school boasted
1,200 students as well as a
faculty of sixty.
Within a five-year span,
from 1920 to 1925, Greens
boro High School established
a school newspaper named
HIGH LIFE in 1920, a stu
dent government in 1922, a
Grimsley: Father Of City Schools
Greensboro Senior High
School’s name was changed
in 1962, after much contro
versy, to Grimsley Senior
High School. Just who was
George A. Grimsley?
George Grimsley, who is
frequently referred to as
“Father of the Greensboro
Public Schools,” was bom in
1862 in Snow Hill, N.C.
Grimsley had an expensive
and extensive early educa
tion. He was taught by a
private tutor fi-om West
Point. Later, Grimsley at
tended Bingham Military
Academy and fi'om there
went to Peabody College. He
graduated with an AB de
gree firom this liberal arts
college in Nashville, Ten
nessee, :
Grimsley came to Greens
boro in 1890, where he
served as Superintendent of
the Greensboro City Schools
imtil 1901. He was respon-
George Grimsley
sible for the purchase of a
building in 1899 so that
Greensboro High School
could be established. He
later directed the constmc-
tion of the senior high school
on Spring Street in 1911.
Grimsley’s favorite saying
was, “Spare the rod and
spoil the child.” A reporter
once described his other
policies: “His schools fol
lowed no fads or foibles,
gave to the youth of the city
thorough instmction along
lines taught, and adminis
tered punishment where it
was needed.”
Also, in his early adminis
tration days, Grimsley set a
first in the state by securing
for the community a library,
[See Grimsley, p.l2J
literary magazine named
• HOME-SPUN and the first
North Carolina chapter of the
National Honor Society in
1922. Also, in the early
1920’s, GHS foimded its
music program which was to
grow to national prominence
over the years.
By 1950, the Greensboro
Senior High School was bud
ding into a large campus. A
permanent gymnasium for
girls and a temporary one for
boys had been built in the
thirties. Also, in 1934, the
auditorium in the Main
Building was painted, and
the two mureds, one on each
side of the stage, were
completed. The mmal on the
left of the stage portrays
trade and industry, while the
mural on the right depicts
GHS Traditions
Qfiarch for intellectual
attainment. The Vocational
Building was built and ready
for student use in the early
1940’s. Finally, in 1949, a
stadimn with a seating capa
city of 10,426 was comple
ted. The Sigmund Selig
Pearl Field House, finished
in 1950, is a memorial to Mr.
Pearl and other alumni who
gave their lives in World
War n. Just inside the fence
is a line of sugar maples,
each representing one of
Grimsley’s young men who
died in WW H.
In 1952 the boys’ gym was
condenmed for spectator
use, thereby calling for a
need for a new facility, emd
North Carolina’s largest high
school gym was constructed
the following year.
[See Heritage, p. 12]
Old And New Add Variety
Today Grimsley enjoys
many school traditions such
as Homecoming, Class Day,
Senior Prom and Senior Tea,
but in past years, Grimsley
took pride in other school
traditions.
One of the most popular
among the old traditions was
that of Superlatives. Super
latives were elected until
1973. The Best All-Around
Girl and Boy Superlatives
are still named each year at
Graduation. At one time
Superlatives included every
thing from “friendliest” to
“most likely to succeed.”
Holiday traditions play an
important role for present
students at Grimsley. Years
ago Grimsley held a Thanks
giving Program consisting of
a play or pageant presented
by the Senior Class. Also a
Christmas Pageant was held
annually, also presented by
the Senior Qass.
Foremost among spring
traditions imtil 1973 was the
May Day Celebration. Ex
cept during World War II, it
was held fixim 1939-1972.
Each May Day, a May Court
consisting of a queen, maids
of honor fi-om each class and
from other organizations,
was selected. The celebra
tion was held on the front
[See Old, p.l2]