Booker T. Washington ’69 grads celebrating 50 years later
The Booker T. Washington High School graduating class of 1969 will celebrate their 50th reunion today with two events bringing history full circle.
Tomorrow morning, the grads will meet at their school, now Washington Middle School, to recreate their graduation ceremony. Former English teacher Bettie Goodwin-Elerson will speak and Vincent Dawson will award certificates. The graduation ceremony begins at 10 a.m.
Notably, the class of 1969 was the last segregated class in El Dorado. Reunion coordinator Rosie Hicks said when schools integrated the following year, those from Booker T. Washington High asked for the school to keep its name. Instead, the school’s name was changed to Rogers Middle School.
“I don’t know that too many people know about that, unless they experienced it,” Hicks said. “When we first integrated … we wanted to at least keep our school name, but they took it away and started calling it Rogers Middle School.”
Finally, there was a compromise during the 2002-2003 school year; now the school is called Washington Middle School.
This evening, the grads will meet at the El Dorado Conference Center for a banquet honoring their class from 6 p.m. to midnight. Moriah Hicks will emcee the event and present an original poem and music will be provided by Front Cover Band. El Dorado Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer will give the keynote address.
“They graduated the year I was born,” Smith-Creer said. “They have been an inspiration to my generation! This is a near full-circle experience for me.”
Local class president James Morris, Jr. will recognize the reunion committee, who planned this weekend’s events alongside Hicks, by presenting them with gifts at the banquet.
Hicks said she is excited for her classmates that left El Dorado to see how our small town has changed.
“Some of them haven’t been here in 35 years. They’re going to really be surprised,” Hicks said. “So many places are different from how they were in ‘69, or 30 years, 40 years ago. They’re going to be surprised at all the changes El Dorado has made.”
Grads from all over the country will be in attendance at this weekend’s reunion events. The reunion will continue Sunday with a worship service starting at 10:30 a.m. at First St. James Baptist Church with the Rev. Roy C. Aaron leading the service.
Going from segregated schooling to an integrated world was a big change for the class of ’69. Hicks said living in an integrated society gave her new opportunities and allowed her to meet people different from herself.
“It broadened my horizons, when you get to mingle with people of different perspectives and cultures, not even just different races,” Hicks said. “There were more opportunities available, and better opportunities.”
The class of ’69 reunion began yesterday, with a meet and greet at Gusher Lodge, where DJ Rod Jones took the class on a trip down memory lane with songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s.
Hicks said 41 of her classmates have passed away. Seeing the rest of her classmates all these years later will be something special, she said.
“It’s really just awesome,” Hicks said. “It’s awesome to see classmates that you graduated with 50 years ago – and some I have not seen since that time! Awesome is the word, just awesome.”