NORFOLK, Va. — A very special class is preparing to celebrate its 60th high school reunion, despite most of their classmates never graduating.
The since-dubbed "Lost Class of ’59" included more than 1,300 seniors at Maury, Norview and Granby High Schools. In September 1958, the state padlocked those schools and shut down classes in resistance to integration.
“As we went up those stairs, there were padlocks. Literally big padlocks on the doors,” said Mary Jane Birdsong, who was a 17-year-old Maury High School senior at the time. “It divided families, it divided the city. It was an ugly time."
The schools remained closed for five months before reopening in February of 1959. But by then, there was irreparable damage. Many of the 1,300 students affected had scattered and some never graduated. In fact, of the 418 seniors at Maury High School, only 183 returned to complete the school year.
By the time class resumed, Birdsong said only 17 black students were integrated into Norfolk schools that year, including 15-year-old Louis Cousins at Maury High School.
“When they came back to Maury, here was just one child, one black student put into Maury. One here, one there, they dispersed them. He had no one to identify with, he had no friends here. Louis Cousins sat all alone that day. It just brings tears to your eyes," Birdsong remembered.
Birdsong and her classmates finally received their high school diplomas in 2009 at their 50th reunion.
The class is now hosting its 60th reunion in Norfolk this August 24, but they need help tracking down old classmates.
“In the past 10 years, landlines have disappeared and cell phones? We don’t have everyone’s cell phone," Birdsong said. "Emails? We only have 129 out of 418 contacts.”
Even six decades after being padlocked out of school, Birdsong wants to ensure that while they may be the "Lost Class," they'll never be forgotten.
“The importance of gathering together is to try and once again have closure and heal," she said. "It’s a very, very emotional time still.”
If you or someone you know if a member of the Lost Class of ’59, contact Betty Burke Spencer at 757-481-9212 or email spence64@verizon.net.