Macon’s first high school class to spend all 4 years integrated celebrates 50-year reunion

For the Central High School class of 1974 — the first class in Macon to be integrated for all four years of high school — this reunion was a long time coming. Not only did it mark 50 years since their graduation, but it was an event celebrating both Black and white alums for a class whose racial differences had left them deeply divided in the past.

Previous reunions were separated by race, with factions of alumni creating their own events. Other times, alumni were hesitant to attend if they couldn’t confirm that people of their own race would be in attendance.

Credit: Katie Tucker

Credit: Katie Tucker

Cynthia Houston Pipkins, an alum and one of the organizers of this year’s event, said she hoped the event could be a turning point for this class.

“It’s just so wonderful we all came together like this finally,” Pipkins said. “Maybe we’re changed for the better.”

Central High School

Central High School didn’t exist before Bibb County Schools integrated. W.A. Bootle, a federal judge in Middle Georgia, ordered Bibb County schools to begin the integration process in 1964.

The school district came up with a plan to gradually integrate schools, but after several years schools remained segregated. Bootle issued a second order in 1970 telling Bibb County to desegregate schools immediately, and the school district drafted a new plan to merge several area high schools ahead of the 1970-1971 school year.

As part of the plan, A.L. Miller High School and Lanier High School combined to form Central High School. The buildings from A.L. Miller became co-ed junior high school buildings, while Lanier became an integrated high school with buildings separated by gender.

Opposition to desegregation in Macon

While Macon’s school integration process was not as violent as other cities, it was still a major transition. After the second court order came down, around 1,500 Bibb County residents and parents marched on Bootle’s home and the county school board’s offices. Another 4,000 people rallied at the Macon Coliseum and what was then Porter Stadium. The first day of school several months later went without incident, but 35% of students were absent.

Billy King, a member of the class of 1974 who attended the reunion for the first time this year, remembers the first day of school’s heat, both in its temperature and tensions.

“Initially, it was a lot of trouble,” King said. “There was some people who were not ready to accept (integration). But still, we had to move forward.”

Pipkins said she was nervous when she first learned her school would be integrated. She remembers her parents reassuring her ahead of the first day of classes that integration was a step in the right direction.

Others had some experience going to school with children of different races before 1970. Shirley Lawson, another alum and organizer, said she and a few other members of the class of 1974 had gone to integrated elementary schools during Bibb County’s original plan before the 1970 court order. While those students made up a minority of the class, she still felt it affected how they viewed and interacted with each other.

“If you put kids in a room together, they will play with each other,” Lawson said. “Color and division, that’s a learned behavior.”

‘An opportunity to change’

As the class of 1974 weathered the high school years together, it seemed like the initial fear and hesitation between the students melted away. Alumni said they grew to be tight-knit, and photos from Central High School’s 1974 yearbook show students playing on sports teams together, participating in honors society activities and sharing classes such as art, French and drama.

But after graduation, tensions re-emerged. The class’ 20-year reunion in 1994 featured separate events for white and Black graduates. Lawson said at the last reunion, a group of white alumni organized an event and didn’t invite Black alumni. She didn’t realize there even was a separate event until her and other alumni began meeting to plan an event.

“I was a little surprised because some of us had good rapport with our other classmates,” Lawson said. “I was just surprised, a little bit disappointed.”

Credit: Katie Tucker

Credit: Katie Tucker

This year, organizers were determined for the reunion to be different. A multiracial group of alumni pulled a copy of the yearbook from their senior year and worked tirelessly to contact everyone listed.

Lawson also maintains a Facebook page for the class of 1974, and worked to add people into it so they could see announcements about the upcoming reunion. As the event neared, organizers privately messaged alumni to check that they were coming. Some people took convincing, while others based their decision on whether friends and neighbors would be in attendance.

When Friday rolled around and it was time to kick off the weekend of festivities, Lawson was thrilled to find a diverse crowd piling into the hotel. People shared food and memories, and joked about rival school’s football teams. Debbie Boyd, a member of the class of 1974 who attended the reunion, brought a framed photo of her and her best friend at graduation. They see each other at every reunion.

Lawson stood to the side of the room, watching as the crowd listened to a song one alum wrote for the occasion. She said it took years of strife to get here, and the road ahead for healing.

“This is going to go down in the books that we really have done a 180 degree turn from what we did last time,” Lawson said. “I’m optimistic that as long as we have breath in our body, we have an opportunity to change and make things better.”

Credit: The Telegraph

Credit: The Telegraph

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