THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411060212
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUDY PARKER, STAFF WRITER
BY JUDY PARKER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Long : 139 lines
They came by the hundreds this weekend to attend the Second Grand Reunion for all graduates of Portsmouth's I.C. Norcom High School.
Like pilgrims refreshing their spirits at a revered shrine, graduates, spouses of graduates and even a few former faculty members have spent the past three days celebrating the legacy of a school that refused to die.
``There is certainly a mystique about this school that distinguishes it from others in the city,'' said Mae Griffin Haywood, class of 1958, and the school's librarian for the past two years.
``So many in the African-American community in Portsmouth have deep family roots in this school. . . . Aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents went to Norcom,'' Haywood said of the school, which was not integrated until 1972. ``Multiple generations of black youths have been educated in the Norcom tradition. That's why we've fought so hard and so long, and are determined to keep it going.''
What has evolved into I.C. Norcom High School began in 1883 as the High Street School. Classes were held in the True Reformer's Building at 915 High St. Israel Charles Norcom, for whom the high school was later named, served as its first principal until his death in 1916.
Shortly after World War I, a new school, which cost $133,680, was constructed at Chestnut and Clifford streets. In 1937, a third Norcom was built several blocks away at South and Chestnut. The most recent building to bear Norcom's name opened in 1953 on Turnpike Road across from the Jeffry Wilson housing project in mid-town Portsmouth.
I recall a separate and quite unequal educational experience,'' said Beatrice Wilson, class of 1946. ``We had no gymnasium . . . no auditorium . . boys would just go straight home, because they didn't have anywhere to shower or change clothes.
``But, you know, I guess at the time, those things didn't matter as much as the education we were receiving, and the love we knew our teachers had for us.
``All our classes and activities were built upon developing a positive self-image. . . . We were taught, and we believed we could accomplish anything in this world. . . . nothing could hold us back,'' said Wilson, a special education teacher. ``A special bond develops when your teachers are from your same ethnic background.''
John Askew was a member of the first class to graduate from the Turnpike Road school.
``Norcom was a very nurturing environment,'' Askew said Friday night while registering for the Grand Reunion.
``Our teachers didn't just teach us English or history or math. They inspired in us a deep sense of personal pride. Even the cafeteria and janitorial staffs were people we saw as role models.''
A one-time disc jockey at radio stations WHIH and WRAP, Askew is now director of a cable TV station in Prince Georges County, Md.
``I give a lot of credit for my success to instructors like Mrs. Audrey Orton, who taught English and drama, and of course also to Mr. Waters.''
William E. Waters served as Norcom's principal from 1942 until 1966. ``He was more than a principal. . . . He was a father figure who was a stern, but very just, disciplinarian.''
``It was only the beginning of the civil-rights movement when I was at Norcom, so schools were still segregated. But we were inspired to do our very best, because we knew if we were going to be successful, we'd have to be better than our best competition.''
Although he didn't graduate from Norcom, and isn't even a Portsmouth native, former football coach Walter J. ``Doc'' Hurley Sr. is one of the school's most ardent supporters.
``From the first day I met the young group of athletes who would field me my first championship football team, I had a strong sense of belonging to a new family.
``The enthusiasm those young men showed was a genuine esprit de corps,'' Hurley said.
``When I came to the school in 1953, there was a losing mode, and so it was important that I try and raise their confidence . . . convince them that they could be a winning team.
``And they rewarded me with so much determination and dedication that it made all of us . . . the coaches and the team . . . bond together.''
Hurley left Norcom in 1959 to teach and coach in Hartford, Conn. Still, 35 years after his last championship season at Norcom, ``Coach'' seemed to be one of the most sought-out participants at the Grand Reunion.
At the reunion, Hurley was embraced again and again by his former pupils - now middle-aged men with graying hair and beards.
Gladys Cross-Mills, class of 1971, mingled with other alumni in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Friday night and talked of the spiritual values taught to Norcom students.
Dr. Theresa Brown-Doonquah, also a member of the class of 1971, defined Norcom as an institution that obligates its graduates to give something back to the school, so future generations of African Americans also will aspire to become their very best.
Ruth Sharp Graham traveled from San Francisco for the Grand Reunion, 52 years after her graduation. She spoke of unbroken bonds of friendship between individuals who were once awkward teenagers, but who are now senior citizens.
The loyalty and devotion given to Norcom might be best explained by the ``lost class of 1973.''
At the end of her junior year at Norcom, Ruth Bullock Chandler and 120 other members of her class were told they would have to transfer to other public schools in the city as a result of Norcom's conversion from an all-academic to a technical/academic institution.
``It wasn't an easy time,'' Chandler said. ``Most of us had gone to school together from elementary school on. When I transferred to Wilson, I found myself in a completely different environment from Norcom.''
In 1983, members of the ``lost class'' held their own ``Norcom'' reunion, complete with a mock graduation ceremony in the school's auditorium, and were awarded mock I.C. Norcom High School diplomas.
``It's hard to explain, but when you grow up with so much pride in something, it hurts very much when you feel you've lost it,'' said Chandler, now a nursing student.
``We felt as though our family had been torn apart. If you've never been a part of Norcom, you really don't understand what the school means to us.'' ILLUSTRATION: COLOR PHOTOS BY LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Bessie B. Richards, middle, gives a big hug to Queen Esther Miller
Patterson, her classmate in I.C. Norcom's class of 1926. The two,
and a third woman, were given plaques for being from the oldest
class present at the Grand Reunion. David Sanford, president of the
Norcom alumni association, is to the left of Bessie.
The Grand Reunion featured a parade of past and present students of
I.C. Norcom High School.
Photos
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Before the start of the Grand Reunion parade Saturday, I.C. Norcom's
marching band lines up in formation at the side of the high school.
Together with alumni, the students participated in a parade that
started at Norcom and ended at Lawrence stadium.
Walter J. Hurley, a popular coach from Norcom's earlier years, was
one of the most sought-after people at the reunion.
by CNB