by Joe Stout
Visions of the 1960’s protestors.
The late 1940’s and1950’s have been portrayed on TV as the age of innocence. The age of family, apple pie, and “Father Knows Best.” It was the spring of 1947 and my Junior year at Greenfield High School was drawing to an end.
Mrs. Mildred Payne was the English and Latin teacher during my high school years. She was the wife of Rev. S. O. Payne, the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church U.S.A here in Greenfield for several years. Bro. Payne was my pastor and also my Scoutmaster during my scouting years.
Mrs. Payne was one of the best teachers that ever taught at Greenfield, in my opinion. She was the type teacher that would allow everyday life subjects be discussed. She was also adored by all the students and one that we could take our problems to for advice. This was in the days prior to the use of counselors in schools, therefore she would also fit that description in today’s world.
The Principal in 1947 was Mr. Russell Tuck. Mr. Tuck, as most Principals have always been, was somewhat feared by many students because it was his duty to mete out punishment. Mr. Tuck had a habit of using Listerine very frequently. Many times he would be seen at the water fountain rinsing his mouth with Listerine. It also became apparent to many of us that many times he turned up the bottle when he was not at the water fountain.
The school board in those days was not county wide but consisted of citizens of Greenfield. It was customary for school boards to elect teachers for the coming school year just prior to the end of the present school year. We learned that Mrs. Payne had not been elected to teach for the school year of 1947-1948. This in essence meant that she was fired. No reason was given for this and of course this was a great disappointment to all the students.
Rumors spread throughout the school and community and a growing protest of dissatisfaction became evident among all the students. A large group of us went to the homes of some of the school board members in hopes of getting some answers as to why Mrs. Payne was not going to be our teacher for the next year without any success.
Jack Gill who was a senior graduating that year was the school clown as well as a good artist and caricaturist. Jack came up with the idea of a strike by the students to hopefully get the school board to change their decision. In subsequent years I have been accused of being the originator of this protest, but as readers of any of my writings can attest, I would have NEVER done such a thing. Jack was also responsible for giving most of us our nicknames. He tagged me with “Moedini” because I had become and amateur magician. Many of my classmates still call me that today.
The idea of the strike in protest began to spread among the students like a brush-fire and plans were made to set up a picket line on the street in front of the High School to encourage all the students to participate in the strike.
When Mr. Tuck learned of this plan the seniors, who were just a few days away from graduation, were told that if they participated they would not be allowed to graduate.
The day of the “strike” many of us arrived early with signs and set up on the street in front of the school. Most of the seniors were in support but with the threat of not being allowed to graduate they did attend classes that day. I recall Mr. Gulley’s (Silent John) comment as he walked by, “Do ya’ll know what you’re doing?”
With the exception of the seniors and two or three other students, the entire student body remained out of classes. We then marched down Main Street toward town carrying our signs of protest. Upon reaching Front Street we paraded up and down the main business district. Of course this caused quite a stir among the townspeople.
We ended up at Dale Wright’s Cafe, the local teen hangout resembling “Arnold’s” of the Happy Days TV sitcom. Dale’s Cafe was located in the lower floor of the old “Opera House” building on Soup St. Dale urged us to return to school and the consensus was that we would return the next day but we did get a one day “unscheduled” holiday.
For all of the succeeding GHS students and our children and grandchildren, just keep in mind that we are not as “straight-laced” as we might appear to be.
I sometimes wonder if we might have been the seed planted that brought about the turbulent times of the 1960’s on campuses all over America.
54 years later, the reason for Mrs. Payne’s firing is still unknown by us, so I guess we’ll never know……..