BACK IN THE DAY...
I took this picture of (L-R) Marty Hughes, Vincent Miller, and Clarke Johnson in front of Overbrook High School in 1956. Marty and Vincent played on the same basketball team with Wilt Chamberlain (Dippy), Clarke was like my adopted brother, he ran track. The picture brought back memories... I wrote about some of my school days memories in my novel, "Aunt Donsy's Trunk." Please take a moment to read...
AUNT DONSY'S TRUNK ( book excerpt)
"It did not go pass us, without notice, that there had not been an outcry from anyone in the school administration when Wilt ‘Dippy’ Chamberlain, and a few years later Wayne Hightower, brought basketball championships to Overbrook High School. What did that prove? Could our race could be accepted, in our school – in our country, as a gladiator - in the ring, on the baseball or football field, or on the basketball court; just not in the more academic settings? Still, in the sports arena, the accepted gladiator had to be careful; after all, in 1957 the position of a coach, manager, even quarterback, was perceived as being too cerebral for a Black person to do the job.
They could play the physical game, just don’t think in the process.
We had a winning basketball team at Overbrook High School. Wilt (Dippy) Chamberlain, Vincent Miller, Marty Hughes, Jimmy Saddler, and Tommy Fitzhugh were among the stars. Wayne Hightower, Bobby Jones, and Ralph Hayward were on the subsequent basketball team that continued the winning status. Ira Davis set records on the track team, and the football team always played an exciting game.
I played on the girls' varsity volleyball team. Every year we played a just-for-fun exhibit game against the men's varsity basketball team. We had some strong players on the girl’s team like Jeanette Fitzhugh -Tommy Fitzhugh's sister, and Yvonne Chamberlain – Wilt Chamberlain’s sister. I was just barely good enough to make the team, but I loved to play, particularly in that special match. I heard many years later that after Wilt retired from professional basketball, he played professional volleyball. I guess he too must have enjoyed those games.
I remember walking pass Dippy (Wilt’s nickname) in the school hallways; at my height, 5’5”, I reached just above his waistline. He was always surrounded by a crowd of students who were enthralled by him, and the teachers worked extra hard with him to make sure he passed all of his subjects. After all, Wilt had to qualify for Overbrook’s basketball team every semester.
In the fall term of 1955 I became the second Black girl to make the cheerleader squad for Overbrook. The first Black cheerleader was statuesque, beautiful, smart, and confident; she was a semester ahead of me, I believe she became a cheerleader in the winter of 1954. Although we were the only two Blacks on the squad, we didn’t become close friends. After she graduated, I didn’t see her again until almost twenty years later, at a Martin Luther King High School function; coincidently, we had children in the same school.
“This is a person I told you about, the first Black cheerleader at Overbrook.” I told my daughter, Kia, when I made the introduction.
I always taught my children to be aware of the fact that there were not always Black high school teachers, cheerleaders, principals, class presidents, bankers, bus drivers, etc. Those were positions that qualified Black people couldn’t always get even though people, the age of my children, were accustomed to Black people in those positions in their schools and community. I tried to make sure my children understood the personal adversities and struggles that resulted in those freedoms.
The lack of restrictions that allowed Black people the freedom to work and live in a place of their choice became a reality because somebody knocked a wall down to become the first - just like: Jackie Robinson, Gwendolyn Brooks, Althea Gibson, Barbara Jordan, Charles Drew, and Benjamin Davis – both Senior and Junior.
The doors of equal housing, education, and employment opportunities may appear to be wide open; in actuality, the doors are only ajar. The battle of equality was, and continues to be, fought on multiple fronts - through a series of small steps - through individual achievements. I felt that when she, who shall remain nameless, became the first cheerleader at Overbrook High School, she fought an important part of the battle. She made it easier for me and the ones who followed.
Therefore, I was happy to see this ex-cheerleader and to introduce her to my daughter. The person that I considered as a trail blazer was still a beautiful young woman; however, she reacted in a manner that surprised both my daughter and I.
“Why do you want to bring all that up? Who needs to remember those days, there are better things to do.” she snapped at me.
I was stunned! She pivoted quickly and strolled away without looking back. Therefore, I will not mention her name; she made it clear that she preferred to forget her place in history. Nevertheless, I still placed a great value on her presence on the cheerleading squad. Since she was the first and only black cheerleader on the squad six months before me, I don't know what she experienced that contributed to her parched reaction. Based on my own experiences, I can only imagine that whatever she went through was coated in venom.
I do know that our cheerleading coach, Miss Weitzenhoffer, who established a mentoring relationship with me, was also the head of the Overbrook Physical Education Department. She had such a strong personality that I'm sure no one on the faculty, including the principal, dared to confront her about her choices for the squad. It was because of Miss Weitzenhoffer, and a few other teachers like her, that many of the racially charged traditions within the halls of Overbrook High School were gradually overturned."
