Paul, I really enjoyed the story and the gallery. In the teaching business one never knows how one has influenced somebody; occasionally they let you know years later, but usually not.
I was the photo editor of my high school yearbook (class of 1970), and shot tons of 35mm and 120 Tri-X, including lots of football games. Alas the negatives were deemed the property of the school, so all I have is the yearbook itself. Cheers, Rick http://photo.net/photos/RickW On Mon, Jun 8, 2015 at 5:33 AM, Carlos R. <crls.p...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thanks for showing those pictures, Paul. Excellent photos and an even better > story to accompany them. > > Carlos > > > >>> >>>> On 6/5/2015 9:18 PM, paul stenquist wrote: >>>> I taught English Lit and Composition at a very special place called >>>> Percy L. Julian High School from 1975 to 1980. Prior to my years at Julian >>>> I >>>> had been teaching at one of the worst schools in Chicago — Austin High >>>> School — a West Side school that had gone from 100% white to 100% black in >>>> a few years. The administration and the largely white staff didn’t know >>>> what to do, the school was out of control and on fire frequently and, at >>>> one >>>> point, the National Guard had to be called in. In 1975 the federal >>>> government mandated faculty integration, meaning that if you were a white >>>> teacher at a school that had too many white teachers and you wanted to >>>> transfer to a school that had too many black teachers, they had to allow >>>> you >>>> to apply for a position. I had heard about Julian. It was an all-black >>>> school on the south side of Chicago. It wasn’t a white school that had >>>> re-segregated but rather a brand new school that a prosperous middle class >>>> black community had fought for. I ap > > plied, the principal approved it, and the largely black staff welcomed me > and several other Austin teachers with open arms. >>>> >>>> >>>> I had some great classes and some wonderful kids at Julian. I taught >>>> Honors English 3 and a special double-period Humanities class. The kids and >>>> I went to the Chicago Symphony, the opera and a number of theatrical >>>> presentations. We had a great marching band, majorettes and cheerleaders. >>>> All in the mid 70s when the white kids in the suburban schools were >>>> thumbing >>>> their noses at those kind of things. We also had a fabulous football team, >>>> and in 1979 we became the first public school in almost 20 years to win a >>>> city championship over the predominantly white catholic league schools. >>>> >>>> I documented much of my time at Julian on film. I have several thousand >>>> transparencies and BW negs that I shot during those five happy years. I’ve >>>> just begun scanning some of them. I started with that 1979 football >>>> championship, but I have many more that I will eventually scan. >>>> >>>> In March of 1980 I was offered a job in New York at Hearst Magazine >>>> Division. The Chicago Board of Education had run out of money and had >>>> stopped paying the teachers. We were on the picket line when I got the >>>> call. >>>> I crossed the line, walked into the office to turn in my resignation on >>>> Thursday afternoon, March 7, 1980 and flew to New York the next morning. I >>>> still feel guilty. Today, Julian is still somewhat better than the other >>>> Southside Chicago High Schools, but the magic is largely gone. The entire >>>> south side of Chicago is a mess. The gangs are in control, and kids are >>>> shot on the street every day. A number of Julian kids have been killed on >>>> their way home from school. It’s had for me to imagine. It’s heartbreaking. >>>> >>>> Here are the first of my Julian scans. The way it was 40 years ago. >>>> http://photo.net/photodb/folder.tcl?folder_id=1080368 >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> --- >>> This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus >>> protection is active. >>> https://www.avast.com/antivirus >>> >>> >>> -- >>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>> PDML@pdml.net >>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >>> follow the directions. >> >> > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
