| Cruisin' the Past |
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| Cruisin’ the Past by Ed Dooley |
A Preliminary Profile
Who were we? Who are we? Those are two questions I would like to answer in these
columns about the Catalina High School Class of 1960. Because of time restrictions and
lack of in-depth research, I will not attempt to do a formal cohort analysis of the class, nor
will I attempt a much-needed history of the class. I will leave those important tasks to
others closer to the school and far more qualified than I to undertake such studies.
The following installment, my first attempt at answering the two questions, is based on
information available in yearbooks and in the very informative reunion booklets produced
over the decades by Terri Lane Millsap, Emily Kittle Morrison, and all their associates.
Although information on many of our classmates is missing from these booklets, either
because they did not respond to questionnaires or because their whereabouts are
unknown, the booklets provide an excellent starting point for the proposed study. In time,
more biographical information will come in, and perhaps there may even be a survey with
a structured questionnaire. But until that happy day, I’ll go with what I’ve got and
underscore that what follows is but a preliminary profile of the CHS Class of 1960.
A cohort, as the demographers and sociologists tell us, is a group of people with a time-
specific common experience, such as having been born in the same year or having
graduated from school in the same year. Clearly, then, the Class of 1960 is a cohort as
defined by social scientists. With some exceptions, we were born in 1942 and we were 18
years old when we graduated together in 1960. We share these vital statistics, but we
also shared a number of characteristics that made our cohort notably homogenous.
In addition to being the same age, we also looked a lot alike. In a school that in 1960 had
approximately 2,300 students, there were few Hispanics, even fewer Asians, and only one
African-American. In the Class of 1960, with somewhere around 520 members over its
four years, there were no African-Americans, perhaps two of Asian descent, and only a
handful of Hispanics. This homogeneity was not by conscious design but resulted from
the fact that Catalina High School served a relatively wealthy surrounding community that
was highly racially, ethnically, and culturally homogenous. Closer to the center of town,
Tucson High School was, to use today’s term, multicultural. This term could not be
applied to Catalina or, for that matter, to other west-end schools of that time.
We can be differentiated as a group by age, race, ethnic, and cultural background, but we
can also be differentiated by what sociologists call “period effect.” Members of the Class
of 1960 technically are not part of the World War II Baby Boom Generation because
demographers and other social scientists generally date its beginning with children born
in 1946. Instead, we were part of what I like to call the “War Babies Generation” or, if you
prefer, “Pre-Boomers.” And whereas the Baby Boomers were born in the optimism that
accompanied the end of the war, as well as the return of thousands of servicemen and
women, we were born in the darkest year of the war for the U.S. and its allies. Our
fathers were going to war, not returning from war. How this affected us cannot be
summarized because every story is unique, but it must have had some common effects
that contributed to the inner dynamics of our cohort.
I stated earlier that there were somewhere around 520 members of the Class of 1960. In
fact, the actual number is difficult to determine at this date and this distance from official
records. If you examine the 1960 TORCH, our yearbook, you will find 468 smiling faces in
our graduating class (the number of actual graduates reported in the local newspapers
was 470). But a number of our graduating classmates were not pictured in the yearbook
for reasons that are unknown to me. Moreover, during the four years of our high school
experience, from 1956 to 1960, people entered the school for a year or two and then
moved away. Despite the fact that they were not with us to receive diplomas in 1960, I
have chosen to include them in this study of the members of the class. In fact, over 50 of
our classmates who do not appear in the TORCH do appear in the wonderful booklets
that were produced for the 1980, 1985, and 2000 reunions.
If, for a moment, however, we count only the people pictured in the TORCH, or 468
students, then we were the smallest class in Catalina High School in 1960. The Junior
Class had 585 members pictured in the yearbook, the Sophomore Class had 558
members pictured, and the Freshman Class had 565 members pictured. With that last
class, the Freshman Class, we find ourselves on the eve of the Baby Boom Generation.
When it comes to attempting to describe or even define the cultural identity of our
generation and of our specific cohort, the Class of 1960, we enter into murky waters.
Cultural identity is never a clear picture, and the closer we get to it the more we lose sight
of the overall picture and see, instead, the brushwork. And yet, there are some common
experiences and characteristics that help to define us. It is said that the Baby Boomers
were the first group to be raised on television. That assertion leaves us, therefore, as the
last generation not to have been raised on television. I believe that distinction is
important. The hours of our early lives were more likely to have been spent out-of-doors,
reading books, or listening to the radio, or listening and dancing to rock ‘n roll records.
Without question, we share much with the Baby Boomers, especially the memorable
events that shaped our lives in the 1960s and 1970s, but we were older then, out of high
school, and most of us were well on our way in life when those events occurred.
One statement that seems to ring true with many in our cohort is that those days before
1960 were “simpler” days from those that followed. We are reminded, for example, of the
TV series “Happy Days,” based on the film “American Graffiti,” that pictured the decade of
the 50s as a simpler time. A few years ago, I was describing Catalina high school days to
a couple of teenagers here in Lexington (which is a friendly and safe academic town in the
beautiful Valley of Virginia – almost a “Mayberry town”). As I described some of the
amusing and enterprising things we used to do in Tucson, my listeners’ eyes became wide
and they began uttering sounds of surprise and delight. When I was finished, they said:
“Wow! You guys really had fun in high school and you did all sorts of interesting things.
We don’t do anything like that now. We can’t.” When I asked them why, they replied that
drugs and other dangers severely limit their activities, safety, and independence. I know
there must have been many dark corners here and there in our little world of 50 years
ago – economic hardship, dysfunctional families, cruelty … all the regular suspects – but
those shadows did not overwhelm us. We were not innocents, and despite the popular
notion that they were “Happy Times,” it was not an innocent time: we were, after all, in the
depths of the Cold War, and ours was still a society that tolerated racism, sexism, and
exploitation. Furthermore, the teenage years are never easy ones. But I think that the
characterization of the 1950s as a happier and simpler time – and not necessarily a
mindless time -- rings true for most of us. Certainly compared with the string of
assassinations, political unrest, the war in Viet Nam, anti-war protests, civil rights clashes,
and the rise of the drug culture that followed our graduation year, ours was a simpler time.
The other night, a friend of mine, a Harvard graduate, University of Virginia Ph.D., and MA
from Cambridge, was looking at our 1960 TORCH. He, and his wife, said the same thing:
All your classmates at Catalina look so old! I looked at the photos again. Yes, I think they
were right. Our dress, our haircuts, our public faces make us look mature. Every young
man (boy) has a tie; every young woman (girl) has a string of pearls! But I also think the
impression one gets in looking at the photos is of a group of fresh, bright-eyed, confident,
and physically fit young people, ready to take on the world. The lists of activities that you
find under many of the photos are impressive, although surely not unique to our school.
We were engaged in academic programs, art, music, athletics, and all sorts of clubs and
special interest groups. We had the only weekly high school newspaper in the southwest!
Today, few high schools can afford such a rich offering of activities. High school for us
was much more than classes and Friday night football -- a great deal more.
Above all, I am convinced that our cohort was unusually populated with high achievers –
perhaps even “over” achievers. Perhaps this was due to the prosperity and optimism of
the late 1950s, perhaps it was due to the support we received from outstanding teachers,
coaches, and administrators – as well as our families – perhaps it was due to something
inside each of us. No doubt the truth is that is was due to all of these influences and
many others. But the outcome was the same. In 1960, we stepped forward to enter what,
for a moment, was a bright new world. And, based on reports over the years from about
50 percent of the class, the achievements of members of the cohort have been
impressive.
Of the 521 people I am counting as members of the class, 279, or 54 percent, have
furnished some biographical information to the reunion committees over the years (132
men responding; 147 women responding). Of the 279 who have responded, a total of
191, or 63 percent, report that they attended college, university, or professional school
(99 men; 92 women). Some of these people did not graduate while some went on to earn
advanced degrees. Over the years, as is to be expected, people changed directions and
careers. Taking what seems to have been a person’s primary career (as reported in
2000), I have come up with the following table: business and sales, 66 persons;
educators, 50; science, engineering, computing, 23; administration and management, 19;
office managers, secretaries, assistants, 19; finance and insurance, 17; nurses, 15;
medical, veterinarian, pharmacists, 15; construction and developers, 11; artists,
musicians, photographers, 11; housewives, 10; skilled 8; government service, including
military careers, 5; attorneys, 5; ministers, 2, architects, 2, newspaper reporter, 1.
But the story is not finished. The figures I have just cited are dated (2000) and we do not
know what many of our classmates are doing now or in their “second” careers upon
retirement. As one reads over the biographical information presented in the reunion
booklets, it is hard not to get the impression that here was an energetic, enthusiastic,
entrepreneurial, and confident cohort, and that these qualities helped to define its
members. And though many individuals have had their ups and downs over the years,
that sense of confidence and adventure still comes through loud and clear.
As I said at the start, this little essay is a very preliminary attempt to sketch out a profile of
the class: Who were we? Who are we? Much more could be said even of the limited
information that is available today, but the picture will be much clearer when the
information is updated for the 2010 reunion booklet and when some of our “missing”
friends reappear. In the meanwhile, I would warmly welcome any feedback and
information that you wish to send me. Future installments of this column will explore some
of the topics mentioned in this essay to greater depth.
