John M. Langston High School may have closed its doors in 1970, but its students have not forgotten it, their teachers or each other.
Every three years, the classes of 1937 through 1973 gather for a joint reunion, and this weekend more than 1,000 people gathered in Danville to reminisce about their years at Langston.
Students who attended from 1971 through 1973 are included in the reunion festivities because, even though they transferred to George Washington High School when Langston closed, they were Langston students, no matter how briefly.
The weekend-long reunion started Friday night with registration and a reception at the E. Stuart James Grant Center at Averett University’s North Campus.
Saturday’s events started with choir rehearsal at Loyal Baptist Church and moved on to a pep rally at Langston Focus School, the current incarnation of the former high school.
“It was so much fun!” Doris Kelly, class of 1968, said. “About 200 of us went and got a tour of the school, and looked in some of our old classrooms, remembering about what we did there.”
Then classmates went on another “field trip” — a shopping spree at Rippe’s, where they were offered special discounts.
Saturday was topped off with a banquet complete with music and speeches from the reunion chairman, the Rev. Thurman Echols of Moral Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Axton, and vice chairman, the Rev. Curtis Strader of White Rock Baptist Church in Mountain Hill.
Anita Boyd, class of 1958, said even some of their teachers attended.
“The oldest faculty member to attend is Avicia Thorpe,” Boyd said. “She was an English teacher, and she’s now 101 years old. She’s still got the sweetest smile, the softest voice.”
Thorpe also has a scholarship named after her, as does Vera B. Murphy. The reunion committee raises funds for both scholarships.
“The Vera B. Murphy scholarship sends one person to DCC (Danville Community College) for two years every year,” Boyd said. The Thorpe scholarship can be used for any school.
Penny Hughes, class of 1967, said the reunion committee is comprised of two alumni from each class and an executive board.
“They begin working on the reunion a year before it’s scheduled,” Hughes said, adding that it’s a complicated project to pull together.
Sunday brought a scheduled memorial service at Loyal Baptist Church and the reunion finale, a casual “picnic” at the Grant Center.
Alumni came to Danville from all over the country, some from as far as Texas and California.
One attendee, Jessie Williams, graduated in 1957 and moved to New York in 1958, where she has lived since.
“I come to all the reunions,” Williams said. “I come back other times, too, but always for the reunion.”
“1,000 alums remember their high school days at Langston”, from the Register & Bee, July 5, 2009.