I knew early on there were two things I would/could never do - teach in a
classroom setting or be a cop.
Kenneth Waller
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/kennethwaller
----- Original Message -----
From: "paul stenquist" <[email protected]>
Subject: GESO: Julian High, 1975 to 1980
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 applied, 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
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