Looking Back: The Class of 1943

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society
 
     Last week I attended a Grain Valley High School Alumni Board meeting. In attendance at the meeting were two members of the Class of 1973. In May, they will celebrate their 50th year anniversary as graduates of GVHS. When we returned their old yearbook to its home, a shelf at the Historical Society Museum, I gazed at the shelf above which is home to several much older yearbooks dating back to 1936. There I found the 1943 yearbook, soon to be 80 years old.
     None of those graduates are still with us, but there are many familiar names and faces; some you may have known, some you may have heard of and at least one has a road named for her family members who lived there.
     The 1943 yearbook resembles a spiral notebook. It has only 24 pages, followed by 10 pages of advertising. It looks as if it were type-written and printed on a mimeograph machine, except it has photos. In addition to the individual photographs of the Board of Education, the faculty, and the high school classes, there are five group photos of elementary students (1st thru 8th grade).
     While the yearbook Queen, Doris Brizendine got a full page, the band, choir, drama club, junior, and senior plays casts and student council all had to share a page. The same was true for the boys and girls basketball team. The football team shared their page with the Commercial Club!
     Because this yearbook was published during World War II, there was a full page dedicated to “Grad in Service,” most pictured in a small snapshot wearing their military uniform.
     Visit the Historical Society Museum any Wednesday between 10 AM and 3 PM.  I‘ll give you a cup of coffee to drink (also tea or water) and you can peruse our yearbook collection. You are bound to find someone you know!
 
          
             
          

Photo credit: Grain Valley Historical​ Society