Three generations of diplomas on my wall.

[Lady Day]

My Grandmother's high school diploma has always fascinated me.

I remember finding it last year when I went home for my mothers funeral. Granny forgot she had it and smiled seeing it again. I found my mother's as well.

Then I went and dug up mine.

All three of them say pretty much the same things. But it got me to thinking about the eras that these three documents represent. I cant imagine what my Granny went through in her time. To live during the constitutional change of allowing blacks to vote, civil rights, and segregation. It blows me away. It humbles me too.

My mother, being born into one of the first generations being able to take advantage of those opportunities, and me, being of the generation that gets to benefit from both. I tell you, the contemplations of it have kept me up for hours.

I have all three diplomas hanging in shadow boxes in my living room. I figure if I have a daughter, Ill hang hers as well and I hope she will think back, like me and realize the history behind them.



LD

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap Great choice of how to use wallspace. I don't even know if my parents' & grandparents' original diplomas still exist. Makes me think about how much we take these opportunities for granted.

- Cousin Hepcat

 

[LizzieMaine]

What a wonderful idea, LD -- so often documents like this end up getting packed away in a drawer or a trunk and forgotten, instead of celebrated as a real link to one's family past. And I'm as guilty of this as anyone -- I don't even know where my own diploma is, let alone my mother's or grandmother's...

 

[scotrace]

That's a fantastic display - you are an extraordinary person.

It reminds me of something I read not long ago in a bio of Louis Armstrong. Pops was out of favor among the later jazzmen. Dizzie Gillespie especially used to refer to him as an Uncle Tom in his young hot-stuff playing years. But when he got older Dizzie gave him the respect he deserved. He explained it brilliantly in four words: "No him, no me."

We all owe so much to the previous generations. It's wonderful indeed that you honor the continuum.

 

[Lady Day]

Thanks y'all. thats so nice of you all to say.
1938 was when granny got her diploma. I can only imagine how important it was back then, to be the 'educated' woman I talk to some of my friends and they tell me their grandparents never even got their HS diplomas. Makes me feel a bit special.

Here is my granny all pictured out in her cap and gown (LOVE the shoes!)

LD

 

[Lena_Horne]

She's beautiful.

I doubt I could find any of my family's diplomas, but my sister and I certainly have ours. And my mother's recent diploma from graduating college is sitting right there in the living room. I suppose I never thought about it before but I do intend to hang on to them as long as I can.

L_H

 

[Rosie]

Thanks y'all. thats so nice of you all to say.
1938 was when granny got her diploma. I can only imagine how important it was back then, to be the 'educated' woman I talk to some of my friends and they tell me their grandparents never even got their HS diplomas. Makes me feel a bit special.

Here is my granny all pictured out in her cap and gown (LOVE the shoes!)

LD

Wow! That is so cool. You're very right, most people of color back then, at least those who lived in the south or in rural areas didn't get their HS diploma. My paternal grandfather was the son of slaves and there wasn't a school at all when he was a child. My paternal grandmother attended school as a child but after girls hit puberty, they were no longer alloed to go to school for fear they would be raped to and from. After my grandfather was lynched, my father and his two older brothers were sent to Mims, Florida as my grandmother thought night riders would come after them too. In order to not bring attention to themselves, they never enrolled in school and became orange pickers. My dad, though a brilliant man, never finished school. My maternal grandparents graduated from high school when they were about 30 I believe. The both left South Carolina in their late teens, got married and started making babies. After their children were in school, they went back, first my grandmother then my grandfather. Very cool Lady Day.

 

[Lena_Horne]

My grandfather's family was in Alabama. I don't know of any stories about the KKK terrorizing them, or perhaps they just aren't willing to talk about it. Either way, though their parents were sharecroppers and sometimes didn't have enough food for everyone (fourteen babies eventually) all of the children attended school. Later, when my grandfather's older sisters moved to St. Louis they would send back money and perhaps a pair of shoes for one of the children at home when they could. All of this made them extremely close to one another and those bonds lasted all of their lives.

L_H

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

Wow! That is so cool. You're very right, most people of color back then, at least those who lived in the south or in rural areas didn't get their HS diploma. My paternal grandfather was the son of slaves and there wasn't a school at all when he was a child. My paternal grandmother attended school as a child...

Thanks Rosie & Lena for sharing your fmaily info too - See that's so cool to have a family history you can be proud of.

My grandfather served in WWI and I have his helmet, led a jazz band in the 1920s (will post an ultra cool pic sometime), then was the vice president of the Bank of Virginia for about 40 years before retiring, but before him, haven't really delved into researching the family history. Scared to go "too far back". I've heard that there were slaves at some point, never asked for details. It's like a mental block, can't do it. I see all the family wealth and successes which came after that as having been built on that. It's OK though, Mom was adopted, AND managed to get disowned at one point for the most part because of her choice to raise me by herself in a minority neighborhood lol so the buck stopped here, and I'm starting up my OWN family wealth as a self-made man

(course I loved the grandparents when I went to visit them as a kid, and came to accept them later in life, Granddad even planted the seed for my love of vintage 30s-40s swing & movies at age 5, so its all good)

- CH

 

[LizzieMaine]

LD, your grandma is a very classy looking young lady!

A while back I came across some interesting information while researching an article in the 1940 US Census, which kind of helps put a perspective on just what it meant to earn a High School diploma in the vintage era --

As of 1940 --

Only 24.5 per cent of Americans over the age of 25 had completed high school.

Only 4 per cent of Americans over the age of 25 had completed college.

And 4.2 per cent of American adults were illiterate.

It's startling to realize that most American adults of the vintage era were making do with, on the average, an eighth-grade education -- or in rural areas, sometimes even less. Small wonder earning a High School diploma was viewed as a really important achievement by that generation, something to accepted with honor and pride -- and that's something we should keep in mind when we reflect on their lives.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

What were the high school graduation requirements back then? I've heard that they were tougher than they are today.

 

[Rosie]

Thanks Rosie & Lena for sharing your fmaily info too - See that's so cool to have a family history you can be proud of.

My grandfather served in WWI and I have his helmet, led a jazz band in the 1920s (will post an ultra cool pic sometime), then was the vice president of the Bank of Virginia for about 40 years before retiring, but before him, haven't really delved into researching the family history. Scared to go "too far back". I've heard that there were slaves at some point, never asked for details. It's like a mental block, can't do it. I see all the family wealth and successes which came after that as having been built on that. It's OK though, Mom was adopted, AND managed to get disowned at one point for the most part because of her choice to raise me by herself in a minority neighborhood lol so the buck stopped here, and I'm starting up my OWN family wealth as a self-made man

(course I loved the grandparents when I went to visit them as a kid, and came to accept them later in life, Granddad even planted the seed for my love of vintage 30s-40s swing & movies at age 5, so its all good)

- CH

You should research if you get the chance, no matter what comes up! I broke my ankle about 7 years ago (wow, doesn't seem that long) and began doing my family tree on my mother's side. It was quite interestingI found out about the good, the great, the not so good and the down right terrible. I'll PM you about it if you like, I don't want to hijack LD's thread.

 

[ITG]

As of 1940 --

Only 24.5 per cent of Americans over the age of 25 had completed high school.

And 4.2 per cent of American adults were illiterate.

Wow, I find that amazing that with so few completing hig school, such a low percentage were illiterate.

I looked up some more modern statistics:

The English Language Proficiency Study (ELPS) in 1982 found 13 percent of US adults, or 17 million to 21 million people it considered illiterate.
http://www.wsws.org/news/1998/oct1998/ill-o14.shtml

The NAAL divided the results into four proficiency levels based on widely accepted
standards.

NAAL reports literacy in each category using a 0-500 scale score. Scores are then
grouped in four literacy levels: Below Basic, Basic, Intermediate and Proficient.
Below Basic is the lowest level and indicates having \"no more than the most simple
and concrete literacy skills.\" Those who can perform \"complex and challenging\" tasks
are considered at the Proficient level.

While few adults are illiterate in the sense that they can\'t write their own names,
those in the bottom two levels Below Basic and Basic can\'t spell, read, or write as
well as a middle school student. Fully 45% of Americans fell into this category.
Almost half of those, or 20%, scored in the lowest level, which puts their literacy
below that of a 5th grade elementary school student.
http://www.express-press-release.co...al Illiteracy Crisis Part One of Five.php

I had some difficulty finding an actual percentage of actual illiterate Americans (as opposed to those that are functionally illiterate).

P.S. That is really cool your able to display the diplomas together and I hope you have a little girl one day so you can add another one to the display. How special!

 

[Lady Day]

You should research if you get the chance, no matter what comes up! I broke my ankle about 7 years ago (wow, doesn't seem that long) and began doing my family tree on my mother's side. It was quite interesting found out about the good, the great, the not so good and the down right terrible. I'll PM you about it if you like, I don't want to hijack LD's thread.

Hell, Highjack, I dont care

Shes right Hepcat, you SHOULD know about your family. As for me my family was one of the first to settle in that area. We have been there for over 150 years (before slavery ended yeah, but Im not too sure how much more). They settled about 40 ish miles from the big house (plantation) where my great great uncle was owned. It always amazed me how not too many slaves completely left their plantation areas.

My granny is considered the matriarch of the fam, so Ive always known my family history, and I have a BIG family. :eusa_doh:
Some new family insight from other folks would be cool. Hey Hepcat, I had fam from NC and SC, for all you know our families could of crossed paths at some time. Wont know unless you research!
Good luck,

LD

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

Hey Hepcat, I had fam from NC and SC, for all you know our families could of crossed paths at some time. Wont know unless you research!
Good luck,

LD

mmmmm... maybe I'll think about it again after the career change

 

[Rosie]

Hell, Highjack, I dont care

Shes right Hepcat, you SHOULD know about your family. As for me my family was one of the first to settle in that area. We have been there for over 150 years (before slavery ended yeah, but Im not too sure how much more). They settled about 40 ish miles from the big house (plantation) where my great great uncle was owned. It always amazed me how not too many slaves completely left their plantation areas.

My granny is considered the matriarch of the fam, so Ive always known my family history, and I have a BIG family. :eusa_doh:
Some new family insight from other folks would be cool. Hey Hepcat, I had fam from NC and SC, for all you know our families could of crossed paths at some time. Wont know unless you research!
Good luck,

LD

Uh, oh. Every person that I've met that has family from North or South Carolina has been related to me in some form or fashion, 18th cousin removed, through marriage, their run away dog became my family member's pet. lol You might be my 23rd cousin or somethng.

 

[Lady Day]

Uh, oh. Every person that I've met that has family from North or South Carolina has been related to me in some form or fashion, 18th cousin removed, through marriage, their run away dog became my family member's pet. lol You might be my 23rd cousin or somethng.

lol
Aw you know how black families are, you come over for dinner three times in a month and your an inducted 'cousin'

LD

 

[Benny Holiday]

Lady Day, I'm still getting over your Grandmother's name, Georgia. That's a beautiful name!

Thank you (and Rosie too) for sharing some of your family history with us. It's so special to have those close family ties and to preserve the achievements of the relatives who paved the way for us to live the lives we have today.

 

[Rosie]

What were the high school graduation requirements back then? I've heard that they were tougher than they are today.

I'm not sure of the requirements that far back but even today, the requirements sadly, are being lowered and lowered. I graduated in '93 eek: I'm getting SO old) and they have lowered the credits needed and the types of test needed for graduation in NY state. Also, these silly kids are allowed to use a calculator on the SAT. :eusa_doh:

 

[Shimmy Sally]

That is such a cool idea.