The Class Roster and pictures are as represented in the Woodrow Wilson High School, Portsmouth, Virginia yearbook or annual of the year indicated on the page. The Roster may not be complete and pictures and names may have been removed by request of the person involved. Also, it does not officially indicate the year of graduation and/or that the party in question graduated. If you are not represented in your class, you will be added to the last page of the year and you may submit a photo to be added. All information on these pages came from the yearbook represented and alumni who have passed on information and may not be accurate.
In 1965, we gave little indication of being more than a typical freshman class. We shrieked from our balcony, bumbled down the halls, elected Andy Hawkins class president, and felt just a little remorse at having both our principal, Dr. Allen, and our assistant principal, Mr. Galliford, retire from
Wilson's administrative staff at the same time.
As sophomores we became more involved in school life and discovered what a satisfying word gross was. Bobby Holland took over the class presidency, J. V. Cheerleaders leaped from our midst, and we lurked about the halls peddling toothbrushes. After about forty minutes of recurring Stars and Stripes Forever, William Spong Day was launched to honor our politically successful alumnus; and in dramatics we were particularly proud that Agnes Mobley and Bobby Holland held lead roles in the annual musical, Li'l Abner.
Mike Tapler, State and National DECA Vice-President, beaded our junior class, and we went through the traditions of ordering class rings and nominating contestants for the Homecoming Court; Carol Garrett was elected Maid of Honor, and Pam Hambleton and Lynne Jeffreys served as her attendants. We presented the first Powder Puff football game in several years and watched with "mixed feelings" as our class sponsor Miss Lois Gusler, found herself in possession of the pigskin, began trotting down the field, and suddenly found herself reclining in a sludge pit while scores of junior girls seized the opportunity to avenge biology failures and connived to construct a cone with Miss Gusler providing the foundation. Vicki
Newsome proved to be a regular little starlet; she starred in all three of the annual dramatic productions. Evaluation meant such degrading tasks as scraping gum off desk tops and erasing restroom literature, but Wilson did an excellent job of impressing the critics, and the National Honor Society rewarded our efforts with the freshness of Daisy Day. Springtime meant the birth of an unusual television program called Laugh In and preparation for the Junior-Senior Prom, "An Arabian Night," complete with murals, food to fit the theme, and the gym's first cheesecloth ceiling.
But more happened during our junior year.
The world's first heart transplant was successfully performed, Vietnam dragged on, and a horrible era of violence settled over the
country. Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot, ending his life but not his "dream," and just as it seemed that his career would attain new heights Robert Kennedy was also assassinated.
June 7th came, and our official status became "senior."
Andy Hawkins headed the student body as S.C.A. President, and we re-elected Mike Tapler our class president. "We're Number 1!' was shouted all over Tidewater and the really glorious thing was that we were! The Wilson football team won the Eastern Regional Championship and we had the
satisfacton of knowing that point-wise we were Number I in the State, too. Other Number l's Captured were in indoor and outdoor track, wrestling and cross country, track, and we tied for District 1st place in. basketball.' Ruth Campbell reigned as Homecoming Queen - attended by Rachel Lindsey and Billie Jean Blaylock - and once
again a Wilson girl, Sue Harris, captured the Portsmouth Juruor Miss title. On Senior Day we hauled our traditional lollipops around and paraded the halls with our heads swathed in construction paper (mockeries of the symbolic graduation caps). Becky Barclay rose to fame as a speech Maker, dramatist, and over-all scholar, sharing this last honor with Mark Sullivan as they composed half of
Wilson's winning "Hi-Q" team.
Jackie Kennedy shocked the world by re-marrying, Richard Nixon was inaugurated President; and Hong Kong Flu travelled the country, apparently finding Virginia a distasteful place. Wilson students tutored at Riddick-Weaver Elementary School, the "Remember the Pueblo" crew was released from Korea, and Vietnam remained undeniably real.
We graduated much like other senior classes, but each of us knew he had been a significant, necessary part of an outstanding class, and we ended the twelve-year project and broke the unity with dignity. This is our history, and these are our hopes. "May thy name e'er stir our mem'ries" - may we take more than memories with us. We all want
success, happiness, and peace, and we hope to be remembered as a much greater than "typical" group of men and women.
