54 Years Later and Still Hopping

Poly alumni Atsuko Yomogida, Diane Olson, Jo Shuford, and Judy Salter stood with their Poly shirts on, inspecting the campus they said they once knew and loved.  This past week the four alumni from the class of 1960 took a tour of the campus and recalled what high school was like 54 years ago.

“Back then when we were going to school, life was simple, and we had a lot of fun. We still talk all the time about high school,” said Olson.

The women noticed that much has changed since they last visited. They admired the school’s new paint scheme, the portraits bordering the doors on the catwalk, and the mural on the side of the science building.

Beside the physical changes, the culture at Poly has changed too. The women said that the girls had to wear skirts and were not allowed to wear pants. They did P.E. in bloomers and had to monogram their shirts.

“We wore knit bathing suits, which sagged when they were wet. Once I tied the bathing suit too tight and I had to get it cut off,” said Salter. “They were awful.”

Poly also had sororities and fraternities on campus.  “The different sororities and fraternities would sit in different sections of the quad,” said Shuford. “So if someone told you to meet them at the quad, you knew which part to go to because of what club they were in.”

But the ladies also mentioned the cultural tensions that existed during their three years. There were no interracial couples at Poly, and there were separate social events outside of school for black and white teenagers.

“Poly has always been a completely integrated school. At that time we didn’t realize the segregation. It took me 10 years before it became contentious,” said Shuford.

As the women looked at the mural on the science building, they remembered many of the events and people depicted on the walls. They went to school with Billie Jean King, they rode the Cyclone Rider coaster that once stood on the Pike, and they danced at the Hutch.

Although these women are not from the same generation as current students, they share a common experience with them: Long Beach Polytechnic High School—Home of Scholars and Champions.