PHS Graduate Class of ’73 prepares for 50th reunion

PERRY, Ga. — When you’re in high school, graduation seems like a great monumental task, a milestone that will send you into greatness. What many don’t know when they finally do graduate — that ceremony is just one of the first.

All the accomplishments, the hardships, goals failed and completed, they muddy the view. You graduate, life continues and so do you.

And yet, there’s something special about returning to your stomping grounds, seeing all the people you spent your school days with, and talking about all the things that have happened following.

According to Ola Hill, a member of Perry High School’s graduating class of 1973, there’s something even more special about returning 50 years down the line.

On Sept. 8-10, the PHS graduating class of ’73 will be reuniting once again to celebrate one another, 50 years later. They are the first group of students at Perry High School to start and end their four years of schooling in an integrated school following the Civil Rights Movement.

In 2023, the group of graduates will meet on a monthly basis to plan for their reunion and work to make contact with other members of their class who live nationwide.

According to Ernest Stripling, treasurer, their group currently consists of around 50 members. Their total graduating class was made up of around 182 students.

“If you know of someone, let us know their name and their contact number,” Hill said.

The goal is to have as many people in their class as possible participating in their festivities later this year.

“Fifty years is a milestone,” Hill said. “Do you know what can happen in 50 years? It’s important — you might do 15 or 25, but 50 years!”

“A lot of our classmates aren’t here, they’re gone,” Stripling said. “We get together and we talk, we see people we haven’t seen in 50 years.”

If you are a member of Perry High School’s Graduating Class of 1973 and want to get involved, you can contact Stripling via phone at (404) 402-4253.

The graduating class’ next meeting will be Feb. 18.

HHJ News