NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's been 50 years since a high school class lived through history that changed Nashville. Back in the early 70s, the city faced a matter of progress with uncertainty. There were debates and protests. Now, members of the graduating class of 1972 are looking back on an unforgettable senior year. It's a story about a time of change and the people who lived it.
Theodocia Moore-Kennedy, who people know as Dodie, recited one of her old high school chants.
"Everywhere we go, people wanna know know, who we are! The mighty, mighty Tigers!" she cheered.
Even in her days at Pearl High School, Dodie was never the shy type.
"No way! I was voted Most Popular," she smiled. "I talk a lot, and I don't see no stranger."
Dodie will tell you her class of 1972 was something special.
"This was the pride of the Black community," said Melvin Black, a former Pearl teacher and coach, now curator of the Pearl High Archive Museum.
"For a long time, Pearl was the only Black school in the north Nashville area," he said.
"The faculty worked in sync to give you the best education that was available," added Pearl class of 1972 president Derrick Dowell.
"We loved what we had, okay?" Melvin said.
"These were instructors who lived with us in our communities," Derrick continued.
For Dodie and Derrick, life at the historically Black Pearl High changed at the start of their senior year. Under court-ordered guidelines, a desegregation plan was made in 1971 to get closer to a racial balance in Nashville schools. There was pushback, with mayoral candidate Casey Jenkins leading demonstrations against busing efforts.
"Whites who lived in the suburban areas of Nashville, they still felt a little uncomfortable being in a Black neighborhood," Melvin remembered.
"Children always conversed with each other, and they get along," said Dodie. "It was their parents who kept things going on."
Among the white students set to be part of the Pearl student body was Cheryl Bernhardt.
"There was people that was adamant, 'I'm not gonna do it,'" Cheryl said. "There were people who moved out of county. It was a force by court to desegregate the schools. [The city wasn't] doing it. There was a token mix of races, but it wasn't what it needed to be."
On a morning in 1971, buses headed out. With the protests and violence that had come during desegregation efforts across the country for years, what would the first day of school bring?
"Of all the schools, Pearl was probably the most worried about something happening," Cheryl said.
That's not how it went. Throughout that school year at Pearl, there were people, the kind who don't know a stranger, who just made new friends.
"Oh, Lord. Yes!" laughed Dodie. We wanted to make sure everybody got a chance to be equal. [The white students] were cheerleaders. They were basketball players. They got in the chorus."
"They could run for class office, take part in athletics," Derrick added.
"Teachers here were dedicated to them as well as the Black community," said Melvin.
"There was a concerted effort," Cheryl remembered. "You could tell. You could feel it. Because our communities were so separate, there was a lot of curiosity. It wasn't history then! It was life."
Dodie has missed those people who made up the class of 1972. She decided to do something about it. Dodie made some calls and sent some messages. On Saturday, she brought her class back together for a reunion.
"We made it!" she said. "We are here 50 years later. Just think of that. I'm telling my age! Uh oh! I was a teenager. Now, I'm this old lady talking about 50 years later after Pearl."
The integrated class of Pearl High is a group of people who made friends and made history.
"When we were children, we prospered," Dodie said. "We became a lot of things and had good careers. We're still alive to rejoice and have some fun."
A group at the reunion joined in on a chant.
"Everywhere we go! People wanna know know! Who we are! The mighty, mighty Tigers!"
