“I came back just to say thanks,” said comedian and political activist Dick Gregory. He was not talking about thanking an influential teacher but was paying homage to Sumner High School itself.
Gregory was one of about 800 alumni who returned to the school last Sunday afternoon to pay tribute as the Sumner Alumni Association kicked off a year-long celebration in honor of the 130 years that the oldest African-American high school west of the Mississippi River has been in existence.
The alumni n whose graduating classes ranged from the 1990s all the way back to 1930 n remembered the school in the loving way one reflects on an old, dear friend.
“We were born into the Sumner family,” said Jacqueline Vanderford, vice president of the Sumner Alumni Association.
John Abram, president of the Sumner Alumni Association, welcomed the crowd by saying, “We need your help to reach our vision.” That vision includes restoring Sumner’s reputation of excellence by improving the experience of students and providing an environment that is conducive to learning.
A retired engineer, Abram has returned to Sumner to teach history as part of his vision for the alumni association. “It’s a way to help the kids,” Abram said, “but I am also in the building and can really see what they need.”
Since being officially established last February, the association has enlisted over 700 members to help improve Sumner. They have also awarded $12,000 in scholarships and donated other funds.
“We want the students to know that we’ve got their back and support everything that they do,” said Vanderford. “Not just financially, but hands-on as well.”
Through funding from the association and coaching from class of ’94 alumna and attorney Kamilah Hall, Sumner took home 1st prize in the State-wide Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis High School Mock Trials held last week.
Legendary educator and class of ’57 alumnus Dr. Lynn Beckwith reinforced the notion of Sumner returning to greatness in his keynote address.
“Once upon a time, Sumner was one of the premier high schools in the U.S.,” said Beckwith. “Notice, I didn’t say ‘African-American high schools’; I said ‘high schools.’ And I believe that, like the phoenix, Sumner could rise again, better than it ever was.”
“No school on the planet can boast the tremendous supply of the types of minds that came from Sumner,” said Gregory.
Originally opened as the High School For Colored Children in 1875, the school was renamed Charles H. Sumner High School in honor of the U.S. Senator who was the first prominent politician to call for full emancipation and presented the 13th Amendment to the Senate in 1864.
Sumner alumni and staff can boast achievements in nearly every profession or field of endeavor. Dr. Edward A. Bouchet, the first African American to graduate from Yale and the first African American to earn a PhD in physics, taught science at Sumner. Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, the founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first African-American sorority, and Diane White, the first African-American meteorologist, are both alumni.
Its long list of distinguished graduates include military leaders (Gen. Roscoe Robinson and Capt. Wendell Pruitt), star athletes (Arthur Ashe), politicians (Lester Walton) and musicians (Chuck Berry, Grace Brumbrey, Chuck Berry).
Another musical alumnus, Class of ‘75 graduate and national recording artist David Peaston, closed the program by leading his fellow alumni in singing the school song.
“I was impressed,” said alumnus Thomas Walker after the event. “I hope we can continue to fight for Sumner. I know I am going to continue showing my support.”
Upcoming events for the anniversary commemoration include the 4th Annual Alumni Scholarship Golf Scramble and Bid Whist Tournament on Saturday, May 21, the Sumner Alumni Black Tie Gala Scholarship Dinner on Saturday, June 18 and the Sumner Alumni Gospel Explosion on Sunday, September 18.
For more information about the Sumner Alumni Association, call 345-2676.