Greenville High School Class of 1947 Celebrate 60th Anniversary at Luncheon

Written by Bob Dill

Nov 07, 2007 at 12:00 AM

Greenville High School Class of ‘47 on 60th anniversary. Twenty-eight members of the Greenville High School class of 1947 gathered at Tommy’s Ham House to reminisce before the end of the 60th anniversary of their graduation. Those attending were evenly divided with 14 women and 14 men from a graduating class of 304. They were the last class to graduate at the end of the 11th Grade. “The original class was much larger,” recalled Pat Earle, “however, 60 members of the class decided to stay another year at Greenville High and graduate from the 12th Grade.” Pat Earle and  husband Bill (William H.) were both members of the class of 1947.  The group gets together each 5th Wednesday of months that have 5 Wednesdays. Most of the attendees reside in the Greenville area. Harry Orr, however, came all the way from Oregon. Bill and Pat Earl chat with classmates of ‘47. Betty Kulze served as discussion leader after lunch. She reminded her classmates of the upcoming celebration of the 100th Birthday of Dr. M. T. Anderson who was the beloved principal of Greenville High School from 1940 until 1952. Dr. Anderson recently described his 12 years at Greenville High School as the “happiest years of my life.”  It was noted that the School District of Greenville County had recently renamed the former Southside High School facility the M. T. Anderson Support Center, in honor of the man who was superintendent of Greenville County Schools during the smooth transition to racial integration.   Before leaving the Ham House, members of the Class of 1947 gathered for a photograph to mark the 60th anniversary of their high school graduation.