Ronald Kessler is an author who wrote the biography, Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady. As he researched his subject, he met several Midlanders, including William Merritt who sent the link to a recent article Mr. Kessler wrote titled Laura Bush Reunion Bridges Segregation. Excerpt:
As first lady, Laura Bush has never forgotten her friends from high school and college. So she invited her 1964 graduating class from Robert E. Lee High School in Midland, Texas, to a reunion at the White House.
What made the event unique was that it bridged Midland’s segregationist past.
Besides Lee High, her hometown had two other high schools when she was growing up — Midland High and George Washington Carver High School.
Kids from Midland High and Lee High mixed socially. Laura’s high school boyfriend, Harvey Kennedy, attended Midland High. But Midland was segregated, and Carver was an entirely black school in a black section of town called the Flats.
As described in my book “Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady,” Carver was literally on the other side of the railroad tracks.
Most of the streets there were unpaved. Even though Carver was a mile from Midland High and four miles from Lee, no one at Carver, which is now closed, mixed with students from the other schools except when the boys played in summer baseball leagues.
For the 44th reunion on Saturday evening, Laura brought all three schools together for the first time. Six graduates of Carver, which had a much smaller graduating class than the other two schools, attended the event. In all, 500 people, including spouses or guests, paid $150 per person to attend. That reimbursed the White House for the cost of the event and also paid for the band.
Yes, it was an historic event. Back during our school days there was not a lot of interaction between the kids of MHS and LHS and the kids of CHS. Except for the guys who played summer baseball, most of us did not have the opportunity to meet any of the Carver grads until much later. We were a world apart back then. It's a small world today, and we should be grateful to Ms. Bush for helping bring the three school together for the first time.
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