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How the Class of 1958 Celebrated ‘Gay Schooltime Memories’

2 minute read

The haircuts are different and the hemlines are shorter, but the 1958 graduating class at Long Island’s Hempstead High was as ready for a taste of freedom as today’s outgoing high school seniors are. To commemorate graduation season that year, LIFE’s Gordon Parks photographed the students for a mini-yearbook the magazine ran in that year’s June 23 issue.

LIFE’s yearbook assigned senior superlatives, such as most popular girl (Jeanette Duggan), most talkative girl (Judy Krug) and best student (Jimmy Edwards). It recognized the students’ favorite teachers, like foreign language teacher Helen Ignelzi (“a fanatic on irregular verbs!”) and English teacher Mary Church (“she did a mean Charleston, but she really dug the cha-cha-cha”). And it recounted the students’ fondest memories of their final year in high school, “like the time Mr. Zara came to school in a red nightgown.”

Despite LIFE’s yearbook’s similarities to the ones hot off the presses this year, perhaps the most striking difference between those students and today’s is one that’s not visible in the photographs: their future plans. In 1960, just a couple of years later, fewer than half of high school graduates enrolled in college. Nearly 50 years later, the number is approaching 70%.

June 23, 1958 cover of LIFE magazine.
June 23, 1958 cover of LIFE magazine.Gordon Parks—LIFE Magazine

Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.

Hempstead High School class of 1958.
Caption from LIFE. Gay school time memories: LIFE's own yearbook for a senior class.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Hempstead High School class of 1958.
Caption from LIFE. Gloria Grant.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Hempstead High School class of 1958.
Caption from LIFE. At Connie's Drugstore, Hedy (left) and Harriet display sacks during Old Clothes Day. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Hempstead High School class of 1958.
Caption from LIFE. Twirler Eileen Seale.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Hempstead High School class of 1958.
Caption from LIFE. Yells from the Bleachers over a Hempstead touchdown.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Hempstead High School class of 1958.
Hempstead High School class of 1958.GORDON PARKSGordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Hempstead High School class of 1958.
Caption from LIFE. Gail Zoll and Larry Adamo.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Hempstead High School class of 1958.
Caption from LIFE. High-stepper Linda Kufe and friend.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Hempstead High School class of 1958.
Caption from LIFE. Jimmy Grismer.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Hempstead High School class of 1958.
Caption from LIFE. During student council election campaign Jerry McAndrews, dressed '20s-style, gestures at poster of her candidate, Linda Sileo, who was elected vice president.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Hempstead High School class of 1958.
Caption from LIFE. Juri Toomre, Jimmy Edwards, Mary Lou Albright and Lynda Drum try graduation gowns.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Hempstead High School class of 1958.
Students at Hempstead High School, on Long Island, pose for candids signing yearbooks for LIFE's school yearbook.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
June 23, 1958 issue of LIFE magazine.
June 23, 1958 issue of LIFE magazine.Gordon Parks—LIFE Magazine
June 23, 1958 issue of LIFE magazine.
June 23, 1958 issue of LIFE magazine.Gordon Parks—LIFE Magazine
June 23, 1958 issue of LIFE magazine.
June 23, 1958 issue of LIFE magazine.Gordon Parks—LIFE Magazine
June 23, 1958 issue of LIFE magazine.
June 23, 1958 issue of LIFE magazine.Gordon Parks—LIFE Magazine
June 23, 1958 issue of LIFE magazine.
June 23, 1958 issue of LIFE magazine.Gordon Parks—LIFE Magazine

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Write to Eliza Berman at eliza.berman@time.com