The last class to attend the original Wakefield building has long since graduated. 12 years after its permanent closure, I think it’s time for a retrospective of 4901 S. Chesterfield Road; how different was the atmosphere? What long dead traditions should we bring back to revive this school?

For those who don’t know, Wakefield High School opened in 1953; racial integration began in ‘62 and increased drastically in ‘64; finally, the building closed 60 years after opening in 2013. The building once stood where our baseball and softball fields now are.

In the Gary Kubicek collection on the Wakefield alumni website, you can find a set of photos documenting each of the rooms in the old building; what you find, even with a few short glances, is something of an archaeological record. The halls were accented with vibrant colors that contrast much of our current understated walls. There were tucked-away rooms with messages from graduating seniors; it is almost as if the building itself was a yearbook with quotes and signatures of its own:

“This day is forever 

a day to be held and cherished

Because in it we lived 

And loved and nothing 

else matters in this

World of our own making

To which we have escaped

~Lacey ‘01”

That quote came from a novel by Daphne du Maurier, Frenchman’s Creek, which, fittingly, takes place in the past, just as the old Wakefield now does.

You might ask, why do I place such importance on the building itself, and not on the students? I would respond with the simple fact that everybody has a different experience in life: some have unstable home lives, others are sports prodigies and receive full rides; the one thing that unites the students is this shared space. If you go somewhere every day, you get to know it like an old friend; both Wakefields have hosted so many students, the buildings begin to take on their character. It’s true, I might be romanticizing a version of a place that never existed, but I think there is something to be learned from the past. 

Maybe if we petition to allow for more painting and decorating of the halls by student artists, we can restore an atmosphere of community that I feel is so lacking in the school. Of course, I understand that with such a large and diverse population, there can be no one unified culture, but I believe that with a more aesthetically pleasing environment, there might be a chance at genuine connection. Forgive me if I’m coming out of left field, but if the Yondr pouches have “freed” us of the cell phone and left a huge gap in our minds, why not fill it with the community we were promised? Why not let us leave our fingerprints on the historical record that Wakefield will be in years to come?

Well, there was my attempt to review and propose a new history. I hope at least a few people will come away inspired; that’s what this was really about. If you’re curious about Wakefield history like I am, visit wakefieldalumni.org/history.html; the site will speak my message clearer than I ever could.

Have a great summer!