Mark KennedyThe Class of 1955 at Soddy-Daisy High School had no yearbook, just a black-and-white class photo.
There were 93 souls in the class — Mabel, Nancy, Arnold, Otis and the others.
The girls had short hair — pageboys and poodle cuts — and they wore demure dresses that buttoned up to the neck. The boys had flat-top haircuts. A few wore bow ties for picture day.
They were the post-Great Depression children of coal miners, farmers and factory workers. It was a time when you were more likely to stand out for having nice clothes than for wearing the same pair of overalls three days in a row.
“Everybody was poor,” remembers W.V. Roberson.