By Angelita Faller
GRAMBLING, LA – Netria Anne Joe’s fondest memory of attending Grambling State University 50 years ago is of sneaking into a peach orchard across the street from her dormitory.
“A group of us sneaked over to the orchard and got some peaches, and we got caught by the dormitory matron. Yes, we did, so that was the most fun thing and the scariest thing, because I thought I was going to get sent home,” Joe said during the 50th Golden Reunion for the Class of 1965 on May 7.
While Joe does not recall what her exact punishment was, she certainly did not get kicked out of school. Grambling taught her the value of education, and she went on to share that belief with the hundreds of students she taught during her 38 years as an eighth-grade English teacher in Louisiana.
Joe attended the reunion with her best friend of 40 years, Ida Thomas James, who also worked as an elementary school teacher in Louisiana and Illinois. While Joe and James both attended Grambling, had the same major and graduated in 1965, the two claim they never met until they became co-workers at the same school in Madisonville, La., 10 years later in 1975.
“Nobody believes that we never met while we were here. We never ran in the same circle. I was more into organizations and the sorority side, and she (Joe) was a socialite,” James recalled, adding that she was very active in a political organization called the Nomad League.
“We would meet with citizens in the area to help them pass the test so they could go register to vote. A lot of people in the 1960s were not able to register, because there was a test and in some places there was a fee to register,” she said.
James recalls how lucky she was to be able to afford a college education at Grambling. Her father died when she was in the 10th grade, and her mother single-handedly put James and her two siblings through college.
“We didn’t have extra money to buy things. There were two other friends in the same situation, and we would put our money together to buy snacks: a honey bun and a Mr. Cola. A honey bun cost 10 cents, and a Mr. Cola cost 15 cents. We would divide it into three, so we would have a piece of honey bun and a little of Mr. Cola. We are still very close today. One is in Florida and one is in Michigan, but we made it,” she said.
Eighteen member of the Class of 1965 were presented with Golden Reunion Certificates during the 2015 Spring Commencement on May 8: James Bradford, Jonesboro, La.; Birdex Copeland, Grambling, La.; Mary Casson Davenport, Shreveport, La.; Alfred Dawson, Houston, Texas; Lille Doyer Dawson, Houston, Texas; Florence Durell, New Orleans; Donald Francis, Jennings, La.; Delia Monroe Hamilton, Shreveport, La.; Clarence Hawkins, Bastrop, La.; Betty Webb Jackson, Grambling, La.; Ida Thomas James, Covington, La.; Hazel Jefferson, Opelousas, La.; Netria Anne Joe, Mandelville, La.; Alice Naylor, Country Club Hills, Ill., William Ruffin, Many, La.; Herbert Simmons, Jr., Jonesboro, La.; Gilbert Stampley, Beaumont, Texas; and Bobbie Scott Williams, Beaumont, Texas.
James Bradford, mayor of Jonesboro, called the opportunity to return to Grambling for his 50th reunion a blessing.
“I was up on stage 50 years ago, and to be able to walk across that stage unaided 50 years later is a blessing,”
After Bradford graduated, he worked as central regional manager of government and public relations at Smurfit-Stone. He says he owes his success to his time at Grambling.
“Grambling made me what I am today. Were it not for Grambling, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Grambling gave me an opportunity when other schools would not,” Bradford said.
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