“From the Archives” Our School Playground in the 1950s

Back in the 1950s, boys and girls were separated when they played outdoors on the Saint Mary School playground. Boys occupied the section behind the school; girls played around the corner, on the long sloping side facing Royal Street. The boys favored games such as Murder Ball. The game involved one boy racing across the yard with a football while the other boys chased him, tackling him to get the ball and run with it. Parents hated this game because their sons regularly came home with rips in the knees of their pants. Not surprisingly, the school nurse treated scraped knees and elbows daily. As much as teachers tried to discourage the game, it persisted, even after basketball hoops were installed on the playground. The boys seemed to prefer tackling each other!
Girls in those days also ran around their playground space but preferred less violent activities. Younger ones played with the traditional red rubber playground balls and spent hours jumping rope. As they reached the upper grades, girls often walked about, talking in small groups, mostly about boys and their favorite movie stars.
Sister Marie Antonette was the 8th grade teacher for a number of years. She spent her lunch break on the playground, walking and talking with the 8th grade girls, who were really fond of her. Her stories were always interesting and, upon reflection, contained a wealth of good advice, perfect for young adolescents. When the Commonwealth of Virginia enacted a law requiring every teacher to have a college degree,
Sister was forced to retire. Although she had studied in a teachers college for two years, fairly common prior to the 1960s, she felt she was too old to go back to school for a four-year degree. Many older teachers were in the same situation. With their wealth of experience, this was a great loss for the school and future pupils.
After the school gym was built, much of the “boys” playground was lost and the remaining space became co-ed. A strip of grassy lawn belonging to the parish cemetery was transformed into a fenced area for pre-school and primary graders. Swings and a wooden slide/climbing gym set also were constructed. When studies later proved these structures were not safe, they were removed and replaced. Eventually, the grassy area was needed for additional gravesites and was returned to the cemetery.
– Kitty Guy, Parish Historian
Throughout 2020, the Basilica of Saint Mary will present “From the Archives.” It is a weekly feature online and in our bulletin spotlighting the history of the parish. All of our “From the Archives” features are located here.