aidan.bobik – Westinghouse Stories

“Robbed of the Valediction”: Fannetta Nelson Gordon and the Valedictorian of 1936

By aidan.bobik • 6 Apr 2023 Academics, Early Decades

Denial

1934. Sophia Phillips Nelson graduates at the top of her class — the first Black valedictorian from Westinghouse High School.

1936. Nelson’s sister, Fannetta Nelson Gordon — a gifted student, scholar, and musician — was poised to be the second. The principal had other plans. “He said, after me there will never be another—the word was not Negro—valedictorian on his watch,” recalled Nelson to the New Pittsburgh Courier.

According to family members, the principal threatened her teachers to change her grades. The music teacher, Carl McVicker — newly hired and fearing for his job — complied. Overnight, her A became a B, and she was denied her recognition.

According to Gordon’s nephew, Nelson Harrison — a gifted musician in his own right — Gordon was “robbed of the valediction at fifteen years of age.”

Subsequent analysis by the Westinghouse Alumni Association found clear eraser marks on the transcript — an A replaced with a B.

Success

Fannetta Nelson Gordon would have a prestigious career — one filled with education, music, and family.

After being denied an education in music performance at Carnegie Tech because of her race, she graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in language. She taught German in the Pittsburgh Public School District for nearly two decades. In 1969, she was appointed as the State Language Supervisor at the Pennsylvania Department of Education in Harrisburg.

She remained a gifted concert pianist throughout her life. Touring with the National Negro Opera Company in her youth. Harrison fondly remembers her playing accompaniment with him as he developed his own musical prowess.

Recognition

According to Gordon’s nephew, Nelson Harrison, Gordon “was heartbroken ‘til the day she died” because of the valediction denial. McVicker would later reach out to the family, confirming and apologizing for his actions.

She “was heartbroken ’til the day she died.”

In 2011, 75 years after being denied, the Westinghouse Alumni Association posthumously recognized Gordon as the rightful valedictorian. The Pittsburgh School Board also voted to posthumously recognize Gordon as the Westinghouse High School class of 1936 valedictorian.

Though Gordon didn’t live to see the recognition, her sister, Sophia Phillips Nelson believes “her spirit [was] with us. And she appreciates this—I won’t say tardy—recognition.”

Gordon was also recognized with a proclamation from the Pittsburgh City Council and a resolution in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

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“No Locks on the Doors”: Richard Morris and the 1968 Walkout

By aidan.bobik • 10 Mar 2023 1950s to the 1960s, 1960s

A long-time resident of Homewood, Richard Morris graduated from Westinghouse High School in 1969. Homewood, he recalled, “was very Leafy…there were a lot of trees.” It was a mixed neighborhood of Black and Italian Pittsburghers. And at the heart was Westinghouse High School.

While at Westinghouse, Morris found that athletics, activism, and academics were not separate categories — they were a unified experience. At Westinghouse, one could be all three. Activist, athlete, and academic.

Football and Friends

“I wanted to play football worse than anything else because it was a school that was renowned for that.”

After years of effort and experience, Morris came to lead the varsity football team as quarterback. Described as the Silent Assassins, they garnered a reputation as a strong and dedicated team. But more than their work on the field, team members supported each other and maintained strong academic achievements.

The bonds built on- and off- the field proved fundamental and long-lasting.

1968 Student Walkout

In 1968, the Westinghouse administration made a consequential policy change: Students could no longer leave the school for lunch. This decision set off a series of events. Chains were placed on the doors. Students pulled the fire alarm and cut the chains to leave the school. The police were called. Altercations occurred and demands were made.

Students’ demands, however, didn’t end at lunchtime freedom — it was only a beginning. More long-standing and systemic issues were at play, and students wanted to see change.

“We wanted a Black principal, more Black teachers. We wanted to have Black history in the school. We wanted to have dances at lunchtime. We wanted to bring alumni back to our school, so the kids could see them. And of course, no locks on the doors; a whole series of things.”

Inspired by the national Civil Rights Movement and local activists, students organized a walkout. Beginning at Westinghouse, the walkout spread across the city. According to Morris, they held “meetings with students from all across the city,” and decided on a “joint agenda” of student demands.

Students had interactions with the National of Islam and the Black Panther Party (BPP). They joined with Pittsburgh activists including William “Bouie” Haden. They organized themselves into departments headed by ministers, inspired by the BPP, and met and learned.

But none of this occurred in a vacuum. “Our activism,” recalled Morris, “started about five days after Martin Luther King was assassinated.” And during “our activism period, Homewood would get burnt down.” The Westinghouse Walk-out wasn’t isolated — it was part and parcel of a decade of change and activism in Pittsburgh and the nation.

Continued Westinghouse Spirit

Morris has continued to advocate for the Homewood community. In his professional life, as an employee of the Housing Authority. In other ways, as a continued activist and community organizer in the Homewood area.

Westinghouse is forever imprinted on him. The lessons, experiences, and pride continue to inspire him. Morris works to remember Westinghouse’s history and inspire current generations of students — including his grandchildren.

Morris considers his family business, “taking care of the Black community and making sure that people have opportunities.” It’s what he’s done for years and what Westinghouse taught him to do.

“Once I got it, I ran with it”: Kahlil Morris and Homewood Organizing Today

By aidan.bobik • 9 Mar 2023 1990s, 1990s to the Present, Activism

Football, Family, and Westinghouse

A graduate of Westinghouse, class of 1994, Kahlil Morris sees the school as an integral part of who he is. “Westinghouse has been everything for me,” he says. Knowledge, values, but above all — pride. All were instilled through his time at Westinghouse.

“‘We want you here, and we need you here.'”

Morris recalls fond memories of sports, art, and a well-rounded education at Westinghouse. The school, and especially football, “was tradition” — never more the case than for his family. Morris’s father, Richard Morris, was also a graduate of Westinghouse, a football quarterback, and a dedicated activist and community servant. Kahlil Morris followed in those footsteps.

People were just as, if not more, important than activities. Mr. Young was the principal of Westinghouse during Morris’s time as a student. For Morris, Mr. Young exemplified the spirit of Westinghouse and the Homewood community. He “kept with what was going-on on the streets” and worked to create a school environment where all were treated equally. No matter a student’s background or activities, Mr. Young would tell students: “’We want you here, and we need you here.’” Morris has never forgotten it.

Community and Challenges

A continued and lifelong resident of Homewood, Morris acknowledges community difficulties. In high school, he “came through some the worst violence in the city, especially in African American communities.” Today, those challenges remain.

Never ignoring the challenges, however, Morris wants people to remember that “[Westinghouse’s] Wall of Fame is stacked…[the] secrets are just locked.” Homewood holds a special place. Never backing away from a challenge, Morris has put them in view and faced them.

Strategize, Organize, Mobilize

“We as Homewood residents need to take back the streets in this community.”

These are the guideposts of Morris’s current work. Never forgetting his family or the Westinghouse experience, organizing came naturally. And, Morris notes, “once I got it, I ran with it.”

As of 2014, Morris served as President of Homewood Community Sports. Among their projects was revitalizing the little league program in the Homewood neighborhood — something Morris takes great pride in. Recalling run-down fields and worn-out uniforms, Morris took significant action. All with the support of the community. Now, “the little league program means to [Homewood] what the Steelers mean to Pittsburgh,” he says.

Morris was also a community organizer with Operation Better Block. In this position, Morris ran the boys’ group among other activities. He wishes to be seen as a mentor — someone to show young people that great things can still come from Homewood.

“Despite what you see on the news, Homewood is a great place,” Morris emphasizes. “We as Homewood residents need to take back the streets in this community.”

From familial experiences, to Westinghouse, and the greater Homewood community Kahlil Morris shows that passion, dedication, and community spirit still remains. It never left.