Category Archives: 1950s to the 1960s

“The Only Thing You Could Hear in the Hallway Was Her High Heels”: Remembering Dr. Helen Faison at Westinghouse in the 1960s

  By lmartin3 • 6 Apr 2023 , ,

In the 1960s, Dr. Helen Faison served at Westinghouse High School first as a counselor and then as a vice principal. She was remembered by alumni of the 1960s for setting a tone for behavior in the school.

“She was a very tall woman with a very flat voice, but she was always in control, impeccably dressed,” Richard Morris, class of ’69, remembered. “when the bell rang, she would walk from the third floor to the first floor. And the only thing that you could hear in the hallway was her high heels.”

When she got to the first floor, she would sometimes call out someone’s name if they were, for example, running in the hallway, and they would have to go to her office.

“And when you got to the office,” Richard added, “she would hand you a white sealed envelope, and she would say to you, ‘Bring your mama back.’”

She knew many of the parents in the community and was also the Sunday school superintendent at the Baptist Temple Church. This gave her extra leverage over the students. The student who was in trouble would take the sealed white envelope to their mother to open, which would explain why the parent needed to come to the high school to discuss their child’s behavior.

Dr. Faison earned her doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh in 1975 and was the first woman and first African American high school principal in Pittsburgh.

In 2015, Dr. Faison passed away at the age of 91 after an illustrious 60-year career in education. According to the New Pittsburgh Courier, hundreds filled Baptist Temple Church to pay their respects.

Richard fondly remembered how she gently but forcefully set a high bar for student behavior.

“She was a person that she would listen to you, but at the end of the day, if you were wrong,” he said, “you were going to get a white envelope.”

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

  By aidan.bobik • 10 Mar 2023 ,

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.