Merrill Pittman Cooper, 101, finally earned his high school diploma in March 2022 after abandoning his studies in 1938 due to the Civil War and the financial crisis he encountered.
According to CNN’s report, Cooper attended Storer College in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, from 1934 to 1938 but dropped out during his senior year when his family relocated to Philadelphia for financial reasons, Jefferson County Schools said in a statement.
According to the US National Park Service, Storer College was established in 1865 to serve newly freed slaves after the Civil War. The school was one of the only educational resources for Black residents of West Virginia. It served more than 7,000 students before closing in the mid-1950s. Cooper studied Latin, biology, history, English, and mathematics at the college.
In 2018, after a long and accomplished career in the transportation industry, Cooper visited the school, which is now part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. There, he expressed his regret over not earning a diploma to family members.
Achieving a high school diploma is a long-term dream for Merrill Pittman Cooper. He was enrolled in school between 1934 and 1938 but had to drop out.
However, he realized that his mother, who worked as a live-in housekeeper, couldn’t afford to make the final tuition payment for his senior year. He encouraged her to move them to Philadelphia, where she had family, but she was forced to drop out.
“She worked so hard, and it all became so difficult that I just decided it would be best to give up continuing at the school,” Cooper told the Washington Post.
Since dropping out in 1938, Cooper took a job at a women’s apparel store in Philadelphia to help pay the bills, then was hired in 1945 as a city trolley car operator.
He accomplished a career in the transportation industry but still regrets not getting his diploma. He narrated his wish to his family, who then opted to support him in achieving his dream.
To help him realise his dream, his family contacted park staff, who, in collaboration with local, regional, and state partners, organised a ceremony and diploma ceremony on March 19 to honour the centenarian.
Jefferson County Schools, the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, the Storer College National Alumni Association, and the West Virginia Department of Education were all involved.
Jefferson County Schools is committed to helping every student, young or old, fulfill their dreams,” Bondy Shay Gibson-Learn, the school system’s superintendent, said in the JCS statement.
For Mr. Cooper, that meant receiving a high school diploma. We are honoured to help make that dream a reality.”
1938 due to the civil war ???????????