Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th president of the United States. He served from 1953 to 1961.
Eisenhower was the last U.S. president who was born in the 19th century. He was a five-star general in the U.S. Army, and according to www.whitehouse.gov, he commanded the Allied Forces who during World War II landed in North Africa in November 1942, and on D-Day in 1944, he was supreme commander of the troops invading France.
“Ike,” as he was known, is also whom Eisenhower High School in Blue Island is named in honor of, and the school celebrated what would have been his 125th birthday on Oct. 14.
Historian Jim Gibbons gave a presentation about Eisenhower, and scholarships were awarded to Eisenhower seniors Brody Lee and Akire Hawkins for reflecting Eisenhower’s values, leadership and dedication. Scholarship eligibility requirements included a student participating in athletics and the fine arts for three consecutive years, achieving a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.0, being in good disciplinary standing, and exemplifying leadership through community service or community involvement, or by holding the position of class officer, serving as captain of an athletic team or being a club president or a member of ROTC.
Lee is a class officer and a four-year member of the speech program, as well as a member of the track program and a football team captain. Hawkins is described by teachers as an excellent student, and is a member of the track program and president of class officers, and she placed second in the state last school year in speech in Impromptu Speaking.
The event also included a tour of a hallway gallery dedicated to Eisenhower. Designed by staff members Paul Koenig, Bridget Fennessy, John Duckhorn and Stephanie Delejewski and alums Kim St. Leger and Robbie Dieters, the gallery is a timeline of photos highlighting Eisenhower’s early life, military years, postwar years, presidential years and his legacy.
“The purpose of the wall was to honor President Eisenhower, commemorate his visit to our campus in 1950, but also serve as a teaching tool for the students,” said Duckhorn, a social studies teacher.
Eisenhower spoke at the dedication of the high school building at 12700 Sacramento Ave. — then known as Blue Island Community High School — on Oct. 23, 1950.
“At the time, of course, it was a massive occasion,” Community High School District 218 spokesman Bob McParland said. “I think President Obama might be the one person whose profile approaches what Eisenhower meant to the nation at that time.”
Then-Supt. Harold L. Richards, for whom Richards High School in Oak Lawn is named, had served on Eisenhower’s staff in World War II and arranged for Eisenhower, who was the president of Columbia University at the time, to speak at the dedication. Eisenhower passed on another engagement, and the $5,000 fee he would have gotten, so he could be in Blue Island.
Linnetta Bradley and Melvin Kraas, graduates of the Class of 1952, remember the day well.
“I was in gym class, and so many people came flooding in to the school, it was like a carnival,” Bradley said in a YouTube interview created by the school. “Eisenhower was very popular.”
At the celebration last week, students sang “Happy Birthday,” and 2,000 cupcakes were served to students during lunch periods. There was an online trivia contest during social studies classes organized by staff members Dana Krilich, Todd Barham and Luz Carrillo, and counselor Bob Ugel organized a campus run that included military vehicles parked around campus from the 416th Engineer Command at Parkhurst Reserve Center in Darien.
The school was named after Eisenhower in 1962. Eisenhower died in 1969 at the age of 78.
“As extraordinary of a person as Eisenhower was, I believe that students can relate very well to him,” Duckhorn said. “He was a modest man who came from humble beginnings. In addition to being an excellent student and athlete, many people do not realize how talented of an artist he was. Most people are good at one thing; Eisenhower seemed to be good at everything. Regardless of this success, his modesty made him very approachable.”
Kelly White is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
