About
History
Centennial Celebration
Hockaday by Decade

1960s

1960 marked the final year at the old campus on Greenville Avenue. In this same year, the ground-breaking ceremony at Welch Road took place. This was a time of reflection for many staff, students, and alumnae, mixed with hope and anticipation for the next phase in Hockaday history.

Bernard Shea resigned as Head of School, and Herbert W. Smith became the Interim Head of School for the second time. He was considered charming and engaging by many of the students and faculty. Mrs. Erna Lively, the executive housekeeper, said of him, “He was a charmer. He could talk about anything. He would find out what you were interested in and then talk to you about it. He talked to me about my flowers and my flower gardens."

The Big Move to Welch Road

During the Thanksgiving vacation, all grades moved from the Greenville Avenue campus to the new campus on Welch Road. This was a rather challenging move, but in true Hockaday fashion, the students, faculty, and parents all pitched in to help ensure a seamless transition from one location to the next. Robert S. Lyle became the first Head of School at the new Welch Road campus.

Dedication of the new campus

On October 15, 1962, the trustees, staff, and students gathered for the dedicaiton of the new campus. This would mark the first full school year on the new campus grounds. There was much excitement about this newly-constructed and modern collection of buildings.

In 1963, the students and faculty were just beginning to get used to the new campus on Welch Road. In the 50 years since its founding, the School had faced transitions ranging from moving to three different campuses, five heads of school, two World Wars, the Great Depression, and much more. This was an exciting time full of possibilities for the future. The new campus provided a place to expand, grow, and develop a school program that would continue to set the standard for excellence in education. The forward-looking architecture of the new buildings even spoke to the dynamic push towards advancement in technology and learning.

The Kennedy Assassination
"In years to come, students would tell others exactly what they had been studying in World History that day or that they had been memorizing adverbs on page 97 with Miss Grow when they had received the news. Teachers consoled students, but there was not much teaching of an academic nature that afternoon..." by Catherine Orr Luccock '68, excerpted from the Centennial Anthology

Student Council Concentrates on Community Service

During the 1964 - 1965 school year, the student council decided to sponsor a child from China. During this time, refugees were fleeing from mainland China to Hong Kong. Through this International Rescue Committee program, the Student Council committed to sponsoring one child for $18.00 a month.

The Retirement of Mrs. Oram

Founder of the Spanish department, Mrs. Robbye Morrow Oram began her career at Hockaday in 1925 and retired in 1966. In her obituary in The Dallas Morning News, Hockaday alumna Mrs. Jaggi-Lemon remarked that “she realized we needed a multinational understanding between people. In the early years, Hockaday's foreign language focused on French. Mrs. Oram was the champion for adding Spanish to the curriculum, adding a Latin-American book collection to the library, and even establishing a Spanish club for students six years earlier. The Alumnae Association honored her by establishing the Robbye Morrow Oram Collection of Spanish-American books within the library." Many girls were grateful for Mrs. Oram's strict teaching and standard of excellence as they "found their knowledge of living, spoken Spanish the key to some of the great cultural experiences of their lives."

The first African-American Student, Lilli Josette Kirven '80, enters Hockaday’s first grade.

Mr. Thomas Coffee retires. Mr. Coffee was originally hired by Miss Hockaday as a gardener in 1933 and held several positions over his 35 years at the School. Through the years, he also worked as a bus driver and eventually became the head of the maintenance department. When the school moved from Greenville to the new Welch Road Campus, the service building was named in honor of Mr. Coffee.


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