The class of ‘1956 total ten graduates; they were the first MC Riley graduation class that actually dawn the ‘cap and gown’; the class before them – 1955, only had three students, Joe Grant, Lula Williams and Florence (Stella) Green; they simply were presented their diplomas during a school Assembly program. George ‘Horseman’ Brown recounted,

“that was a big moment for us and our family members; we were stepping proud as we marched up on the stage and picked up that diploma, a stage that we built in our Ag class (agriculture), Mr. Hildebrand was our Ag teacher; Bootsy and Lillian made us even prouder; they delivered there speeches loud and clear; Mr. Lebby was our principal at the time; he and Mr. Mikey (Michael) Riley were so proud of us because we handled ourselves so well in front of the ‘big wigs’ – district #2 schools trustees and superintendent. We rented our cap and gown from some company out of Savannah, I do not remember the name of the company, but I do remember we had to pay $2.50 for both the cap and gown; yeah, that was a proud time.”

      James Brown, ‘Bootsy’ as he was affectionately known was the class of ‘56 Valedictorian; he was born in New York City but lived in Bluffton with his grandmother as a teenager and attended MC Riley High School. He recounted the following:

“those were indeed the ‘good old days’; school for us in those days was reading, writing, arithmetic and science; there were no extras, except for Ag; all of the boys had to take Ag and the girls all took Home Economics; me, George Brown, Paul Joiner and Charles Hamilton played basketball; Mr. Cummings and Mr. Wilborn were our coaches, Mr. Lebby tried to help out but it was mainly Mr. Cummings and Mr. Wilborn; they did not finish building the gym until our senior year, so we all played on the outdoor court; we only played in the gym for one year; I remembered how strange it felt bunching that ball on that ‘tile floor’; we had to get use to that; George Brown and Paul Joiner were the star players back in those days; man, the things the ‘horseman’ could do with a basketball; we all called him ‘horseman’, even today that’s what I call him. I had an evening and weekend job; I worked for the Goodman’s – in the ‘Jew Store;’ you know the store as Planter’s Mercantile, but for us it was the ‘Jew Store;’ the Goodman’s’ were from New York; we had that in common, I am sure that is why they hired me.”

     Lillian Aiken was a native of Hilton Head Island and the class of ’56 Salutatorian; she chose the nursing profession as her career endeavor. She was one of the first Black nurses-assistant that worked the floors of Telfair Candler Hospital in Savannah, GA. She retired as a nurses-assistant in 1995; most of her children still reside in Savannah, Georgia.


      Three of the male graduates were recruited and joined the military upon graduating; Charles Hamilton and Paul Joiner made the military their careers; they both retired from the military after being in for twenty-five or more years. George Brown stayed in the military, Air Force, for four years; got out, work several jobs, including for General Motors for ten years. With his own savings he opened a restaurant (Brown’s Luncheonette) in Manhattan, NY, at 3 Lenox Avenue. His specialty was ‘all things chicken’, particularly, 4 wings for a dollar. He retired at age 75 and is currently living in Bronx, NY, along with his wife. They have three adult children, each married and living in other areas of the country.


      As of drafting this article, we were able to confirm that Paul Joiner is currently living in Maryland and James ‘Bootsy’ Brown and George ‘Horseman’ Brown are living in Bronx, NY. We do not know if any other classmates are living.