My sister the rebel

I attended Memorial High Catholic school in Evansville Indiana. The school was supposedly a boy’s school and taught by the Brothers of Notre Dame. However, girls were admitted temporarily in 1935 and never left. The girls were taught by nuns and were segregated from the boys. The boy’s classrooms were on the main floor and the girls were on the second floor. We were allowed to mix in the cafeteria during lunch.

For athletic events, we were only allowed to have boy cheer leaders. Bishop Henry J. Grimmlesman was very insistent on this issue. My sister Kitty was two years behind me.

When she became a student, it was a subject that irritated her. She lobbied to get girls allowed to be cheerleaders. It fell on deaf ears. During her freshman year she got a bright idea. I played in the band which performed at halftimes and did concerts. She decided that we needed a support group of girls on the field at half time. She organized a group of girls and called the group Pom-Pom dancing team. Somehow, she garnered enough support to get them allowed to perform during the football games. Even the bishop caved and allowed Them to perform.

Their first performance was at Reitz high school in the Reitz Bowl on what turned out to be one of the coldest nights of the year. They survived and became a permanent part of half time shows. Eventually after she had graduated, and we had a new Bishop, girl cheerleaders were allowed. Today there are no nuns or brothers teaching. Classes are integrated with boys and girls.