Verbena Wright-Reed remembers walking a few miles to catch both bus and trolley to get from Overland to St. Louis to attend Sumner High School in the mid-1930s. At the time, Wright-Reed could not attend school in Overland because she is Black.

The 105-year-old did not think she would live long enough to see the day when nearly a thousand people would be celebrating the sesquicentennial anniversary of her former high school.

“Being here, I’m just so full of happiness,” she said with a closed-mouth smile.

Wright-Reed was the guest of honor at Sumner High School’s annual alumni celebration on Saturday, July 26. She is the oldest-known alumna. While at the all-Black high school, she was a member of the girls basketball team, the sewing club, the hiking club, the typewriting club and the gol

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