43 Years Ago in Theogony…

Over 40 years ago, the school newspaper had just started its second year of printing. The newspaper has always been a great way for students to stay informed, but Theogony has changed significantly since the four-page December 9, 1966 issue, then called the Oracle.

T.C. Williams is focused on athletics now and was even 43 years ago. The Oracle includes articles about winter sports such as wrestling and basketball. A large part of the current wintertime Theology news includes stories about our victorious basketball seasons. In the Oracle, T.C. Williams went to the championship game against J.E.B. Stuart, despite just beginning their second year as varsity competitors. This shows that T.C. Williams has always been focused on their basketball talent, even so long ago. The athletics of T.C. Williams so long ago impacted the emphasis on sports in the present.

Key Club had just begun at T.C. Williams on November 30th, 1966 and had a mere sixteen members. Now, the club is extensive and has numerous members from all grades. Freshmen are included in the modern Key Club but were not present 43 years prior, because T.C. Williams has never had freshmen attendees and the freshmen were totally unconnected to T.C. Williams. Now, the Key Club has a myriad of grades and over three times as many members as it did in 1966.

One major difference from 43 years ago was that there were three high schools in Alexandria: Hammond, George Washington, and T.C. Williams. The schools were rivals but also interacted at the Youth Symposium, featured in this edition of the Oracle. The event encouraged positive interactions between the three schools by discussing issues such as racial tensions in several small groups, followed by lunch. Now, Alexandria only has one high school, but strives to connect with T.C. Williams Minnie Howard Campus.

Other articles in the December 1966 issue of the T.C. newspaper include the Snowball dance, celebratory article about the winner of the “Voice of Democracy” contest, a new dance club, news briefs, and what it is like to work on the Oracle. Our issue includes articles about Dr. Michael Miller, Roberta Parsons, G.I.R.L.s Club, and many other newsworthy issues, The layout and major events of the Oracle and the Theogony were different because of the time gap, but were similar in their excellent reporting skills.

The Oracle may have been published over 40 years ago, but it was still similar to recent newspapers of 2009. The history of the T.C. Williams newspaper displays how our journalism skills have changed throughout the years.