By Madeline Acker
Op/Ed Editor
Have you ever wandered the halls of R.J. Reynolds High School and wondered who has walked there before you? Neatly tucked away in Room 210 lies your answer. Each one holds decades of RJR’s history, capturing a snapshot of the school’s past. You guessed it, yearbooks. Each volume is filled with images, quotes, stories, and information about the people who first made RJR the place where everyone wants to be.
Opening up to the first page of the 1984 yearbook, you can feel the school spirit radiating through the pages. Images show students filling the streets of downtown Winston-Salem during parades, goofing off outside of RJR between classes, and spending weekends simply enjoying each other’s company. With each turn of the page, you dive deeper into the traditions and excellence that have defined our great school for generations.
Just when you begin to think that RJR has changed so much over the years, you stumble upon something that reminds you of how deeply its spirit endures. In the 1988 yearbook, senior Joely White reflects on her time at RJR.
“R.J. Reynolds has been the experience of a lifetime for me…I feel like a part of Reynolds now, and I am going to miss going here so much,” Joely said.
Her sentiment is echoed by fellow senior Shannon Camp, who wrote, “There is a spirit at Reynolds that I am glad to have experienced. It will be impossible to find it anywhere else.”
Their words prove that Reynolds’ pride has always, and will always, run strong.
Besides feeling pride for their time spent at Reynolds, students also filled their schedules with sports and clubs, many of which we still embrace today. Senior Girls Service Club, Key Club, Ebony Society, Girls Council, and many more have been the backbone of RJR for even longer than most of us have been alive.
While many things have changed since then, some traditions are still delightfully similar to what we practice today. Key Club still hosts their annual Thanksgiving food drive and handles the recycling every Friday. The Black and Gold Yearbook Staff and RJR Pinewhispers still strive to document every aspect of student life at Reynolds. And our sports teams continue to embody the same spirit and camaraderie seen decades ago, with the RJR Dancing Boots, cheerleaders, and marching band supporting every football and basketball game, win or lose.
Each yearbook serves as a fossilized artifact of its time. Every edition showcases the fashion, music, entertainment, innovations, and experiences of its time. In 1983, students celebrated favorites like John Cougar Mellencamp’s patriotic “Jack and Diane” and Amy Heckerling’s classic film, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The 1970s trademarked a new era of fashion with bell-bottom pants striking up a huge trend and sideburns becoming all the rage. The 1974 Black and Gold edition even captured a few national controversies, noting Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal and the rising wave of marijuana use among teens.
Each yearbook tells a story about a pivotal chapter in these young students’ lives that shaped them to be who they are. Many people look back on high school and the years just after as their “glory days,” and the RJR yearbooks showcase exactly why: they capture the growth, excitement, and defining moments of every student who walked these halls. No matter where RJR alumni are today, one thing remains true—they can look back on their time at Reynolds with joy, gratitude, and deep appreciation for the memories they made here.