Reflection Paper About School Yearbooks

Carlie Flanagan Yearbook Assignment

In 1958, Newfield High School opened its doors to students. Since then, a lot in the school has changed. This reflects what has changed in American society during this time, and how the culture of the area has changed. Almost sixty years later the school still has yearbooks from every year. By examining these yearbooks I could see what has changed in the culture surrounding the school. Before examining the yearbooks, I composed a series of questions that could help me learn about how culture has changed. I wanted to study style; I asked how makeup, hair, clothing and outfits changed. I also asked how sports uniforms changed, how sports activities themselves

Material culture includes physical objects, which have symbolic meanings behind them. For example, technology changed greatly. In the 1980s, the vending machines were taller, wider and designed to look like fake wood. Nowadays the vending machines are shiny, and many of them are digital. Also since the 2000s, photographs have shown more students at computers, in computer labs, because this technology has grown more accessible. Recently classroom settings had their chalkboards changed to Smart Boards. In the yearbook itself, a majority of the photos used to be in plain black and white. This was not only in the 60s, but lasted many years. From the 80s to the early 2000s yearbooks had mostly black and white photos, but the senior photos, deemed important, were in color. Then in the most recent years the yearbooks were in full color. This is not only because of technology, because color film was around for a long time, but affordability. When color film was cheap enough to be used in yearbooks, then it was used. The brands that students wore also reflected what was popular at the time. In the 90s Converse sneakers were popular among the students with the rise of the punk movement making them trendy. In the 2000s it was clothing brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle, which bore the brand names across the clothing. Then in recent years popular brands became Thrasher and Van

These include the norms, values and beliefs of the time. For example in the 60s, Newfield offered a course called “beauty culture,” which we now call cosmetology. This shows a change in women 's careers. While beauty culture sounds like a hobby, cosmetology sounds like a serious profession. Newfield also valued modesty, although that has changed. In the 60s the uniforms of cheerleaders were long-sleeved turtlenecks and skirts below the knee. But progressively over the years the uniforms got smaller, to tee shirts and above knee skirts, and now to sleeveless tops with short skirts. The school has also increased security since its founding. Until recent years there were candids of students roaming free in hallways, and seniors hanging out in and even painting the courtyard. Now, the courtyard is heavily locked and no one can actually go outside. Students also aren 't free to roam the halls or be anywhere besides their