Yearbook Flashback: Robinson in 1972

Let's travel back in time and look at Robinson Secondary School in its first year of existence.

The yearbook introduces the school thusly:

“The sheer dimensions of James W. Robinson, Jr. Secondary School are startling examples of the massive expansion going on within Fairfax County. As new subdivisions spring up almost overnight, the need for larger schools multiplies. The county schools, saturated with students, eagerly looked forward to the opening of Robinson. With a capacity for 3900 students and 143 classrooms, labs and centers, Robinson would relieve the overcrowding. But the growing population in the suburbs is a chronic condition; for even without a senior class, Robinson opened crowded!”

The school was named after Sergeant James W. Robinson Jr., the first resident of Virginia to be awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. He was fatally wounded at age 25 in South Vietnam in April 1966.

Robinson, the second secondary school in FCPS, opened in September 1971 (the third secondary school, Lake Braddock, would open in 1973). It brought in students from West Springfield, Fairfax, W.T. Woodson and Oakton high schools.

The 1971-1972 school year in history:

• During the summer before the school year began, the New York Times published The Pentagon Papers, a top-secret military history of the United States involvement in Vietnam from 1945-1967. The release of the documents would prove damaging to public opinion concerning the conflict in Vietnam. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was ruled in New York Times Co. vs. United States that the papers could be published, stating that government injunctions were unconstitutional prior restraint.
• The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was inaugurated in Washington D.C., opening with the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass.
• The Attica Prison Riots occured in New York for four days, leaving 39 dead.
• Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida.
• The HP-35, the first scientific handheld calculator, was produced. It costs $395. (An inflation calculator suggests that what cost $395 in 1972 would cost over $2,000 today)
• The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Miami Dolphins in Superbowl VI under the coaching of the legendary Tom Landry.
• The 1972 Olympics were held in Sapporo, Japan. The United States won 8 medals, including 3 gold. The Soviet Union won 16 medals, including 8 gold. This was the first Olympics where a Japanese athlete won a gold medal.
• U.S. President Richard Nixon made an 8-day visit to The People's Republic of China in which he met Mao Zedong.
• Stella McCartney, Lance Armstrong, Jada Pinkett Smith and Sacha Baron Cohen were born.