While some politicians may cringe at the idea of their high school yearbook surfacing, Gov. Kay Ivey’s yearbook foretold of her governorship some 56 years ago.
On Monday at 10 a.m., Ivey will participate in her first-ever formal inaugural proceedings, which will include a swearing-in ceremony at the Alabama State Capitol steps and a parade to follow.
However, long before Ivey assumed the role of governor — after Robert Bentley resigned in disgrace in April 2017 — Ivey’s Wilcox County High School classmates predicted that Ivey would one day win Alabama’s gubernatorial election.
According to the “Class Prophecy” in the 1963 Wilcox County High School yearbook (WIL-CO-HI), obtained by Yellowhammer News, Ivey’s classmates have long expected her ascendency to the highest office in Alabama. The 1963 “Class Prophecy” is a letter from the future, dated January 7, 1980. The letter offers details about a celebration over the election of “Kay Ellen Ivey” as Alabama governor.
As I talked to Emily, I heard an uproar on the courthouse square. I hurried over to see what was going on, and I heard the voice of the Mayor’s wife, the former Dana McNeill, coming over the microphone. I then spotted Terry Sue Martin in the crowd and ran over to ask her what was causing all the commotion. When she had told me that she was owner of the Pure Oil Company, I asked her what the celebration was for, and she gave me a puzzled look and said, “Why I thought you knew! Kay Ellen Ivey has just been elected governor!”
Based on the list of organizations in the 1963 yearbook, Ivey was very active at Wil-Co-Hi.
Ivey was also included among her class’ group of “outstanding seniors.”
In her yearbook’s “last will and testament,” Ivey bequeathed the love of “W.C.H.S. Band” to underclassman Ashby Tait. Ivey would go on to play in Auburn University’s marching band, in addition to serving in student political organizations, the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority, and the Student Government Association.
Perhaps it was her time as class vice president at Wil-Co-Hi that prepared her to serve in Auburn University’s SGA, and then go on to be state treasurer, lieutenant governor and now governor.
Ivey and her classmates had been together throughout their years at Wilcox County High School.
While at Wilcox County High School, one of her signature achievements was being the Daughters of the American Revolution “Good Citizenship Girl.”
Special thanks to Julia Handly, co-proprietor of Camden’s Liberty Hall.
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
