Geraldine Hammond got a warm welcome Wednesday at the northeast Salem school bearing her name.
Hundreds of children and educators assembled to celebrate Hammond’s 90th birthday, applauding the retied educator as she made her way to the school gym for a birthday assembly. Many were clad in pink, her favorite color, and flamingo decorations featured prominantly.
The birthday celebration is an annual tradition at Hammond, though it was suspended for the past few years due to Covid, said Susan Solis, a special education instructional assistant at Hammond who helped organize the event.
“Every time she comes, she loves it,” Solis said, noting that in her younger years, Hammond would sometimes visit classrooms to say hi to students. “She just absolutely adores being around the children, that’s her passion.”
Hammond blazed trails in Salem as a dedicated educator and principal, and became the district’s first Black woman to lead a district school in 1976. She retired after serving as principal of Rosedale and Pringle elementary schools, and helping coordinate Salem-Keizer’s multicultural program.
Hammond Elementary School, built in 2001, was named in recognition of her contributions to the district.
Because the celebration was her 90th, it included a special guest – Mark Anderson, Hammond’s first principal, who flew in from North Carolina to attend.
“He flew in to surprise her, she was very excited to see him,” Solis said.
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Photographer Ron Cooper and his wife Penny moved to Salem in 1969 to take a job as photographer at the Oregon Statesman (later the Statesman Journal). Their three children, Monica, Kimberly, and Christopher, attended and graduated from Salem public schools. Cooper retired from the Statesman Journal in 2001 but, has continued his passion for photography in many ways, including as a photographer for the Salem Reporter.
Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
