20th Century Special Occasions

The Ludlowe High School 1961 junior prom was featured on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post in 1962. As the magazine explained, artist Ben Prins posed the students from the "antiquated Roger Ludlowe High School at the nearby, glitteringly modern Mill Plain Junior High". In 1963, the Mill Plain building became the new high school.

Fairfield Prep prom, 1940s

Ludlowe High School junior prom, 1974

Fairfield High School King and Queen, 1989

Growing up in Fairfield is punctuated by community traditions, such as marching in the Memorial Day parade, attending the Dogwood Festival in Greenfield Hill, or watching Fourth of July fireworks on the beach. All of these traditions, created in the 20^th century, are treasured today as special local occasions.

Another important milestone was the prom, which took on its current form as a hallmark event in teenage lives in the 1950s. Modeled on the debutante balls of the wealthy, proms spread first to elite colleges and later to high schools, as parents looked for an opportunity for their children to practice social skills in a formal setting.  Proms gradually became more elaborate affairs, held in hotels and country clubs, and including competitions for prom court.  By the 1980s, they had become expensive, all-night affairs, with after-prom activities often extending into the dawn of the next day.