After more than eighty years, the 101-year-old American Merrill Pittman Cooper has still received an (honorary) diploma for high school. Cooper attended a school in the state of West Virginia from 1934 to 1938, but had to cut his school career at age 17 because his family moved to Philadelphia. There was no money left to send him to school and he was forced to work.
When Cooper visited the grounds of his former school, Storer College, with family in 2018, it became clear to them how much he regretted never graduating. His son-in-law therefore arranged a ceremonial awarding of an honorary diploma, in collaboration with, among others, the Storer College alumni association and the West Virginia Department of Education.
“I never thought this could happen,” Cooper told The Washington Post. “Even if it took a while, I’m very happy that I finally have a diploma.”
Union leader and tram driver
Storer College used to be a school for black Americans. The college was established shortly after the American Civil War to provide education for formerly enslaved children. The school existed until 1954.
Cooper dropped out of school after moving to Philadelphia. His mother, who was single, he said worked very hard “and it all got so hard that I decided it would be better if I dropped out of school,” he told The Washington Post. He took a job in a clothing store to earn some extra money for the family.
Eventually, the now very elderly American made a career as a union leader and one of the first black streetcar drivers in Philadelphia. “As time went on, I thought it was probably too late,” he told the newspaper about his frustration at not having a degree. “I put it behind me and made the best of it.”
