11 thoughts on “Unthank Park, 1971”

  2. My how styles have changes. Not a pair of basketball shorts on any of them or were they even playing basketball? No ball in sight.

  3. Wish one of these guys could see this and tell us the back story behind this shot that day at the park.

  8. I agree, great pic! There’s another person behind the group, over the shoulder of the guy with the white turtle neck. Shadow on the ground too. What I really want to know is why are all the coats piled on the ground and not on the bench.

  9. I looked at that photo of these African-American men and wondered what has happened in their lives. Did they survive the tumultuous decades ahead of them, racial profiling and did they find happy futures?

  10. Vintageelectronicsnw: That indeed is a Thunderbird. It’s difficult to say exactly what year without being able to see the chrome trim, but it would be one of three, given the body style: 1958, 1959 or 1960. That model came along when Ford abandoned the original two-seat version and went to the four-seat version. A sad mistake, in my opinion.

  11. John Killen, I HEARTILY agree, abandoning the original T-Bird design was major folly. As for the photo, I sincerely doubt they were playing b-ball, one dude has on leather shoes, or boots… not courtwear. A group of us from Jefferson HS used to ditch class, and hung out in Unthank, wandering around the maze, playing on the equipment, and enjoying decent days. We also went to Peninsula Park.

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