The High School

Why do boys pitch a hardball overhand, while girls hurl a softball underhand? Why do boy lacrosse players don helmets and pads, while their girl counterparts need simply to protect their eyes? And why do defenders in girls’ football stop an opponent by yanking loose her flag, while boy footballers slam a ball-carrier’s body into the turf? The High School, a photo-rich study of Salinas High School’s annual yearbook from 1903 through 2024, illuminates shifts and turns in the organization and meanings of school sports. The book shows how wars, social movements and national policies, coupled with the local agricultural context of “Steinbeck Country,” have shaped the ways that high school sports mold citizens. Wrapped around a rich array of nearly 270 photos, The High School tells a vivid story of the unevenness of social change, including booms and busts in girls’ sports, the long-contested meanings of football, the gender dynamics of coaching, and dramatic ebbs and flows in the meanings of cheerleading.