Early Schooling
When Mama married Mr. Worthington we moved to his farm which was 8 or 10 miles from the homesteaded place where I was born and had lived for about 8 years. When school started we changed to the one-room school which was nearer to the house than the Spencer Hill had been during my first year in school. Everything was about the same except this school was operated by a man who was called Professor, the playground was larger and the water bucket was filled from a well rather than a spring.
The school had eleven grades rather than eight at Spencer Hill which meant that we had some pupils who were in their later teens. This school also had more unruly behavior which entailed more discipline action by the Professor. One day, for reasons I never learned, the professor told two teenagers he was going to whip them, and sent them out to get a switch for him to use on them. They got the switch which appeared to be about 3 feet long and capable of causing great pain. When the whipping started the switch broke. The boys had cut two or three notches in it. This infuriated the teacher so much that he went out himself and got a strong switch and gave the boys a severe thrashing. All this was done in full view of all the students who seemed to enjoy the antics of both the boys and the teacher.
Persons doing lesser offences got a different kind of punishment, though often as embarrassing to the offender. This school had the usual desks for individual seating, but also had one row of desks that seated two people. When a boy misbehaved the professor would sometimes make him go sit for a time by a girl in one of the double desks. I never learned how he decided to give this style of punishment or how he decided how long the penalty would last.
One of the professor’s actions was inexcusable and placed a black mark by his name in my book that will never be erased. On this day I wore a new pair of overalls. I was never a show-off kid and know that I did nothing to cause any disturbance in the class room. But the teacher called me up front onto the stage which was about a foot higher than the floor. Then he announced in words I didn’t clearly understand that I was wearing a new pair of overalls and he would see how they would whip. He then took a switch and gave me a whipping. It wasn’t severe, but was puzzling and made me angry. I was just 8 year old and didn’t dare question his action. But I will never forget it.
During the school year we moved to West Blocton and transferred to the school there. This was a monumental move. The new school had two floors with grammar grades up to grade 7. Junior High was grades 7,8 &9 and High School was grades 10, 11 and 12. And each of the first 6 grades had its own teacher. In the later grades there were teachers for specific subjects which she taught for all the grades.
Everything was better, but the bubbling water fountain was the most outstanding improvement. There was one located in the entrance way on the first floor and also one directly above on the second floor. Such improvements sometimes bring with them opportunities for trouble. It started here when some child started pushing down the head of the child in front of him so as to splatter water in his face. After this happened to me a number of times I made the mistake of turning around and pushing down the head of the fellow behind me [it was usually the fellow behind who did the dastardly act] and I made the further mistake of pushing down so hard it cut his lip with blood flow. He ran to the Principal’s office with a bloody lip and a finger pointing right at me. The result was a trip to the Principal’s office where he used a switch to whip me appropriately. The only good resulting from this encounter was an announcement at assembly the next day that the incident had happened and a warning that recurrence would bring severe punishment.
For the grades 7 and above there was a home-room session where the teacher called the roll. Then we went to the assembly room for announcements, bible reading and song session. The leader would give the page number of the chosen song and then lead the group in such songs as America, The Spanish Cavalier, and Love’s Old Sweet song. There would the traditional seasonal songs during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter seasons.
This was a great school, with about 300 pupils and opportunities to make new friends. It was located a few blocks from Main street and within easy walking distance of the Manring Hotel where I worked as a ‘live in’ employee. At lunch time I would get to the hotel in time to eat lunch and help with the dish washing and dining room clean-up before returning to school.
The great fire of July 1927 destroyed the hotel. Prior to start of school in September I got a job at the Silver Moon Café, operated by Mr. Walter Riley and his wife. It was located on the opposite side of Main Street and was in the first building west of the area destroyed by the fire. There was a large vacant lot east of the building which helped it survive the fire.
This lot served as a convenient location for the three tables where people sat for domino games. The coal mines operated only two or three days a week during these depression era days and the idle miners enjoyed getting together for domino games. Mr. Riley was glad to furnish the tables, chairs and dominoes without charge. The player obliged by ordering hamburgers, cokes and ice cream cones.
I would meet Mr. Riley for opening and clean up in the morning before going to school. At lunch time I would rush from school in time to help with the short-time rush for hamburgers and cokes. The rush would be over in time for me to eat a quick lunch before rushing back to school.
After school there wasn’t a lot of business but the café stayed open for the occasional drop-in customer. I had time to do my school home work, do any cleaning that needed to be done before opening the next day. There was usually time for Mr. Riley to give me a few lessons at the Checker game. He was an expert player and was patient in pointing out my errors and making suggestions to improve my playing skill. After a time I was able to win a few games and gain a few compliments on my playing.
The school had eleven grades rather than eight at Spencer Hill which meant that we had some pupils who were in their later teens. This school also had more unruly behavior which entailed more discipline action by the Professor. One day, for reasons I never learned, the professor told two teenagers he was going to whip them, and sent them out to get a switch for him to use on them. They got the switch which appeared to be about 3 feet long and capable of causing great pain. When the whipping started the switch broke. The boys had cut two or three notches in it. This infuriated the teacher so much that he went out himself and got a strong switch and gave the boys a severe thrashing. All this was done in full view of all the students who seemed to enjoy the antics of both the boys and the teacher.
Persons doing lesser offences got a different kind of punishment, though often as embarrassing to the offender. This school had the usual desks for individual seating, but also had one row of desks that seated two people. When a boy misbehaved the professor would sometimes make him go sit for a time by a girl in one of the double desks. I never learned how he decided to give this style of punishment or how he decided how long the penalty would last.
One of the professor’s actions was inexcusable and placed a black mark by his name in my book that will never be erased. On this day I wore a new pair of overalls. I was never a show-off kid and know that I did nothing to cause any disturbance in the class room. But the teacher called me up front onto the stage which was about a foot higher than the floor. Then he announced in words I didn’t clearly understand that I was wearing a new pair of overalls and he would see how they would whip. He then took a switch and gave me a whipping. It wasn’t severe, but was puzzling and made me angry. I was just 8 year old and didn’t dare question his action. But I will never forget it.
During the school year we moved to West Blocton and transferred to the school there. This was a monumental move. The new school had two floors with grammar grades up to grade 7. Junior High was grades 7,8 &9 and High School was grades 10, 11 and 12. And each of the first 6 grades had its own teacher. In the later grades there were teachers for specific subjects which she taught for all the grades.
Everything was better, but the bubbling water fountain was the most outstanding improvement. There was one located in the entrance way on the first floor and also one directly above on the second floor. Such improvements sometimes bring with them opportunities for trouble. It started here when some child started pushing down the head of the child in front of him so as to splatter water in his face. After this happened to me a number of times I made the mistake of turning around and pushing down the head of the fellow behind me [it was usually the fellow behind who did the dastardly act] and I made the further mistake of pushing down so hard it cut his lip with blood flow. He ran to the Principal’s office with a bloody lip and a finger pointing right at me. The result was a trip to the Principal’s office where he used a switch to whip me appropriately. The only good resulting from this encounter was an announcement at assembly the next day that the incident had happened and a warning that recurrence would bring severe punishment.
For the grades 7 and above there was a home-room session where the teacher called the roll. Then we went to the assembly room for announcements, bible reading and song session. The leader would give the page number of the chosen song and then lead the group in such songs as America, The Spanish Cavalier, and Love’s Old Sweet song. There would the traditional seasonal songs during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter seasons.
This was a great school, with about 300 pupils and opportunities to make new friends. It was located a few blocks from Main street and within easy walking distance of the Manring Hotel where I worked as a ‘live in’ employee. At lunch time I would get to the hotel in time to eat lunch and help with the dish washing and dining room clean-up before returning to school.
The great fire of July 1927 destroyed the hotel. Prior to start of school in September I got a job at the Silver Moon Café, operated by Mr. Walter Riley and his wife. It was located on the opposite side of Main Street and was in the first building west of the area destroyed by the fire. There was a large vacant lot east of the building which helped it survive the fire.
This lot served as a convenient location for the three tables where people sat for domino games. The coal mines operated only two or three days a week during these depression era days and the idle miners enjoyed getting together for domino games. Mr. Riley was glad to furnish the tables, chairs and dominoes without charge. The player obliged by ordering hamburgers, cokes and ice cream cones.
I would meet Mr. Riley for opening and clean up in the morning before going to school. At lunch time I would rush from school in time to help with the short-time rush for hamburgers and cokes. The rush would be over in time for me to eat a quick lunch before rushing back to school.
After school there wasn’t a lot of business but the café stayed open for the occasional drop-in customer. I had time to do my school home work, do any cleaning that needed to be done before opening the next day. There was usually time for Mr. Riley to give me a few lessons at the Checker game. He was an expert player and was patient in pointing out my errors and making suggestions to improve my playing skill. After a time I was able to win a few games and gain a few compliments on my playing.
posted by Jeremiah | 9:52 PM
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