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Interview with a Bolling School Alum

Mr. Alex Pryor, December 15th, 2021
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL TRANSCRIPTION
I respected all of them.  And, you know the thing about it, ah…, we didn’t have a lot of kids in classes, so we got a lot of one-on-one.  If we didn’t understand something, then they were right there…to try to make you…to try to get you to understand…you know, ah…they had that time.   And I don’t know about the other kids that went here, but me?...I was grateful for that because  I got out in the world early.  My father died at sixteen.  I had to quit school when I was a junior in high school…to take care of my mother and my brothers.  So, a lot of the things that they taught me…not just school, but about life…I had to apply that at a early age, and it got me by in…at several times. So the teachers…?  I didn’t like their discipline…no…but as far as…I love them…all of them…all of them." 
​[Mr. Alex Pryor regarding his teachers at The Bolling School]
This is Gospel Hill…that’s the beginning of Gospel Hill…okay, ah, all black folks live up here.
We stay on our side…this is what I was told many times  (chuckles lightly) --  ”Hey buddy, this is how it’s gonna play out you stay on your side ‘o town; I’ll stay on mine”.  Ah, if we went downtown…as kids…and say at dusk dark the police would start riding, and they see us, say, maybe commin’ home “Hey, y’all better get on home!”…you know.  It was tough back in them days, but we persevered, ah…but it’s things like that you don’t forget…" 
​[Mr. Alex Pryor regarding his community during the 1950s and the 1960s]
Mr. Marion Gordon, December 9th, 2021
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL TRANSCRIPTION
​…but as far as having any dealings with any of the, uh, white people downtown, we didn’t. And then when I went to Lewisburg okay, that was my first mixing with white students…people, teachers...whatever.  And, uh, and I saw…I saw a lot of discrimination there.  We would have to…well, back then you could go downtown for lunch, and when we went downtown, the white kids could go in the front doors, and the Court Restaurant used to be there where, uh, the Green Space is now…right in the area in the bank parking lot all that was the Court Restaurant, and we had to go around back where the garbage cans were and the bees and the trash and sit on the steps, whereas our fellow students (white students) they could go in the front door.

AB:  Did any of your students ever stand up to that?  Did they say, “My friends are coming in, or I’m not…?"

MG: …Un-huh, no…no, un-huh.  [...] So, I saw that discrimination, segregation, and…very clearly then…but it jus’…we didn’t really think about it, you know, we jus’…was jus’ in our own little world..."


[Mr. Marion Gordon recalling the segregation and discrimination African Americans faced in the 1960s.]
Mrs. Alma Hogsett, she was the county music teacher, and she would be on the radio every Wednesday [...] and every week there was a certain theme, and, of course, the teachers would put the song for that week on the board  and you had to copy it down and you had to draw a picture relat…relative to the song…and at the end of the school year they would have a music festival  here at Bolling in the gym, and all the students from throughout the county would bring their folders with all their pictures and all their songs that they had written down and then you got awards for the best…first place, second place, third place …so it was competitive…that was competitive, and, uh, and then I’ll never forget Mrs. Coleman…I’ll never forget Mrs. Coleman because she was very…ah, I don’t know the word, but she emphasized handwriting…your manuscript [...] she was religious about that stuff, and, uh, but now, you know, I appreciate it, and she was the lady who I think made me competitive because everything we did…we competed everything we did in that class...[..] Mrs. Coleman was very, ah, influential in my…in my coming-up." 

[Mr. Marion Gordon recalling his teachers and subjects at Bolling School.]
Mrs. Elizabeth Keys, February 15th, 2022
I remember this one teacher, Mrs. Jackson always said, "A hint to the wise is sufficient."  

[Mrs. Elizabeth Keys recalling her teacher, Mrs. Jackson's "words of wisdom."] 
My 1st grade teacher always asked us what we had for breakfast.  I used to slip and eat Sugar Babies in class." 

[Mrs. Elizabeth Keys recalling her teachers caring for her and her classmates well-being.  
Picture

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  • Home
  • About Us
    • The North House Museum
    • The Archive >
      • COVID-19 Archive Project
    • Blue Sulphur Springs Pavilion
    • The Barracks
    • Escape Room
  • Education
  • Events & Exhibits
    • Events
    • Exhibits
  • Support
    • Membership
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
    • Employment
  • Visit Us
  • Blog
  • Member Center