school at last! excitement mixed with fear (1952)
so many children to play with, and Daddy was superintendent
The little girl’s first grade class with teacher Mrs. Lucille Lee who gave us the gift of reading. She taught first and second grade in one room.
The little girl’s daddy was the superintendent of two schools: the one in the little two-story red brick schoolhouse where she went to school and the one across main street in Richards in the quarters where the Black children attended. One independent school district. Separate but not very equal. Integration came slowly to mostly overlooked rural southeast Texas.
Annual Easter Egg Hunt for grades 1 – 4
We walked up the dirt road to our house past my grandfather’s barn across the road from our garage while other teachers hid eggs around the school grounds. Then we turned around and ran back to hunt for the eggs. Ray Wood, a blonde-headed kid in my class, always found the maximum – most of the eggs were gone by the time I made it back. I was never known for speed.
my Uncle Charlie (mother’s brother) graduated from Richards school circa 1941
not sure why, but my Uncle Charlie had the number 12 written on him?
Mama’s oldest brother Marion (glasses and tie)
graduated from Richards school circa 1939
Aunt Lucille, Uncle Ray and Glenn a/k/a Daddy
My grandparents had limited education when they were growing up in large families working on farms. They could read, write, and do arithmetic – but I’m not sure where they learned. My mother and her three older brothers; my dad, his older sister, and brother all attended school in Richards, Texas at the same red brick schoolhouse I attended through the seventh grade. Our time at the school spanned from the 1920s – 1950s. All seven of them graduated before WWII ended. If legacies were given, I had one.
the entire Richards School Grades 1 – 8 plus 4 years of high school
the bell signaled the start of school in the morning
I counted four uncles, one aunt, and several cousins in this picture. I also knew many teachers and recognized kids whose names I can’t remember, but this was a typical rural Texas school in the 1930s and 1940s before World War II.
Thank you to my cyberspace followers for taking this nostalgic journey once upon a time in a faraway place that will always be deep in my heart. I’ll close with these two last photos that speak volumes about the little girl in the photos and stories.
this little girl became…
…this grandmother to Molly and Ella James
Happiness galore! And that’s a wrap.
I'll Call It Like I See It 
Comments
6 responses to “last hurrah for now”
That photo of your daddy and his siblings, you are the spitting image!
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Thank you, Annie!
My grandfather Morris always wanted me to go to Huntsville with him (about 30 miles) when his mother was visiting one of his sisters who lived there. His mother had 13 children, tons of grandchildren, and too many great-grandchildren to count. So whenever we went in to see this tiny frail hundred-year-old woman in a relatively dark living room, my Pa would say Maw, Sheila Rae and I have come to see you. She’d squint and squint at me and then she would say, this one must belong to Glenn.
Your comment reminded me of how she felt.
That’s a good thing.
Her arthritis was so horrible. I think I told you before that she pushed a little wooden chair around to walk. Then she’d sit on it.
I thought she was sweet – but humorless.
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You are lucky to have so many photographs of that time.
Thanks for sharing them and the stories that go with them.
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Thank you so much, Josie. I realize I am lucky – must have been my mom, but that’s by the process of elimination. Regardless, I treasure them. I’m glad you enjoyed.
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Sheila,
I loved this trip back in the history of our family getting their educations.
Thank you for sharing!
I love you!
Heather
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Heather, I was hoping some of the Boring family would see this post! I love these pictures – and now you can, too…your side of the family was very instrumental in helping my grandfather Boring’s family when he died at such a young age and left my grandmother with four children. Uncle Clemmie and C.H. were so very good to all of us. C.H. and Charlie and Marion and Toby were like brothers.
I love you, too!
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