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 
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