Q: Um, I will ask you the questions and you can explain as much as you would like. First of all, uh tell us the area of Smithfield that or Isle of Wight that you grew up in.
A: Carrollton, Virginia.
Q: Alright and did you have sisters and brothers?
A: Two sisters, two brothers.
Q: Did they attend the Carrollton…
A: Attended Carrollton Elementary School.
Q: Very good. And uh the grades that you attended. What grade did you start in?
A: First through the, I wanna say the sixth. I went to Smithfield the seventh grade.
Q: Okay. And when you were at Carrollton, how many classrooms were there?
A: There are two and there’s three classes in each room. It’s two rooms.
Q: Alright, and the first classroom had what grades?
A: First through the third.
Q: Okay
A: And the fourth through the fourth, sixth in the second room.
Q: When you began to attend, the teachers that you recall.
A: Okay, my first teacher was C.D. White from Smithfield, Virginia. My second teacher was H.E Daye. And Ms. Daye came from Norfolk I believe, H.E.
Q: And what grade, what year would you uh had first attended Carrollton?
A: I say at ‘44.
Q: Alright, we weren’t taping then. Uh, do you recall anything about the uh the years perhaps that Carrollton ended or anything about the history of the building?
A: I went to Carrollton Elementary School between the years of ‘44’ and ‘50’.
Q: Okay, and how did you get to and from school?
A: When our parents didn’t take us, we walked.
Q. And what distance would that have been walking?
A. Probably um 3 to 4 miles.
Q: One way?
A: Mm hm
Q: Okay. Uh did you have any experiences at, in your days of walking to and from school that stand out?
A: We had some problems. Cold weather. Being stopped.
Q: Um, did you want to elaborate on any of that? Alright. Did you have jobs that you did at home before you could go to school?
A: No, not in the morning. Our jobs would be in the afternoon.
Q: What types of things did you, were you responsible for in the afternoon?
A: Tidying up our rooms and probably bringing in wood during the wintertime.
Q: And at school did you have chores that had to be done there?
A: At this point I can’t say of anything in particular. But we did have devotion and we were required to have belonged to devotion, to songs, and bible verses things of that nature.
Q: And what subjects do you recall uh and anything about your textbooks at all?
A: We had text, textbooks: English, Spelling, Arithmetic, homework. Very important that we did that. Teachers would, would ask for your homework and they stay to make sure that it was done and it was graded accordingly.
Q: Um does anything stand out in your mind, any experiences as far as your class, school, and schoolwork or…?
A: That we would begin each morning with a prayer, scripture, song, and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Q: Okay, and what do you remember of your lunch hour or lunch period?
A: We would carry our lunch to school and at this point I can’t say, I guess lunch at 12 o’clock and we would all eat together.
Q: Does anything stand out in your memory about your lunch period or did you go out after, after lunch for recess? Did you have anything cooked on the pot-bellied stove or did you just bring everything from home?
A: As far as I can remember we brought our food from home then we had recess. We would have recess with our lunch and we spend awhile outside and then we would come in and complete the rest of the day.
Q: How would you describe your- the inside of the building? Of the classroom?
A: It was comfortable. Clean and tidy.
Q: What was in there?
A: Uh, pictures on the walls. Of…
Q: What kind of pictures do you remember?
A: Uh, um lessons or different classes were posted on the board. Graded and their names, Especially those who had done well and the improvement of those that had not done so well probably in the first, uh period of school.
Q: Did you have a pot bellied stove or a metal typed heater in your building?
A: Yeah, that was our um form of heat was from the, uh stove that was operated by coal, I imagine, and they would have someone to come and keep that up.
Q. Did the people that kept you supplied with coal or the person was that someone from the school system or do you think that was a parent or?
A. I’m not sure about that. I don’t know who did that.
Q. What kind of uh, did you have a cloakroom in that building?
A. Yes. Where you kept your coats and what not.
Q. And ?
A. I wanna say the bathroom was kind, was somewhat in that area also.
Q. Uh outside? Was your bathroom outdoor, outside?
A. No
Q. Are you saying that it was indoors?
A. Indoors.
Q. Okay. What kind of discipline or punishment was used in your classes?
A. Well, the discipline was the ruler that was used by the teacher to punish children when they’re disobeyed.
Q. Do you think that punishment was needed often or not often?
A. No, it wasn’t needed often.
Q. Do you have any other positive memories of your school days? What stands out in your mind, things that you enjoyed?
A. I enjoyed my teachers. We was well taught, well disciplined. We was well cared for, the attention of the teachers and they made sure that we was able to learn what was taught.
Q. Do you have any negative memories of your school days?
A. Only negative I would say was to get to school. The transportation, other than our parents we didn’t have transportation. Only transportation we received, when we went to Smithfield in seven, seventh grade-we was on the school bus.
Q. Alright. Did you have any negative memories of any of your teacher or classmates or things that you didn’t like that happened?
A: No, everything was well, very well under control.
Q: Are there any other school experiences that you would like to tell us about?
A: I don’t have anything negative, other than my school years were very interesting, knowledgeable, and everything was initinated, initiated toward the students that they be, was very important that they would learn when they come to school. This is what you come for.
Q: Alright, would you give us a brief autobiographical sketch of your life after high school?
A: My life after high school. I was well prepared, that I was able to go out and further my life and with the background of school and whatnot. I was able to do that.
Q: All right and what uh would you want to tell us about the, what types of jobs you had, uh your retirement or your family marriage or children or anything else you would like to tell us about your accomplishments?
A: After high school, I did two years in Tidewater Community. Took nursing. I am a certified senior certified, uh technician. In that I work with instruments on the hospital level, and that has helped me too, in many ways.
Q: All right. If you, did you have anything else you’d like to add on any subject that we’ve discussed?
A: No, I think that’s probably it.
Q: Then that ends our discussion. I have no other questions and thank you very much, Mrs. Batten we appreciate you coming out this morning to talk with us about your elementary school experiences. Thank you very much.