Schoolhouse Interviews: Mr. Bessie Turner Galloway

Bessie Galloway 

Interview with Mr. Bessie Turner Galloway

January 8, 2005
Interview by Sandra M. Lowe

Mrs. Galloway attended the Fairview School for all seven of her years in elementary school. She had one teacher, Mrs. Nettie Whitehurst, and her interview follows.


Q: January 8th- Saturday, we’re in Smithfield  at the Smithfield and Isle of Wight Visitor’s Center and we are interviewing Mrs. Bessie Turner Galloway and today  Mrs. Galloway, would you please begin by telling us what area of Isle of Wight you grew up in?

A:  I grew up in the Windsor area of Isle of Wight. I attended the Fairview Elementary School under Mrs. Nettie Whitehurst, who was a teacher. She was the principal. She was like a mother to all of us there at the school. At that time, there was grades one through seven. At that time, Mrs. Whitehurst was a very dedicated teacher. She would always be there. We had what you call an old potbelly stove and when you got there in the morning, she would always have it all fired up and ready for us. She was also like a mother. She loved her children and she could always… she always had something for you other than the lessons. She taught you behavior. She taught you love. She taught you cleanliness. If your hair wasn’t combed, she combed it for you. She taught you good grooming and also she was, as I said before, she was like a mother. We, one thing that I got out of the whole seven years other than lessons, it taught me, she taught me how to tell the truth. I remember one day, three or four of my friends, we were eating peanuts in class and Miss Nettie asked all of us one by one were we eating peanuts. When she got to me, I told her no ma’am I was not eating peanuts. She asked me to come up to her desk and when I went up to her desk, she told me to open my mouth and when I opened my mouth it was full of peanuts and she slapped me on both jaws and peanuts flew everywhere. Well, that really taught me. I was embarrassed, but it taught me one thing, to tell the truth, have a mind of your own and not to follow down behind what other people do. And from that day on, every time that I would see her even when I got grown and she got older, we would always talk about that one incident that happened. But, as I said before, those days, I enjoyed those days because we always had to follow instructions. When it was time to, this particular school had three rooms; we had a big room to play in. When it rained, we couldn’t go outside. We would all get in that room and regardless of how many it was, Miss Nettie could always keep us all under control. When we got ready to have lunch, everybody had to wait until all the lunches was passed out to each one and we would all say our grace. We were not allowed to eat until after grace was said. We was not allowed to get up and go outside to play not until we had all our lunch together and we went outside to, to play. We always had to have a cup to drink our water from the pump. We could not drink out of our hands. We could not share our cup with anyone. She would always tell us if you don’t bring a cup, you would not have any water today.

Q: Very good. You said that this was a one-room school and Mrs. Whitehurst was your teacher. During that seven years, did any other teacher come to that school or were you with her the entire seven years?

A:  I was with her the entire seven years.

Q: Okay and do you have any sisters and brothers that may have attended that school?

A: No. Well, no, I was thinking of….no.

Q: Do you know any of the history of Fairview? As far as, maybe when the school was built or what was it used for, was it always a school for colored or black students or when it closed, anything that might help us with our history?

A: Well, as far as I know, it was always a...it was a school for black, the black children, and the school closed because that was, it closed because there was a time that George Tyler School was being built and they had closed down all of the, they was closing down rather, all of the one-room schools and that was the reason why that school was closed.

Q: Okay, now I assume that you walked to school?

A: Yes, I did.

Q: How far were you from the school at that time, so, you know, one way, how far would you have walked?

A: I guess about 2 ½ miles.

Q: And that’s one way?

A: Yes.

Q: So you would get up early in the morning to begin your school day? Did you have time to do any chores before you left home?

A: Yes, I got up very early in the morning because, at that time, my grandmother was sick, was bedridden for about three years and even prior to that, I had to get up to help do chores. Whatever we had, you know, the wood stove, you had to get wood in before I went to school and for those that was left there for the day and then I had to get more in the afternoon and there were other chores that needed to be done that I had to do before I left home.

Q: Okay and once you arrived at school, what would the day start off with?

A: Well, the day would start off with, we always had a-- we sang a song and we had a prayer and we always pledged allegiance to the flag, and then we would go into our classes. Miss Nettie would always start out with the uh, the larger classes and then she would go down to the smaller ones when there was a little help that needed to be done, and a lot of the, some of the ones in the larger classes could help her a little bit with the smaller ones.

Q: Okay, and what, do you recall any specific text books that you had or reading books that, anything in that area that stands out in your mind about your subjects and books?

A: No, I don’t but I do know one thing that she called our spelling. Each one of us had to go when we would have the spelling. Each student would go to the blackboard and she would call the word and we would have to write it on the board and then we would exchange for corrections. She would spell it and then we would correct it that way, and we weren’t allowed to turn our heads or whatever, we had to keep our heads straight ahead, and we would put our hands up to make sure, you know, that nobody else could see your, what you wrote on the board.

Q: Okay and your school year and school day, I assume, were nine to three in September through May?

A: Yes.

Q: How did your lunch period take place, did you eat there?

A: Well, each student brought their own lunch and out in the hall we had a shelf where each student put their lunch with their name on it and when it was time for our lunch period, she would designate a person each day to pass the lunch, to go out and get the lunch and pass it according to the names on the lunch bag or lunch box. When everybody had received their lunch, then we would always have grace and then after that when you ate your lunch, then you could go out and play, after that time.

Q: Did you have any problems with students not having anything to eat or lunches being taken? It seems like that was a good process and that eliminated that.

A: Well, it wasn’t so much if it, if there was someone that didn’t have anything, Miss Nettie was  a person that always had something for, for, for you, something.

Q: Did you have any kind of recess along with your lunch period or was it later?

A: We had our recess--when we, after lunch. We had a recess and I can’t remember how many, how long it was, but when it was time for us to come in she had this big bell that she would ring and everybody would go back in.

Q: What kinds of games do you recall playing at school?

A: Well, there were, the boys always played ball and for me and my little group that we were, we, we, we, we would build a house. We might build a house. We went out and, was near where the woods were and we would dig in the ground and just everybody was responsible for a room. We would break bushes and stick them in the ground and everybody would have their little room and we worked on that for a little while, and we might play a little something else but mainly we didn’t and if we, if it rained and we all were in the big room, we, we had to uh, there was different balls, different kinds of balls that we could play with, something that she always had something for us to do to keep us busy.

Q: Like the house game.

A: Uh-huh.

Q: Getting back to the building itself, how would you describe the one room inside area? What was in the room itself?

A: Well, there was this big potbelly stove there and we had the younger children like the 1st and 2nd grade, they had their little tables with their little chairs and the larger children had the desks. The desks that you could, you know, write on and could put your books on the side and they had the regular windows in there and it wasn’t anything that was fancy, whatever, but it was, you know, it was, it was a little porch leading into it. As you come into the school, you’d have a little porch, and then you would go inside. That would be like the hallway and it had the shelves up there for to, to put your lunch on and then there was a little rack where you could put your raps. They called them raps. At the end of the day when it was time to go home, Miss Nettie designated an individual to go and pass the raps in the afternoon when getting ready for us to go home.

Q: Okay and how did you have water for the school day?

A: We had a pump out there for the water.

Q: Okay. The lighting was through the windows?

A: Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Q: Did you have a lot of windows on one side?

A: We had a lot of windows all the way around, kind of like from that corner then back this way. Kind of like this side was the stove and then there was her desk.

Q: You mentioned that Mrs. Whitehurst kept the class in good order. What types of discipline or punishment would you want to include with your explanation of the peanut situation? Were there any other examples of discipline that she used, that were used?

A: I can’t remember.

Q: Okay. From what we have discussed, it appears that you really had an enjoyable school period. Can you think of any other positive memories that you had that you have not already told us about?

A: No.

Q: Were there any negative memories mixed in with your pleasant thoughts of school?

A: No, not any that I can think of right now. I think that she did an excellent job with as many students that she had to deal with at one time, especially when they were all different ages and she,  I think she handled it, everything very, very well, accordingly.

Q: Excellent. Are there any other school experiences that took place either before you got to school, on your way to school, or afterwards that you want us to include in your interview?

A: No.

Q: My last question. Would you please tell us, briefly, something about yourself as far as what you did after you became an adult and, you know, up to this period, a brief biography, autobiography?

A: Well, when I left Fairview School, I graduated from the seventh grade. I went on to Isle of Wight County Training School and I graduated from there and I went to Portsmouth Business College and also to Norfolk State University and I, more or less, I had to work my way through whatever that I did, whatever, and I, I have always went back to some of those things that Miss Nettie did tell me and, you know, in, in, in life that I would come up against. I have tried to, to be a well-rounded person, and for myself, I, I really think that I have, have, you know, have, I’ve come from a long ways and I’m just thankful that I am where I am today.

Q: Thank you very much. Would you like to tell us about your family? Would you like for us to have a little information about the children or things?

A: Well, I have, I have a son. Well, I was, I was married twice and both my husbands passed away and I have a son.  He is 34 years old and he is an officer at the correctional center up in Capron. He served in the Marine Corps and so that’s, that’s it.

Q: Okay, very good. I’ve enjoyed your interview and I hope that we have not imposed upon you too much. We would enjoy having you to follow-up with us and keep up with our progress at the Schoolhouse Museum and thank you very much for your interview today, Mrs. Galloway.

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