Interview with Mrs. Fannie Hill
February 8, 2003
By Alicia Ferguson (HU)
Mrs. Fannie Hill attended the Central Hill School through the seventh grade, worked at home until marrying and raising 8 children.
This is Mrs. Fannie Hill, I am Alicia Ferguson and we are going to talk about her school days.
Q. Could you tell us the number of brothers and sister you had?
A. I had two sisters and one brother. My brother is dead.
Q. Could you tell us the name of the school that you went to?
A. Central Hill across the road from my daughter’s house.
Q. Did your brothers and sisters also attend Central Hill?
A. Yeah awhile.
Q. Do you remember how long?
A. No but I went until I was in the 7th grade and I stopped.
Q. Do you remember what the building looked like, how many rooms?
A. One room
Q. One room?
A. Yeah.
Q. You remember what was in it, teacher's desk?
A. Some kind of teacher's desk and church seats had wooden pews.
Q. Chalkboard?
A. Yeah
Q. What type of heating system did you guys have?
A. Wood...go get wood to heat it.
Q. Who would take care of starting the fire?
A. The school children.
Q. What grades did you attend there?
A. To the seventh grade.
Q. To the seventh? How many teachers were there?
A. Just one, I think, Mrs. Sedonia Edwards. Sometimes Burton Davis.
Q. And you said that you walked to school?
A. Yeah weren't no buses for us then.
Q. Did you have any chores that you would have to complete before you went to school?
A. Any what?
Q. Chores like anything that you had to do, jobs or anything?
A. Get some wood, get some water.
Q. What did you do after school, what types of helping around the house or anything in the fields?
A. That's right
Q. What subjects did you learn hi school?
A. Arithmetic and reading, language.
Q. You remember, did y’all have schoolbooks? How long was the school day?
A. From eight until three.
Q. And how long during the year did you go?
A. The same they do now.
Q. Just the same amount of time? Where did you guys eat lunch and what time? Did you bring your lunch?
A. Yes.
Q. Were there any restrooms?
A. That's right.
Q. What was the type of water supply that you guys had, a pump?
A. That's right, a pump, sometimes water from the swamp.
Q. How would you describe your teacher's desk?
A. Something like a table.
Q. And the desks that the students sat at?
A. No
Q. You didn't have desk?
A. No, we didn't have no desk.
Q. Just pews like in church?
A. Yeah
Q. Yawl used chalkboards?
A. Yeah.
Q. What type of school supplies did you have?
A. Pencil and paper.
Q. Did yawl have somewhere to hang your coats like a coatroom?
A. Well I can't remember that, I don't think we did.
Q. Can you tell us about the punishment in the class, the discipline?
A. Yeah
Q. The teachers disciplined the students?
A. Sure did -
Q. Was it a lot of discipline, could you tell about any situation you remember?
A. She hit your butt.
Q. What would she use as her...?
A. She used a switch then.
Q. Did you all have to fetch your own switch?
A. No, I didn't.
Q. Are there any experiences that you remember at school that you want to tell
us about?
A. No I can't, I use to play basketball.
Q. You use to play basketball?
A. Oh, go outside, hide and play.
Q. What other types of recess activities?
A. That's all I can remember.
Q. That's it just basketball, but you did have recess?
A. Yeah.
Q. You got into a fight?
A. Un,huh.
Q. You want to tell us about it?
A. Sure, it was over basketball.
Q. It was over basketball?
A. Yeah, we wore black pants and white blouse.
Q. Everyone had to wear the same?
A. Uh huh.
Q. Tell us more about the fight.
A. We was playing ball and arguing over the ball.
Q. Are there any childhood memories that went on in the house that you would like to talk about, that you can remember?
A. No.
Q. Nothing? After attending school what did you do?
A. Stayed Acre.
Q. After you graduated?
A. I went to the seventh grade then I stopped.
Q. Then you stopped. Did you go on to work?
A. Working at home, washing and ironing.
Q. Did you ever leave home?
A. No I didn't.
Q. When did you start your family?
A. 33
Q. 33. Where did you meet your husband?
A. Around where I lived at.
Q. How many children did you have?
A. I had 8.
Q. How many boys and how many girls?
A. Six boys and two girls.
Q. Do you remember the first year, your oldest child the year?
A. Sure I know he was born November 3, 1933.
Q. And the youngest?
A. Born in fifty-two.
Q. Do you remember any experiences between the siblings that you want to talk
about?
A. No
Q. Maybe their school life? Did they go to the same school?
A. Some of mine did. I had two to go to Smithfield.
Q. How did they get back and forth to school?
A. The bus.
Q. The school bus?
A. Yeah.
Q. How far was the school? Did they ever have to walk?
A. Eight to nine miles. No. Inaudible.
Q. How did you guys make money to support your family?
A. My husband worked on the farm.
Q. On the farm?
A. Until he got disabled.
Q. How important was religion dealing with school?
A. We went to church.
Q. Did you have to recite bible verses and sing church songs at school?
A. Yeah we did but I can't remember.
Q. So you would say religion was a big part of life?
A. I suppose so.
Q. Are there any other memories that you have that you want to share?
A. No.
Q. Where were you going?
A. ______________Inaudible.
Q. How long would it take you to get your...? How much money were you making from?
A. Nothing much.
Q. Could you estimate?
A. No I can't.
Q. Anything else?
A. No.
Q. We want to thank you for giving us your information and spending some time with us.
A. All right.