Q: Today is August the 12th 2003 and we are at Pulaski Baptist Church and I’m interviewing Mrs. Audrey Knight. Mrs. Knight, where did you grow up in Isle of Wight?
A: In Carrsville, Virginia.
Q: How many sisters or brothers did you have?
A: I have one sister and two brothers.
Q: Where did they go to school?
A: They went to school in Carrsville, Isle of Wight also.
Q: So that’s where you went to school?
A: Yes, I went to Carrsville.
Q: What grades were taught at Carrsville?
A: Well, I think it was first, second, and third. I can remember the third grade now.
Q: How many classrooms were there?
A: Two.
Q: Two classrooms?
A: Yes.
Q: So you had two teachers?
A: Yes. I remember Mrs. Chapman and I remember Mrs. Wells. I think that was at Camptown. Yes I remember Mrs. Chapman…Mrs. Chapman well because I remember how well she could teach us how to write.
Q: What grades do you remember having at Carrsville?
A: Grades, I think the first and second…and I think I went to Camptown for the third grade.
Q: Do you remember the classes or courses like teaching or reading or spelling, do you remember what you had?
A: Reading and spelling with Mrs. Chapman.
Q: Okay. How did you get to school?
A: I walked. My mother walked with us.
Q: You walked.
A: Yes.
Q: Okay. Can you remember what year you went there?
A: (Laughing) Oh my lord, I can’t remember nothing bout that. I’m 60 years old now --so it had to been uh, what 55, 54 years ago.
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Q: Okay. You said you walked to school. How far did you walk?
A: We walked from, I lived right behind the church and I walked all the way down to Carrsville School which is still there now but it’s a house. I guess it’s about almost, I guess a half a mile I guess. More than half a mile, far as that is down there.
Q: Did you have chores or jobs to do at home before or after school?
A: Um, yes. After school we had to cut wood, we had to cut wood…and that school, in Carrsville we used to had to bring in wood too. So we had to cut wood, go outside and cut wood with an axe. And at Carrsville School we had to bring in wood too, even the little kids.
Q: Once you got to school how did your school day begin?
A: I think we said a prayer, I think we said the Lord’s Prayer and then uh… I can’t remember, really, I really can’t remember, I really can’t.
Q: Can you remember a textbook maybe a specific textbook that you liked that kind of stuck in your memory while you were in school?
A: Dick, Jane! (Laughing) I remember Dick, Jane and uh there was another one too. Dick, Jane and-- that was a reading book.
Q: Okay, the reading book.
A: Yeah, I could always remember that.
Q: How long was your school day?
A: I think we stayed there till like 2 o’clock in the day. Back in those days, I think it was like 2 o’clock.
Q: What time did you get there?
A: We got there in the morning like 8:30, 9 o’clock.
Q: Can you remember how long the school year was?
A: We started after Labor Day and we went till June, just like we do now.
Q: At lunchtime, how long did you have for lunch? Where did you eat lunch?
A: We ate in the classroom. Bag lunch, most of the time we had to take our lunch.
Q: Do you remember how long it was?
A: No I don’t, I really don’t.
Q: What about recess? Did you have a recess after the lunch period?
A: Yes, we had recess. I can remember and I never forget a fight that I saw. George Holloway and some big old guy, I remember that. We had a long recess. Big kids, little kids everybody about the same time. I remember that.
Q: So did you have playtime?
A: Yes, we played. We had playtime.
Q: Can you remember some of the games you played?
A: I, I can’t remember?
Q: How would you describe your classroom?
A: A big room, just a big room…and it had a long, long chalkboard. And um, and didn’t have as much in the classrooms as they have now. And I remember Mrs. Chapman writing a lot on the board and she stressed on us learning how to write and read, I remember that. And I write a lot like her now. (Laughing)
Q: How was the school heated in the wintertime?
A: It had a heater, a heater that you put wood in.
Q: Where did you get your water at school? Can you remember?
A: You know, I cannot remember, I can’t remember that-where we got the water from. I’m sure it was in a bucket.
Q: How would you describe your teacher’s desk?
A: They have the same kind of desk like we have now, but just older.
Q: Now, how was your desk?
A: We had a wooden desk. Just like the desks are now, but they just different, just different.
Q: Your school supplies, did you have to furnish your own school supplies or did the school or the county donate your school supplies?
A: We had to bring our own.
Q: Do you remember what the books that you bought or not?
A: I can’t remember. I really can’t remember that.
Q: The lights. Do you remember whether you had electricity or you had kerosene lamps or you used the natural light from the windows?
A: I can’t remember, at the school. I know it was a long time before we got electricity in our house. But I can’t remember at school.
Q: Did you have somewhere to hang your coats?
A: Yes, they had racks. They had racks on the walls.
Q: What was discipline like in the school at that time?
A: If you didn’t do as the teacher asked you to do, they would slap you. And um, it wasn’t any talking back in that day. There wasn’t any talking back like there is now. You did what the teacher asked you to do and that was it. If you didn’t do what the teacher asked you to do, they would make sure to contact your parents…and they were stricter than teachers are now today.
Q: Do you have any additional school experience you’d like to tell us about?
A: Well, when I went to Camptown. Like a new school…and I think I must have been in the third grade when I went to Camptown…and I remember Mrs. Welch. I remember her; she was one of my favorite teachers…and we rode the bus to Camptown. That’s when we started riding the school bus.
Q: It was better than walking.
A: Better than walking, yes. That’s when the days started getting better, the school days started getting better.
Q: Are there any other early childhood memories that you can recall when you were growing up that you would like to tell us about?
A: Not really.
Q: After attending school, what jobs, changes, or other experience can you recall in the county?
A: After finishing school. Well, we were integrated. The blacks and the white started going school together.
Q: That was a big change.
A: That was a big change; big change, big change…and things started brightening up for the blacks. Although we still worked in fields (laughing), still worked in fields but at least the blacks and the whites went to school together.
Q: Is there anything else you can, maybe that ran across your mind before we close the interview?
A: Well, no. I think not.
Q: Audrey, thank you so much for your interview Mrs. Knight, from Carrsville and we thank you.