Interview with Mrs. Laura Butler
December 8, 2003
Interviewed By Sandra Lowe
Mrs. Butler grew up in Nansemond County (City of Suffolk) and began her teaching at the Holly Grove School in this county
Q: This is an interview of Mrs. Laura Butler. Did you grow up in Isle of Wight County?
A: No, I did not grow up in Isle of Wight County.
Q: What were the schools that you attended?
A: I attended the Mary Estes School from grade 1-6. I left there and went to East Suffolk High School from Seventh grade to graduation, then I went to Nansemond Institute. I stayed there for two years.
Q: What was your first teaching job?
A: My first teaching job was at Holly Grove in Windsor, Virginia. I taught all the grades from First to the Sixth. It was a one room. I taught in a one-room school.
Q: Where did you live? And how did you to to and from school?
A: I lived with Mrs. Massie Brown and I walked from school. She lived about a mile from school down a dusty road and I walked there and back from school in the evening.
Q: What did you do in order to prepare for the school day?
A: In order to prepare for the school day, I gathered wood to make a fire. The room was heated by a big black stove in the middle of the room. The kids helped me to gather the wood sometimes. Sometimes there was coal. The superintendent would give us coal.
Q: How would you begin the day once the students were present?
A: Well, when the students were present we would go back outside and salute the flag. When we came back inside they put their coats in the cloakroom. Then I would assign them desks. The smaller children would be at the front of the room. And um, we would salute the flag again. If it was a cold day, we would do it on the inside. Sometimes we would say the pledge to the flag and we would sing devotional songs. The children would get in the seats, get their books and we would begin. I started with the smaller children first. Sometimes we did work together. Maybe we’d have an English lesson all together. Sometimes the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade would all have the same English lesson. And then the upper grades, the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades would all have the same lesson. And that’s how we did things. It was a very pleasant task.
Q: What were some of the subjects that you taught and to which grades?
A: We taught English and Math… spelling and Reading to all the grades. Most time we began with Reading, after English, then Spelling, then Math. So all the groups had the same subjects. Not the same books, but the same subjects and it was an interesting situation because what I taught the older grades, the younger grades would learn because they were so attentive and they were all in the same room. Sometimes I would be asking the upper grades some questions and they wouldn’t remember. But it was interesting that some in the younger grades knew the answers. And the older grades wouldn’t remember.
Q: Where did you keep your textbooks? Did you have a table?
A: Well, I had a desk and that’s where I left my books.
Q: Um, how long was the school day?
A: The school day was nine o’clock until three o’clock in the evening. I’m not too sure about the length of the day. From nine until about three in the afternoon,
Q: Okay, we are going back to the textbooks. How did the students get the books and how did you get the books for yourself? Were they provided by the school board?
A: The parents had to pay for the children’s books. I didn’t pay for any but the school board paid for the books and the parents paid for the books which led to problems because some parents had a lot of children in each grade and that was quite a problem.
Q: What were some of the things you did to take care of the book shortage and sharing?
A: Well, we would have activities on a Friday night or on a weekend. Or Saturday. We would have different things to raise money. The parents would make cakes and ice cream. Sometimes we’d have hot dogs and sell them for extra materials. You could not just educate the children with just textbooks. You need other things for the children to learn.
Q: What were some other things done by the parents and the community to help support the school?
A: Well, on holidays and different activities, the parents would donate anything that the children needed and anything I asked for. We would have programs where children need costumes and we always had a school closing exercise. We would have umbrella drills and plays and the lines that the children were supposed to learn, I would write out and then give them to them and the parents would help them learn. Then we’d have rehearsals. Then after that we’d have school closing exercise where the children get all pretty with special notification given to those who went from one grade to another.
Q: Going back to the day-to-day activities. Where did the children eat lunch?
A: The children ate their lunch in the classroom. They had to bring their own lunches from home. They would all eat at their desks and I would eat at my desk. And the lunch period was about 15 minutes or um 20 to 25 minutes.
Q: Did you ever have special lunches where you cooked or had something special for the whole class?
A: No, we could not do that or anything, there was no place to prepare it because we had one stove to heat the classroom.
Q: After lunch, did you have recess or have it later?
A: We would have recess after lunch and then sometimes later in the afternoon if the weather was fair. If the weather was not good, they would play games on the inside.
Q: Do you have any special memories of the lunch period or recess or anything that stands out in your mind that might have happened?
A: I remember one incident I would try to get one little boy to take off his cap and put it in the cloakroom. I thought he did it, but next thing you know he was going home down the road because he refused to take off his cap. So I followed and told him to come back. But he took off and I couldn’t catch him. I said that was it. Then the other incident was how the children learned from each other and the cooperation of the parents. Wonderful cooperation from the parents and I didn’t have any discipline problems because the parents said that if any children didn’t behave, just tell them. I never had to whip anybody.
Q: How would heat the school with just one stove?
A: That one stove was our only source of heat.
Q: What was your water supply?
A: There was a pump outside. Our water supply came from the pump.
Q: How was your classroom set up, and what did it look like?
A: The classroom was something we made the best of what we had. One large room with these desks. Some were dilapidated. Nobody complained. There was no one to complain to. I was so happy to have the opportunity to teach the children and to love them. What they had and didn’t have did not enter my mind.
Q: What did your desk look like? What did you keep on it?
A: The desk was made up of wood and I kept a clock and I kept my papers and pencils on the desk. I hadmy pocketbook under the desk. I never really stayed at my desk. Just to check the roll. The rest of the time I was around the classroom. Most of the time, I was around working with the children. I never stayed at the desk.
Q: Did you have anything in the room besides the desks? Was there anything on the walls?
A: I put up a few pictures. We didn’t have too much artwork because the facilities weren’t there.
Q: So you just had the basics?
A: Yeah, well the school board just provided what we really needed in the room--one room, two erasers, two packages of chalk for our one blackboard, one shovel used for coal and that’s all. Chalk, blackboard and erasers were very limited, that’s all.
Q: You mentioned that there was no discipline. Is there anything that you would like to add on that subject?
A: The reason that you didn’t have to do a lot of discipline was because the children came from homes where they were well trained and another thing was my attitude towards them, treating each one with love and respect. I came from a Christian home and the things from my parents, I taught them, so I didn’t have any discipline problems.
Q: Um, do you feel that there’s any additional information on the education of blacks in the county? It could be the time after you went to Isle of Wight Training School and beyond. Anything you want to tell us about Black education the county?
A: When I went to Smithfield, I was qualified to teach junior high. I taught history and social studies, also English before I transferred to the elementary department. I found out that many of the children were very talented and they had a spirited rivalry. I remember when they got back their papers, when one got 2 points lower than another, they asked how they could increase their grades. I found that many children were talented. When we did displays, the children did all the boards for all the different occasions – Black History month and all the other historical times. I had some very smart kids and the rivalry was wonderful.
Q: Is there anything else that you would like us to know or about your teaching in the county?
A: I could remember after we integrated, I had a fifth grade class and we’d have devotions and the white children would bring in Sunday School books while the black did nothing. I got into a situation where I got the black children alone, I told them they had just as much ability as the white children. I said you have black skin, but not black brains. There is no such thing as black brains. You could do just as well as any body else. After that, they started bringing in their Sunday School books as well as leading devotions again and everything went fine. It was truly integrated.
Q: Was that early in the time when the schools first integrated that you had that problem?
A: Yes, yes, you know we had those problems. I never had any problem. When they said we were integrating, we had a sensitivity group sponsored by a college, and we had white and blacks at meetings. I said that I could teach a child regardless of what color they are because I am a teacher and I know more than they do. So I had no problem. I never feared integration.
Q: Well, that is the end of my questions with Mrs. Butler. I want to thank you very much for taking the time with me for the interview.
A: You’re welcome.