Cassette 2 Side 2
Media
Part of Velma Childers Interview
Identifier
2:2
Title
Cassette 2 Side 2
Type
Interview
Source
Velma Childers Interview, January 4 and 8, 1990
Rights
Description
Cassette 2
Side 2
00:07--Mrs. Childers attended school in a one-room wood building in the Oakway community. The school year was divided into short summer and winter terms that lasted a few months each. The school day lasted from 8am-4pm. The teachers usually boarded with local families. Cora Jenkins was one of her favorite early teachers. Her teachers were educated at Benedict, etc. Her grandfather was instrumental in the establishment of the Seneca Institute. The Institute gathered perhaps three to four hundred students from SC and neighboring states. Seneca Institute became Seneca Junior College when a two-year college was added onto the high school. Neither her parents nor her grandparents attended school. All of the girls in her family attended colleges such as Benedict, Spellman, and Morris. Her brother Fletcher attended a trade school at Morris before World War I interrupted his studies. Her parents made sure that books, magazines, and newspapers were available to the family to read. There was not much "black history" taught at her school, other than issues involving the Underground Railroad and Booker T. Washington. She met George Washington Carver when he spoke at the Seneca Institute.
18:30--Mrs. Childers' father was a freemason. He attained the rank of Worshipful Master while attending Blue Ridge Lodge no. 95 in Westminster, SC. Although freemasons were secretive, they made many positive contributions to the community.
20:12--Politics--her father voted, and was quite politically involved. He would often delight in arguments over party affiliations and issues of the day. He would encourage as many as possible to get registered to vote.
27:00--The subject of the treatment of slaves by whites is brought up. Mrs. Childers states that her older relatives rarely talked about their treatment, but one story of cruelty did stick in Mrs. Childers mind. On the weekends--for fun--whites would place a black individual in a barrel, roll it down a hill, and attempt to strike the individual on the face as he rolled by.
30:28--Her family never had any trouble with local law enforcement.
31:41--Audio ends.
Side 2
00:07--Mrs. Childers attended school in a one-room wood building in the Oakway community. The school year was divided into short summer and winter terms that lasted a few months each. The school day lasted from 8am-4pm. The teachers usually boarded with local families. Cora Jenkins was one of her favorite early teachers. Her teachers were educated at Benedict, etc. Her grandfather was instrumental in the establishment of the Seneca Institute. The Institute gathered perhaps three to four hundred students from SC and neighboring states. Seneca Institute became Seneca Junior College when a two-year college was added onto the high school. Neither her parents nor her grandparents attended school. All of the girls in her family attended colleges such as Benedict, Spellman, and Morris. Her brother Fletcher attended a trade school at Morris before World War I interrupted his studies. Her parents made sure that books, magazines, and newspapers were available to the family to read. There was not much "black history" taught at her school, other than issues involving the Underground Railroad and Booker T. Washington. She met George Washington Carver when he spoke at the Seneca Institute.
18:30--Mrs. Childers' father was a freemason. He attained the rank of Worshipful Master while attending Blue Ridge Lodge no. 95 in Westminster, SC. Although freemasons were secretive, they made many positive contributions to the community.
20:12--Politics--her father voted, and was quite politically involved. He would often delight in arguments over party affiliations and issues of the day. He would encourage as many as possible to get registered to vote.
27:00--The subject of the treatment of slaves by whites is brought up. Mrs. Childers states that her older relatives rarely talked about their treatment, but one story of cruelty did stick in Mrs. Childers mind. On the weekends--for fun--whites would place a black individual in a barrel, roll it down a hill, and attempt to strike the individual on the face as he rolled by.
30:28--Her family never had any trouble with local law enforcement.
31:41--Audio ends.