Thursday, February 14, 2013

Day 2 - History lives all around us

Got a chance to spend time with my dad for a bit on Wednesday afternoon.  I found out he's scheduled to do a presentation today (Thursday) for African-American History Month on his former school.

The public school from which he graduated was a part of the county school system, but got scant financial and logistical support from that same system. Things were so tight, the families who sent kids to that school had to pony up $10 each during registration to buy the school bus that transported the kids back and forth. The county did purchase buses for other (whiter) schools in the same county in the same era (late 40s-early 50s).

In addition, since this school was in what was primarily a farming area, many families didn't have lots of ready cash to take care of their kids' expenses. So, two things happened. First, those students who couldn't afford the cost to-and-from school became boarders. Yep, they had a dormitory, but it wasn't nearly as fancy as you'd expect.

Second, those same kids and their families had to find other means to pay their school expenses. Many families didn't have a lot of spare cash, but maybe they had crops. A family could pay in bushels of corn or beans. In turn, those foodstuffs would be used to feed the whole school. If a family brought a hog, it made a substantial difference in the kids' diet.

The school has long-since closed. This would have been the 100th year of existence, if it had survived. My dad thought it would be fittng to "show a little love" to his alma mater today.

The more I take time to speak with my elders, the more history opens up to me. Stuff I never took the time to consider in my 20s now resonates differently since I reached middle-age.

Suggesstion for those who haven't - take the time and chat with a senior. Really listen to not only the facts, but how their perspective on today was shaped by the things they endured back then.

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