History of Black High Schools in Northeastern North Carolina

By NC ASSOC. OF BLACK HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI

North Carolina Association of
Black High School Alumni

Closing Message

We want to thank the contributors of the histories and additional materials that we have included in this first publication. The stories provide a historical road map of the progressions achieved through our segregated black schools. These schools were really a home-away-from-home. The principals, teachers and staff cared dearly for the students and their success.

As most of the students were of farming families, the spring and fall of the year were the most challenging times for these students’ education. Growing up on the farm, the spring of the year was the planting season, and the fall of the year was the time to harvest. This made it nearly impossible for many of the students to keep up with their studies. However, these students were determined to succeed. They did whatever was necessary utilizing family, schoolmates, teachers and coaches to make up missing assignments to graduate successfully.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665574044

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© 2022 NC Assoc. Of Black High School AlumnI. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  12/21/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-7403-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-7404-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022919695

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

EDGECOMBE COUNTY SCHOOLS

Hester Elementary School

CONETOE HIGH SCHOOL

G. W. Carver High School

North Edgecombe High School the Other Side of Integration

Phillips High School

FRANKLIN COUNTY SCHOOLS

Franklin County Training School/Riverside High School

Gethsemane High School

HALIFAX COUNTY

Brawley High School – Then and Now

HERTFORD COUNTY

Hertford County Training School/

Robert L. Vann High School

NASH COUNTY

C. C. Spaulding High School

Nash County Training School/Nash Central High School

Moments in Black History

My Black History

Swift Creek High School

PITT COUNTY SCHOOLS

The Bethel Union High School

Oral Histories - Bethel Union (High) School

ROCKY MOUNT CITY SCHOOL

Booker T. Washington High School

WAKE COUNTY

History of the James E. Shepard High School and Alumni Association

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, we would like to acknowledge the brave and heroic men and women that made it possible for us to attend these schools; our mothers and fathers, grandparents and other relatives and neighbors who nurtured us during our formative years. They instilled love, discipline, obedience, and respect in us. The discipline was via whatever means that worked to get the desired results, in many cases it was connecting the brain through the buttocks.

Along the way, many blacks that owned property donated a portion of their property for the erection of a school for the education of local black children. Normally, when the schools were established, the local school district claimed the school and the property.

We must give special thanks to the many Teachers and Principals that cared about us and wanted to see us succeed in whatever careers we ended up in. The career we ended up in may not have been our primary choice as we didn’t know what God’s plans were for us, but we succeeded anyway.

Let us not forget the Janitors/Custodians that kept our facilities clean and presentable. Some of you may remember custodians like Luther Roberson, Onnie Battle and our student custodian, electrician and all- around handy man Herbert Earl Whitley at Nash Central.

Super Special thanks to the Cafeteria staff that fixed and served those wholesome hot meals for lunch every day. There were lines of students waiting to get to the serving lines. Lunches were only $1.00 per week or .25 per day. We need to remember the ladies like Ms. Sweet Westry, Ms. Alice Thompson and Ms. Pauline Battle for providing those nourishing meals every day. Thank God we did not have vending machines. Many of our students did not have the luxury of being able to buy lunches on a regular basis. They usually brought lunches from home that consisted of bologna sandwiches, peanut butter and crackers, a cold egg biscuit, a ham or sausage biscuit and any other edibles that could be put together.

Then there were our very courageous, honorable, smart and skillful bus drivers. Those young men and women were trusted with the care and safety of all the students every day, even though they were students themselves. Our students were able to take the training to become school bus drivers as soon as they turned 16 and had received their state driver’s license. Many of the drivers were up before day to start their routes to ensure they had their students to school on time. At the end of the day, it was many times after dark when some of them ended their routes for the day.

Above all, we thank God for taking care of us through all our trials and tribulations, he took care of us when we didn’t know how to take care of ourselves. We thank you Lord for all the Love, Grace and Mercies you have shown us.

INTRODUCTION

Many of us started school when it was not popular for black children to receive an education. We attended segregated facilities that were poorly equipped and underfunded. BUT we had teachers and school administrators that were concerned, dedicated, and cared about the education of their students. Many of the schools were 1 and 2 classroom schools where the teachers taught multiple grades in the same classroom at the same time. The principals in many of these schools were also teachers and coaches. All teachers normally played multiple roles.

It was customary for teachers to board with local families near the school. At times they found lodging in Boarding/Rooming Houses set up just for the teachers.

Most students lived in rural communities where they were farmers. Many student families were Sharecroppers. Sharecroppers were farmers that lived on and farmed someone else’s property. For the most part, the landowners were white. There were very few black farmers that owned and farmed their own land. In eastern North Carolina, most of the crops raised were tobacco, cotton, corn, and soybeans. The crops were planted in the spring just before the school year ended and the crops were harvested in late summer just as the new school year began. This caused many students that lived on farms to miss many days of school at the end of the year and the beginning of the new year. Students were generally allowed to attend school the first day, but they may be required to stay home to work the farm after attendance the first day. Some students eventually got behind in their schooling and dropped out. A few went into the military. Despite the many obstacles, most students went on to finish school and a great number went on to