Colored School

By Ruth Kelly

Education for African Americans in Lawrence Co, Ky began after the Civil War.  The early schools were held in the homes of ministers and by sympathetic whites, according to John E. Elkins in his thesis.  The History of Education of Lawrence County. “Later Negro teachers were secured and school was conducted in the church” (source: Elkins, p. 101).

In 1886 there were two colored schools in Lawrence Co. according to the report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the school year ending June 30, 1886 and for the school year ending 1887.  At some point after 1887 there was only one school in Louisa (source: Elkins, p.101). 

Below is the school about which Fred Jones will share thoughts and memories.

FROM Fred Jones…

“…In the early 1940s schools were segregated.  White children attended one school while the blacks went to another. Also, in many churches move theaters and restaurants, sections were reserved for black patrons that were separate from the white customers.  

In Louisa, the black school was opened many years before I was born.  My father, Curtis, and my uncle, Coke Jones attended that same school along with many other children form the Burgess, Wallace, Allison, Freese, Sweatman, Collin, Polly, Ewing, Jones, Reed, Clark, Matiney, Garrett, Justice and other black Families who lived in the Louisa area.

Black children were only educated through the 6^th grade. Families who wished for their children to have a higher education sent them to the homes of relatives or friends who lived in Ashland, Kentucky or Huntington, WV.

My sister, Anna Jean Jones, went to Columbus, Ohio and lived with her grandmother  Ewing, graduating from Lincoln High School there.  Charles S. Jones, my brother, went to Ashland, KY, lived with his Aunt Anna Kate Thomas and attended Booker T. Washington School. After integration, Charles attended Louisa High School and graduated 1957. My mother, Lillian  Ewing   went to Huntington, WV and graduated from Douglas High School   My dad, Curtis Jones didn’t go beyond 6^th grade because he needed to work and help the family.  Mother continued his education over the years.

Attending the colored school was a good time for Bill and me.  It wasn’t perfect, nothing is, but in many ways it was really good

 In the morning we would walk down the street to that school and our mother would watch us from the house.  When we got to the steps of the school we would wave at her, she would throw us a kiss, and our school day would begin.

Just inside the door, we hung our coats on hooks in the wall. A blackboard covered the entire back wall, with the ABC’s above the board. A couple of small tables sat on the right side of the room and a large sandbox where we could play in the sand with some toys we could take from a container.  I used a little yellow bull dozer all the time making roads in the sand.  It was lots of fun.  The teacher’s desk took up the left side.    

Our teacher was from Ashland and she rode the train up every morning and back in the afternoon. When school let out she would clean up and get ready for the next.  Some days she visited with my mom. Other days she visited at Carl Butlers Store.  When the weather was bad someone would drive her to the Railroad Station. Mostly she walked between the station and the school.”

The “colored” school was the world for my brother Bill and me for four years.  I was into reading and looking at pictures of anything I could find.  Bill was only into sports and riding his bicycle as fast as he could all of time.

We were happy at the school.  Many times we would have school plays and singings on the weekends to raise money for supplies and better books to read.

Mrs. Burgess, Ms. Bessie, Pauline Reed and Matiney would bring in fried chicken, rolls, cornbread, all kinds of beans, potatoes, corn, greens, cakes and pies  Colored and white folks gathered at the school and would eat there together.  The pies would be sold and donations would be taken for the dinner.  Wellman Hardware, the Coca-Cola plant, and F. S. VanHoose Lumber Company were only a few of the many companies that supported our schools fundraising.

Fundraisers helped us to secure money for better books.  The textbooks at our school came to us mainly from the Ashland School system.  Some of them were in good shape.  Others were old, had been colored on, and were missing pages; but even with that they were much better than what we had. If a book could be repaired, adults would volunteer to take them home and do what they could.

We had to sign our names in the books and check  the “colored” box.  This was done so that the books checked off by “white” students could be sent to the “colored” schools.  If the box was checked “colored” those books could only be sent to another “colored” school.  “White “schools were not allowed to use any books or literature from a “colored” school.

Sometimes when we would be walking home from school, our friends would be getting home from their school.  We would talk about what we had done that day.  They would invite us to come up to their school and see what they had to play with.  Our parents had told us we were not allowed on that property. It was a federal law made by the government and we could go to jail.  Our friends were not allowed to come to our school and see our big sand table.  I never did figure that one out.  That Federal Law was repeated almost every week as I grew older.

The one thing that bothered me the most: signs and posters all over town invited boys my age to come to the Christian Church and a Boy Scout meeting. I rode my bicycle there, went in and talked with everyone.   Everybody was nice and friendly. I listened to the presentation.  When they started talking about the cost, I knew we couldn’t afford it. The man doing the presentation said “wait a minute and we will talk.” Dr. Smith ask him what was going on, and offered to pay for me. They talked a minute, then Dr. John Ryan and Dr. James Smith, called me to the side ad told me, “Fred, you have to join the Scouts in Huntington. They have their own Negro group.”  I had been thinking about that, but I thought things night have changed.  I just told them I had to get home. It was dark and I was going to get in trouble

Jimmy Dotson talked to me about joining his church club called the Royal Ambassadors. They did what the scouts did, but it was free and there were no restrictions. So I did that and had a good time at the meetings and we went camping a few times and had some good dinners.  Rev. Weeks would come and talk with us at times, and I would go by Rev. Weeks’ home when was sitting on the porch, he was really nice to talk with.

 I told him I had to ride across town to play baseball because the old bottom was full of weeds.  There was this big area behind the colored school and that is where we use to play. The older ones who use to keep it lean started playing out in High Bottom, and now it was overgrown. Well, a couple weeks later Rev. Weeks came over on Lackey Ave.  We were playing ball in the street. He asks “How do you get to that old bottom where you played ball? “We all walked down the street and showed him. Rev. Weeks had this man with him, Roger Caudill, and he said “We need to get this cleaned up, and fixed some.” Some people from the church came by later and cleared the brush, cut the weeds and cleaned the bottom. The church got us some bats and balls, and things looked real nice.  We even had some cook outs and fixed some hamburgers. 

Mrs. Britton (her husband owned the Coca Cola plant) and another lady would come by now and then and put us on work detail to be sure it stayed cleaned up.

Our life was good. There was much I didn’t understand, but Dad told me to keep my head high, obey the laws and when I was older I would understand.

My father worked hard at Wells Motor Company and always brought home something sweet to eat.  The evenings were spent around the radio my father loved to play with, getting the antenna just right so that we could listen to Amos and Andy and Red Rider.

With Mother doing house work and laundry for families, and Dad’s job, they managed well.  Dad drove an old 1940 two door Chrysler Royal.  Mother got the most out of the boys clothing by patching jeans on the sewing machine.

There was an African-American Church on Boone Street that we attended once a month.  The preacher would arrive on the train with his wife who played the organ.  Each visit a different family would invite the preacher and wife for dinner after service.

Halloween meant trick or treat in the rich neighborhood where chocolate bars were passed out.  

Thanksgiving was always across town to Grandmother Jones who was the absolute best cook in town.  Granny Jones had two cook stoves in her kitchen. Her meals were so terrific she even cooked for several families around town.  She raised and prepared chickens for dinner right in her back yard.

My best Christmas present ever was an American Flyer passenger train set that I enjoyed for several years.

Colored kids were allowed to visit Camden Park one day a year.  If dad was working that day or for some reason we couldn’t go, we had to wait for the next year.

Swimming pools weren’t a problem for me because I never cared for swimming.  If we missed that one day a year it was OK with me.

We did have neighborhood baseball teams that played during the summer. There was never any color barriers with us kids.  The only fuss about color was with the adults.

Bill and I didn’t know it, but life was about to change for us. 

Bill Cheek, Superintendent of Lawrence Co. Schools came by to talk with dad. His thoughts were “Integration is coming. Let’s get ahead of it.  We only have your boys in the grade school.  I’d like to start there.”

So it was that Bill and I went to the “white” school in 1954.

Bill went to the 4th grade with Mrs. Jackson as his teacher.  I was in the 5^th, and Lucy Burgess was my teacher.

Our friends wanted to know where we had been and why it took us so long to get there.  I couldn’t explain it.  I was just glad to be there and play with the things about which we had heard.

The only problem was lunch on the first day.  The lady in the serving line was afraid to serve us for fear of losing her job.  Bill and I went back to our room and the principal brought us lunch with the assurance that by tomorrow things would be normal. 

 After that there was never a problem.   We were welcomed and accepted by people who had known us all our lives. 

My older brother Charles Jones, and Jo Francis Burgess went to Louisa High School.  I am not sure what grades they were in but they both graduated in 1957. 

High school for me was alright.  I ran track and played baseball, had good friends and was treated well most of the time. In 1960 the band was coming back from a football game, and stopped to eat In Grayson.  The owner of the restaurant said they never had Negros in there before.  I told Mr. Armstrong that was OK, I didn’t have money anyway.  I would just sit on the bus. Mr. Armstrong tried to explain it to me, and I told him I got it, but I didn’t.

In a few minutes Gary Smith and a couple girls came out with food and ate with me, and that made me feel really good. The restaurant owner came out and told me I had good friends, but he had to follow the Federal Laws. Those Federal Laws again.

Before I graduated from Louisa High School in 1963,I had already passed the examination for my HAM Radio License.  My father helped me get started but the majority of my expenses for the hobby were paid by working as an evening radio police despatcher for the Louisa Police Department on Saturdays.  I also delivered groceries for Louisa Cut Rate supermarket using my bicycle.  After I passed the drivers exam, I drove the 1951 Chevrolet store delivery truck.

I have radio call sign cards from fellow HAM Operators in every continent, most countries and every state.  I maintain membership in Radio clubs in Ironton, Paintsville, and Louisa.  I was director of Louisa’s Civil Defense for twelve years during the 1960’s and 70’s.

Now days, breakfast is followed by checking around the country to see how many of my friends are still signing on.  Evenings I have a network of friends who communicate strictly by using the language of the International Morse Code.  That language is falling by the wayside in lieu of cell phones. But with my circle of friends it’s still a great way to share time with those in faraway places.

 Louisa, KY is a beautiful, friendly town. I still live in the house I was raised in. I retired from Armco Steel after 31 years, and I am still active with my HAM radio operation.  I wouldn’t think of living anywhere else.”